Skip to main content

Full text of "History of Wyoming"

See other formats 


WYOMING 


Gc  M.  U« 

978.7 
B285h 
v.l 
1698216 


REYNOLDS  HISTORICAL 
GENEALOGY  COLLECTION 


EN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  UBRAR 


3  1833  01066  8975 


HISTORY 


OF 


WYOMING 


I.  S.  BARTLETT,  Editor 


VOLUME  I 


CHICAGO 

THE  S.  J.  CLARKE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1918 


WYOMING— OLD  AND  NEW 


I.   S.  BARTLETT 

Where  Nature  held  her  soHtary  reign 

Through  the  long  cycles  of  the  ages  past; 

Where  lofty  mountains  burst  above  the  plain 
Creating  solitudes  profound  and  vast. 

Where  the  strong  billows  of  the  foothills  break 
On  mountain  walls  like  sea  waves  on  the  strand ; 

Where  mighty  canyons  and  dark  forests  make 
The  wilderness  an  ancient  wonderland. 

Remote  from  man's  dominion,  wild  and  free, 
A  spell  of  deep  enchantment  o'er  it  cast; 

Here  wrought  the  power  of  Nature's  alchemy 
To  make  a  new  and  better  land  at  last. 

Where  men  and  women  brave  all  perils  meet. 
And  wring  from  Destiny  her  promise  late, 

Which  points  the  path  of  Empire  to  their  feet 
And  shows  the  firm  foundations  of  a  State. 


1698216 


FOREWORD 


The  history  of  Wyoming,  in  all  its  details  and  phases,  presents  a  story  of 
gripping  human  interest.  Sixty  years  ago  great  herds  of  antelope  and  buffalo 
roamed  over  the  plains,  elk  and  deer  by  thousands  found  shelter  in  the  foothills 
and  mountain  ranges,  while  predatory  animals,  such  as  timber  wolves,  bears  and 
mountain  lions,  held  undisputed  possession  of  the  forests.  The  soil  was  then 
untouched  by  the  plow  of  the  husbandman,  the  groves  and  forests  had  not  yet 
echoed  the  sound  of  the  woodman's  ax,  the  rich  treasures  of  coal  and  ore  had 
not  felt  the  stroke  of  the  miner's  pick,  and  the  only  civilized  persons  who  had 
penetrated  the  vast,  primeval  solitudes  were  the  trappers,  hunters,  Indian  traders 
and  missionaries,  or  the  emigrants  on  their  way  to  the  gold  fields  of  California 
or  the  Mormon  settlement  at  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Then  came  the  cry  of  "Westward  Ho !"  and  the  spirit  of  Wyoming's  dream 
was  changed.  Brawny,  red-blooded  men  came  flocking  in  from  the  older  states 
and  began  a  work  of  development  unparalleled  in  the  nation's  history.  Great 
irrigating  systems  were  constructed,  arid  lands  were  reclaimed,  and  the  desert 
was  made  to  "blossom  as  the  rose."  Thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep  grazed  where 
once  the  antelope  and  bison  held  their  undisputed  sway.  The  immense  deposits 
of  coal,  iron  and  the  precious  metals  were  made  to  give  up  their  wealth  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind.  The  drill  penetrated  the  subterranean  lakes  of  oil  to  add 
to  the  comforts  of  the  human  race  the  resources  that  had  lain  concealed  through 
all  the  centuries  of  the  past.  The  council  wigwam  of  the  Indian  has  given  way 
to  halls  of  legislation,  the  war-whoop  of  the  savage  has  been  supplanted  by  the 
.hum  of  peaceful  industry,  and  all  this  development  has  been  made  within  the 
memory  of  people  yet  living. 

To  tell  the  story  of  this  wonderful  progress,  as  well  as  to  give  accounts  of 
the  pre-historic  inhabitants,  the  trappers,  traders  and  early  explorers ;  to  keep 
green  the  memories  of  the  past :  to  recount  the  deeds  and  achievements  of  the 
\\'yoming  pioneers,  that  subsequent  generations  may  emulate  their  worthy  exam- 
ples and  profit  by  their  mistakes,  is  the  purpose  of  this  history.  How  well  that 
purpose  has  been  attained  is  for  the  reader  to  determine. 

The  work  has  been  one  involving  great  care  and  labor,  but  the  publishers 
confidently  assert  that  no  effort  has  been  spared  to  make  this  History  of  Wyo- 
ming both  authentic  and  comprehensive.  Authentic,  because,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  official  records  have  been  drawn  upon  as  sources  of  information :  and  com- 
prehensive, because,  it  is  believed,  no  important  event  connected  with  Wyoming's 
growth  and  development  has  been  overlooked  or  neglected. 

Much  credit  is  due  to  the  old  settlers  of  the  state,  whose  letters,  scrap-books 
and  personal  recollections  have  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  compilation 
of  the  history.  Letters  were  written  to  county  ofificials  and  others,  asking  for 
3 


4  FOREWORD 

incidents  connected  with  local  history,  and,  while  a  few  failed  to  respond,  much 
information  was  obtained  through  this  channel. 

The  editor  and  publishers  take  this  opportunity  to  acknowledge  their  obliga- 
tions to  these  old  settlers  and  county  officials  for  their  willing  cooperation ;  to 
the  various  state  officers  and  their  assistants  for  their  aid  in  consulting  the  public 
records;  to  Bishop  Nathaniel  S.  Thomas,  who  permitted  the  use  of  his  large 
and  well  assorted  private  library;  and  to  the  state  librarian.  Miss  Agnes  R. 
Wright,  and  her  assistants  for  their  unifonn  courtesies  while  the  work  was  in 
course  of  preparation. 

Our  thanks  are  also  due  to  Governor  Frank  L.  Houx  for  his  contribution  to 
this  history  on  "Wyoming,  the  New  Oil  State'' ;  to  Albert  B.  Bartlett,  for  his 
valuable  paper  on  the  "Geology  of  Wyoming" ;  to  Hon.  W.  E.  Chaplin,  for  data 
relating  to  the  early  history  of  the  Press  of  the  state;  to  Bishop  Patrick  A. 
McGovern,  for  material  relating  to  the  early  history  of  the  Catholic  church,  and 
to  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard  of  the  University  of  Wyoming,  for  access  to  her 
extensive  personal  collections  relating  to  Wyoming  history. 

The  hearty  cooperation  of  these  and  other  good  people  over  the  state  has 
made  our  task  a  pleasant  one  and  has  greatly  enhanced  the  interest  and  value 
of  the  work. 

THE  S.  J.  CLARKE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
WYOMING— A  GENERAL  VIEW 

TOPOGRAPHY RIVERS    AND    LAKES — FORESTS GAME    AND    FISH REMARKABLE 

SCENERY — CLIMATE — PRECIPITATION CLASSIFICATION  OF  LANDS — MINERAL 

RESOURCES — PRODUCTIONS — INDUSTRIAL      DEVELOPMENT IRRIGATION      AND 

DRY  FARMING    I7 

CHAPTER  II 

WYOMING'S  PRE-HISTORIC  RACES 

RECENT    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    DISCOVERIES — SCIENTIFIC    EXPLORATIONS ANCIENT 

ABORIGINAL  QUARRIES THE  SO-CALLED  "SPANISH  DIGGINS" ANCIENT  SYS- 
TEM OF  MINING DESCRIPTION  OF  STONE  IMPLEMENTS — SHOP  AND  VILLAGE 

SITES LATER  QUARRIES  FOUND — SHOULD  BE  A  NATIONAL  PARK THEORIES 

OF  THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  SPECIMENS — CAVE  DWELLINGS — THE   MEDICINE 

WHEELS  IN   THE   BIG   HORN    MOUNTAINS DISCOVERIES  IN    BRIDGER   BASIN 

STORY   OF   THE    PRE-HISTORIC    ANIMALS   AND    THE    GREAT    FOSSIL    FIELDS    OF 
WYOMING     31 

CHAPTER  III 
YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK 

FIRST    INHABITANTS — INDIAN   TRAILS ORIGIN    OF  THE   NAME    "yELLOWSTONe" 

— GENERAL    DESCRIPTION,     SURFACE,     WATERCOURSES,     ETC. GEOLOGY THE 

GEYSERS JOHN    COLTER JIM    BRIDGER EXPLORING    EXPEDITIONS — ACT  OF 

DEDICATION MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  PARK — AN  ANIMAL  SANCTUARY BIRDS 

AND    FISH     45 

CHAPTER  IV 
INDIAN  HISTORY 

EVIDENCES  OF  AN   ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION — THE   INDIAN   RACE — TRIBAL  DISTRI- 
BUTION  AT  THE   CLOSE   OF    THE   FIFTEENTH    CENTURY — WYOMING  TRIBES 

THE  ARAPAHO TRADITION   OF   THE  FLOOD — THE   CHEYENNE — THE   CROW 

THE      SHOSHONE CHIEF      WASHAKIE — OTHER      TRIBES — FOREIGN       POLICY 

5 


6  CONTENTS 

TOWARD    THE    INDIANS — THE    UNITED    STATES    POLICY ADOPTION    OF    THE 

TREATY      SYSTEM TREATY      OF      FORT      LARAMIE BOUNDARIES      OF      TRIBAL 

DOMAINS — TREATY  WITH  THE  SIOUX THE  CROW  TREATY — CHEYENNE  AND 

ARAPAHO  TREATY — TREATY  OF  FORT  BRIDGER — WIND  RIVER  RESERVATION    ...       59 

CHAPTER  V 
WYOMING  UNDER  \'ARIOUS  JURISDICTIONS 

FIRST    CLAIMED    BY    SPAIN — DE    SOTO's    E.XPEDITION FRENCH    EXPLORATIONS — 

MARQUETTE  AND  JOLIET — LA  SALLE's  EXPEDITIONS THE  MEXICAN  CESSION 

ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS OREGON  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE — NEBRASKA TERRI- 
TORY OF  DAKOTA IDAHO RECAPITULATION 75 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE 

LA  SALLE's  CLAIM  TO  THE  COUNTRY  DRAINED  BY  THE  MISSISSIPPI — CONTRO- 
versy over  the  navigation  of  the  mississippi  river — treaty  of  madrid 
napoleon  and  talleyrand secret  treaty  of  san  ildefonso — retro- 
cession of  louisiana  to  france sentiment  in  the  united  states — 

Jefferson's  diplomacy — Livingston  and  monroe — purchase  of  Louisi- 
ana  FULL  text  of  the  TREATY  OF  PARIS — CEREMONY  OF  TRANSFER THE 

TEMPORARY    GOVERNMENT — DIVISION    OF   THE    PROVINCE    84 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE  FUR  TRADERS 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  FUR  TRADE — THE  FRENCH  THE  PIONEERS — FREE  TRADERS 
AND  TRAPPERS — INFLUENCE  OF  THE  TRADER  AND  TRAPPER  ON  THE  DENELOP- 
MENT    OF    THE    WEST — THE    HUDSON'S    BAY    COMPANY — THE    NORTH-WEST 

COMPANY — THE   AMERICAN    FUR   COMPANY THE   PACIFIC    FUR   COMPANY — 

MANUEL  LISA THE  MISSOURI  FLIR  COMPANY — HUNt's  EXPEDITION — RE- 
TURN OF  THE  ASTORIANS — ROCKY  MOLINTAIN  FLIR  COMPANY — SMITH,  JACK- 
SON &  SUBLETTE — SKETCHES  OF  NOTED  TRAPPERS COLUMBIA  FUR  COMPANY 

— THE    MACKINAW    COMPANY — TRADING  POSTS  IN   WYOMING 93 

CHAPTER  VIII 
EXPLORERS  AND  EXPLORATIONS 

EARLY    EXPLORATIONS    IN    AMERICA    CHIEFLY    ALONG    THE    COAST — CORON.XDo'S 

EXPEDITION ON  TO  QUIVIRA OTHER  SPANISH  EXPEDITIONS — VERENDRYE — 

LEWIS    AND    CLARK — HANCOCK    AND    DIXON LIEUTENANT    PIKE EZEKIEL 

WILLIAMS — long's  EXPEDITION N.\THANIEL  J.  WYETH — WYETH's  SECOND 

EXPEDITION CAPTAIN   BONNEVILLE — F.XTHER  DE  SMET — JOHN  C.  FREMONT 

HIS    SECOND    EXPEDITION — CAPTAIN    STANSBURY— WARREN's    EXPEDITION 

CAPTAIN    RAYNOLDS    IO9 


CONTENTS  7 

CHAPTER  IX      - 
MORMONS  AND  ARGONAUTS 

ORIGIN  AND   HISTORY  OF  THE   MORMON   CHURCH — EARLY    MORMON    COLONIES 

OPPOSITION — THE  MORMON  BATTALION — WINTER  QUARTERS THE  EMIGRA- 
TION— THE  SCARE  OF    1857-58— JOHNSON's   EXPEDITION — WESTWARD    HO 

THE    ARGONAUTS DISCOVERY    OF    GOLD    IN    CALIFORNIA THE    EXCITEMENT 

— THE  OVERLAND  ROUTE SUCCESS  AND  FAILURE SUTTER  AND  MARSHALL.  .     I24 

CHAPTER  X 
STORIES  OF  THE  PIONEERS 

FISH  AS  BRAIN   FOOD A   MOUNTAIN  TRIP   IN    1879 A  FRONTIER   MINING  CAMP 

— STORY  OF  THE  LOST  CABIN   GOLD  PLACERS JOHN    HUNTON  AND  OLD  FORT 

LARAMIE — OTHER  PIONEERS  OF  NOTE — FRANK  GROUARD,  THE  FAMOUS  SCOUT 
— SACAJAWEA,    THE    INDIAN    GIRL    PATHFINDER — CASPAR    COLLINS    AND   OLD 

PLATTE    BRIDGE LUKE    VOORHEES    AND     EARLY    STAGE     COACH     DAYS BEN 

HOLLIDAY  IN  A  HOLD  UP — STORIES  OF  A  PIONEER  PREACHER ^THE  COWBOY'S 

PRAYER     134 

CHAPTER  XI 
TERRITORIAL  HISTORY 

EARLY   NAMES   APPLIED  TO   WYOMING THE   PERIOD  OF   SETTLEMENT OPENING 

OF  THE  MINES — INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  PACIFIC  RAILROAD BEGINNING 

OF  CHEYENNE — VIGILANCE   COMMITTEE THE   ASHLEY   BILL — THE   ORGANIC 

ACT — GOVERNOR  FAULK's   MESSAGE GOVERNMENT  ORGANIZED CAMPBELL'S 

ADMINISTRATION  —  FIRST     ELECTION FIRST    LEGISLATURE  —  TERRITORIAL 

SEAL LEGISLATURE  OF  187I THIRD  LEGISLATURE — THAYER'S  ADMINIS- 
TRATION— LEGISLATIVE    SESSIONS HOYt's    ADMINISTRATION — LEGISLATURE 

OF        1879 SEVENTH        LEGISLATURE HALE's        ADMINISTRATION — EIGHTH 

LEGISLATURE WARREN's      ADMINISTRATION — RIOT       AT      ROCK      SPRINGS 

NINTH  LEGISLATURE — CAPITOL  BUILDING PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS BAX- 
TER'S ADMINISTRATION MOONLIGHT'S  ADMINISTRATION TENTH  LEGISLA- 
TURE  CAPITOL    BUILDING    AGAIN WARREN's     SECOND    ADMINISTRATION 

LAST    TERRITORIAL    LEGISLATURE     161 

CHAPTER  XII 
ADMISSION  TO  THE  UNION 

DREAMS  OF  STATEHOOD MEMORIAL   OF    1888 PRESENTED  TO  CONGRESS — BILLS 

INTRODUCED ACTION    IN    WYOMING GOVERNOR    WARRSN's    PROCLAMATION 

CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTION LIST    OF    DELEGATES    BY    COUNTIES — ACT 

OF   ADMISSION — CARRY    CONGRATULATED — CELEBRATING   THE    EVENT FIRST 

ELECTION   FOR  STATE  OFFICERS 185 


.8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIII 
WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

WYOMING  THE  FIRST   EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  STATE TEXT  OF  THE    BILL THE    MEN 

WHO  DARED NEW   STATE  PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATIVE   HISTORY   OF  THE  ACT 

— HOUSE      PROCEEDINGS — RACY     DEBATE THE     BILL     IN     THE     COUNCIL 

AMENDED  IN  THE  HOUSE APPROVED  BY  THE  GOVERNOR NEWSPAPER  COM- 
MENT  THE  COUNTRY  SURPRISED ATTEMPT  TO  REPEAL ITS  ACKNOWL- 
EDGED SUCCESS — THE  FIRST  WOMAN  JURY ^THE  FIRST  WOMAN  JUSTICE  OF 

THE  PEACE — SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION NOTES  AND 

COMMENTS — BILL    NYE's   HUMOROUS  REPORT I97 

CHAPTER  XIV 
STATE  GOVERNMENT  INAUGURATED 

FIRST  POLITICAL   CONVENTIONS FIRST  STATE  ELECTION FIRST  STATE  LEGISLA- 
TURE— ELECTION  OF   UNITED  STATES  SENATORS RESIGNATION  OF  GOVERNOR 

WARREN barber's    ADMINISTRATION POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN     OF     1892 — A 

POLITICAL  DISPUTE OSBORNE  TAKES  POSSESSION  OF  THE  GOVERNOR'S  OFFICE 

■ — THE  CARBON  COUNTY  CASE — THE  MOORE  PARDON OSBORNE's  ADMINIS- 
TRATION— SECOND  LEGISLATURE — THE  STATE  SEAL THE  SENATORIAL  DEAD- 
LOCK— COLUMBIAN    EXPOSITION — ELECTION  OF    1894    2I3 

CHAPTER  XV 
FROM  RICHARDS  TO  BROOKS 

W.    A.    RICHARDS'    ADMINISTRATION THIRD    LEGISLATURE — VALUE    OF    PUBLIC 

BUILDINGS REVISING  THE  STATUTES STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY MEMO- 
RIALS TO  CONGRESS POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF   1896 FOURTH   LEGISLATURE 

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI  EXPOSITION CAMPAIGN  OF  1898 DE  FOREST  RICH- 
ARDS'    ADMINISTRATION — FIFTH     LEGISLATURE — OUTLAWRY ELECTION     OF 

1900 SIXTH  LEGISLATURE GOVERNOR'S  RESIDENCE — PAN-AMERICAN  EX- 
POSITION  ELECTION  OF  I902 SEVENTH  LEGISLATURE— LOUISIANA  PUR- 
CHASE EXPOSITION CHATTERTON's    ADMINISTRATION CAMPAIGN   OF    I9O4 

BROOKS'     ADMINISTRATION EIGHTH     LEGISLATURE LEWIS     AND     CLARK 

EXPOSITION — ELECTION    OF    1906 225 

CHAPTER  X.VI 
FROM  BROOKS  TO  HOUX 

NINTH    LEGISLATURE POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN    OF    I908 TENTH    LEGISLATURE 

ELECTION    OF    19IO — CAREY's  ADMINISTRATION ELEVENTH    LEGISLATURE — 

APPORTIONMENT  OF  STATE  SENATORS  AND  REPRESENTATIVES DIRECT  PRI- 
MARY   LAW — CORRUPT    PRACTICES    ACT — BATTLESHIP    WYOMING WESTERN 

governors'    SPECIAL CAMPAIGN    OF     I912 TWELFTH    LEGISLATURE THE 

STATE   FAIR MISCELLANEOUS   ACTS POLITICAL   CAMPAIGN    OF    I9I4 KEN- 

DRICK's    ADMINISTRATION THIRTEENTH    LEGISLATURE WORKMEN'S    COM- 


CONTENTS  9 

PENSATION      ACT — MISCELLANEOUS      LEGISLATION CAMPAIGN      OF      I916 

FOURTEENTH  LEGISLATURE — PROHIBITION  QUESTION — THE  CONSTITUTIONAL 
AMENDMENT — HIGHWAY  COMMISSION — STATE  FLAG  AND  FLOWER — GENERAL 
LAWS — HOUX'S   ADMINISTRATION WAR    WITH    GERMANY    242 

CHAPTER  XVII 
STATE  INSTITUTIONS 

STATE  BOARD  OF  CHARITIES  AND  REFORM — STATE   HOSPITAL  FOR  THE  INSANE 

WYOMING  STATE  PENITENTIARY — WYOMING  SOLDIERS'  AND  SAILORS'  HOME 
WYOMING  GENERAL  HOSPITAL SHERIDAN  AND  CASPER  BRANCH  HOS- 
PITALS  BIG  HORN  HOT  SPRINGS  RESERVE WYOMING  SCHOOL  FOR  DEFEC- 
TIVES— WYOMING    INDUSTRIAL    INSTITUTE — DEAF,    DUMB    AND    BLIND THE 

STATE   CAPITOL    263 

CHAPTER  X\  III 
EARLY  MILITARY  HISTORY 

FIRST     UNITED     STATES     TROOPS     IN     WYOMING FIRST     MILITARY     POSTS — THE 

OREGON  BATTALION EARLY  INDIAN  TROUBLES PROTECTING  THE  OVERLAND 

RAIDS  ALONG  THE  PLATTE — POWDER  RIVER  EXPEDITION AFFAIR  AT  PLATTE 

BRIDGE THE    BOZEMAN    ROAD — THE    FETTERMAN     MASSACRE — RED    CLOUd's 

DEFEAT — THE  TROOPS  WITHDRAWN^— SIOUX  RAIDS  ON  WIND  RIVER — CAM- 
PAIGN OF  1876 ouster's  last  fight PEACE  AT  LAST 274 

CHAPTER  XIX 

SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

Spain's  oppression  of  cuba — the  ten  years'  war — revolution  of  1895 — 
weyler's  cruelty — protests  of  the  united  states — destruction  of 

the  MAINE — congress  DECLARES   WAR PRESIDENT   MC  KINLEy's   CALL  FOR 

volunteers — Wyoming's  response — the  infantry  battalion — roster 

OF  E.'^CH  of  the  companies — IN  THE  PHILIPPINES THE  WYOMING  BAT- 
TERY— TORREy's  ROUGH  RIDERS CAMP  CLTBA  LIBRE — SOLDIERS'  MONU- 
MENT        289 

CHAPTER  XX 
FORTS  AND  MILITARY  POSTS 

EARLY  TRADING   POSTS — FORT   LARAMIE FREMONT's  DESCRIPTION — PARKMAn's 

FIRST  GLIMPSES — GENERAL  KEARNEY  AND  THE  INDIANS — EARLY  EXPLORERS 

THE      FORT      ESTABLISHED TIDE      OF      EMIGRATION EXPEDITIONS      AND 

TREATIES THE  ROMANCE  OF  AH-HO-AP-PA UNIQUE  BURIAL  CEREMONIES— 

THE  SEQUEL FORTS  BRIDGER,  WALBACH,  HALLECK,  CASPER,  RENO,  SANDERS, 

PHILIP  KEARNY,  FETTERMAN,  FRED  STEELE,  WASHAKIE,  STAMBAUGH,  MC- 
KINNEY,  MACKENZIE — FORTS  IN  ADJOINING  STATES 305 


10  .    CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXI 
EARLY  TRANSPORTATION  METHODS 

PROGRESS  OF  FOUR  SCORE  YEARS — EARLY  TRAILS — THE  OREGON'  TRAIL — CAMPING 

PLACES  IN   WYOMING MARKING  THE  TRAIL THE  PONY    EXPRESS — DAY  OF 

THE    STAGE    COACH THE    OVERLAND    LINE CHANGING    THE    ROUTE BEN 

HOLLIDAY EQUIPMENT EDUCATING  A  TENDERFOOT MARKING  THE  OVER- 
LAND  CHEYENNE  &  BLACK  HILLS  STAGE  LINE — PERILS  OF  STAGE  COACHING 

ROAD  AGENTS — PASSING  OF  THE  STAGE   COACH — FREIGHTING  ACROSS   THE 

PLAINS      325 

CHAPTER  XXII 
HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  RAILROADS 

FIRST  RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES EARLY  OPPOSITION A  WISE  SCHOOL 

BOARD THE    UNION    PACIFIC CREDIT    MOBILIER — THE   CENTRAL    PACIFIC — 

MISCELLANEOUS    FACTS    ABOUT    THE    UNION    PACIFIC — CHICAGO    &    NORTH- 
WESTERN— CHICAGO,    BURLINGTON    &    OUINCY — CHEYENNE    &    NORTHERN — 

COLORADO,   WYOMING   &   EASTERN — OREGON    SHORT  LINE MINOR   RAILROADS 

RAILROAD  MILEAGE  OF  THE  STATE — AID  TO  RAILROADS 340 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
AGRICULTURE  IN  WYOMING 

FARM    LIFE  IN    WYOMING AGRICULTUR.^L   PRODUCTION FARMING   CONDITIONS 

OUR    ADVANTAGES DRY     FARMING SWIFT    PROGRESS     UNDER    THE     NEW 

METHODS DRY  FARMING  AS  A  SCIENCE ANTIQUITY  OF  DRY  FARMING — IR- 
RIGATION  FARMING PRECIPITATION EARLY    IRRIGATION EXPENSE   OF   BIG 

PROJECTS^ — ECONOMIC     USE     OF     WATER — U.     S.     RECLAMATION     PROJECTS — 

PATHFINDER    PROJECTS CAREY    ACT    PROJECTS BEST    IRRIGATION     LAWS — 

FUTURE  IRRIGATION  DEVELOPMENT — SUCCESS  IN  COOPERATION 352 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE  LIVE  STOCK  INDUSTRY 

ORIGIN    OF   THE    CATTLE    BUSINESS THE    GREAT    GRASS    RANGES THE    CALL    OF 

THE  WILD EARLY  CATTLE  GROWING  METHODS POSSESSION   NINE  POINTS — 

IMPROVED  CONDITIONS — THE  OLD  TEXAS  TRAIL — SHEEP  AND  WOOL  INDUSTRY 

EARLY       CONDITIONS RANGE       DISPUTES BETTER       CONDITIONS FOREST 

GRAZING — WOOL  PRODUCTION — HORSE  RAISING   IN    WYOMING 363 

CHAPTER  XXV 
MINERAL  RESOURCES 

GEOLOGY   OF   WYOMING GEOLOGY  OF   OIL,   IRON   AND   COAL — EARLY   OIL   DISCOV- 
ERIES  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  OIL    INDUSTRY — IRON    DEPOSITS — HISTORY    OF 

THE    HARTVILLE    IRON    INDUSTRY — THE   SUNRISE    IRON    MINES WYOMING'S 

GREAT    COAL    MEASURES HISTORY    OF    THE    INDUSTRY,    PRODUCTION,    ETC. 


CONTENTS  11 

METALLIC  ORES,  GOlXl,  SILVER,  COPPER,  ETC. — OTHER  VALUABLE  DEPOSITS — 
OFFICIAL  CATALOGUE  OF  WYOMING'S  MINERALS  IN  1916 3/6 

CHAPTER  XX\'I 
FINANCIAL  HISTORY 

EARLY  CONDITIONS  IN  WYOMING FINANCIAL  GROWTH — ASSESSMENTS  OF   1889 

AND    1917  COMPARED PUBLIC   REVENUES THE    BONDED   DEBT— SECURITY — 

BANKING,  ORIGIN  OF BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES WYOMING  BANKS — 

STATE    BANKING    LAWS BANKS    IN     189O PIONEER    BANKERS — BANKS    IN 

I918 STATE  BANKERS  ASSOCIATION    412 

CHAPTER  XXVII 
HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION  IN  WYOMING 

FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM GREAT  SCHOOL  REVENUES — THE  BEGIN- 
NING  FIRST   LEGISLATIVE    ENACTMENTS THE    FIRST    REPORT CONDITIONS 

IN  1877 FIRST  STATISTICS  AVAILABLE — STATEHOOD TEXT  BOOKS  AND  CUR- 
RICULUM  TEACHERS'     INSTITUTES THE     STEEVER     CADET     SYSTEM HIGH 

SCHOOLS KINDERGARTENS PRIVATE     AND     SECULAR     SCHOOLS  —  OTHER 

SCHOOLS — THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM — CENSUS  AND  APPORTIONMENT  BY  COUN- 
TIES  SCHOOL  STATISTICS  IN   I916 UNIVERSITY  OF  WYOMING 428 

CHAPTER  XXVni 
THE  WYOMING  PRESS 

ORIGIN    OF    NEWSPAPERS FIRST    PUBLICATIONS    IN    EUROPE    AND    THE    UNITED 

STATES FIRST  NEWSPAPERS   IN   WYOMING THE   LEADER — WYOMING   STATE 

TRIBUNE — OTHER  EARLY  CHEYENNE  NEWSPAPERS NEWSPAPERS  OF  LARA- 
MIE  THE  LARAMIE  BOOMERANG THE  LARAMIE  REPUBLICAN OTHER  WYO- 
MING PUBLICATIONS — "bILL"  NYE — "bILL  BARLOW" — WYOMING  NEWS- 
PAPER  STATISTICS   IN    1918 45O 

CHAPTER  XXIX 
BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  WYOMING 

ORIGIN  OF  CIVIL  LAW — PURPOSE  OF  THE  COURTS TENDENCY  TO  CRITICISE — THE 

LAWYER  AS  A  CITIZEN TERRITORIAL  COURTS — MENTION  OF  EARLY'  JUDGES —       ' 

UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION ^THE  SUPREME  COURT — DISTRICT   COURTS LIST 

OF  JUDGES — MUNICIPAL    COURTS UNITED  STATES    COURTS THE   WYOMING 

BAR — CHARACTER  SKETCHES  OF  EARLY'  LAWYERS STATE  BAR  ASSOCIATION — 

A  FEW  NOTED  CASES THE  RACE  HORSE  CASE 462 

CHAPTER  XXX 
RELIGION  IN  WYOMING 

BEGINNINGS   OF    MISSIONARY    WORK    IN    WYOMING THE    CATHOLIC    CHURCH  — 

THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH — THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH — METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH — THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH — THE   PRESBYTERIAN    476 


12  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXXI 
THE  COUNTIES  OF  WYOMING 

THE  TWENTY-ONE  COUNTIES — ALBANY — BIGHORN CAMPBELL CARBON CON- 
VERSE— CROOK — FREMONT — GOSHEN HOT  SPRINGS — JOHNSON — LARAMIE — 

LINCOLN  , NATRONA   —    NIOBRARA  PARK  PLATTE  —    SHERIDAN    — 

SWEETWATER UINTA WASHAKIE WESTON HISTORICAL  SKETCH    OF 

EACH DATE     OF     ORGANIZATION — BOUNDARIES — EARLY      SETTLERS TOPOG- 

GRAPHY RESOURCES TRANSPORTATION     FACILITIES  —  POPULATION     AND 

WEALTH,  ETC 503 

CHAPTER  XXXII 
THE  STORY  OF  CHEYENNE 

HOW  THE  CITY  WAS  LOCATED GENERAL  DODGE's  ACCOUNT — THE  FIRST  SETTLERS 

ORGANIZING   A   GOVERNMENT THE    FIRST   ELECTION A    NEW    CHARTER — 

VIGILANCE  COMMITTEE EARLY  JUSTICE "JUDGe"  BEAN^ — EARLY  BUSINESS 

INTERESTS CHEYENNE  RANGERS WHEN  TEN  YEARS  OLD-^THE  POSTOFFICE 

PUBLIC  UTILITIES — TWENTIETH  CENTURY  CHEYENNE 548 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 
CITIES  AND  TOWNS 

AFTON  —  BAGGS BASIN  BIG  PINEY  —  BUFFALO  —  BURNS  —  BYRON CAM- 
BRIA    CASPER  —  CODY  —  COKEVILLE  —  COWLEY  DAYTON  DIAMOND- 

VILLE DIETZ  DIXON  DOUGLAS  DUBOIS  —  ELK  MOUNTAIN  EN- 
CAMPMENT —  EVANSTON  GILLETTE  —  GLENROCK  —  GRANGER  GREEN 

RIVER GREYBULL GUERNSEY  —  GUNN  —  HANNA  —  HARTVILLE HUD- 
SON    JACKSON  KAYCEE  KEM MERER  LANDER  LARAMIE  —  LOV- 

ELL LUSK  —  LYMAN  MANDERSON  MANVILLE  MEDICINE  BOW  — 

MEETEETSE  MOORCROFT  —    NEWCASTLE  —  PINE   BLUFFS  POWELL  

RAWLINS RIVERTON ROCK  RIVER  —  ROCK  SPRINGS SARATOGA SHERI- 
DAN   SHOSHONI  SUBLET  —  SUNDANCE SUPERIOR THERMOPOLIS  — 

TORRINGTON  —  UPTON  —  WHEATLAND  —  WORLAND  —  OTHER  TOWNS 562 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 
•       MISCELLANEOUS  HISTORY 

cattlemen's    INVASION    OF    1892 — WAR    ON    THE   RUSTLERS — ORGANIZING    THE 

RAID CAPTURE  OF  THE  INVADERS — EXPLORING  THE   GRAND   CANYON — GEN. 

W.  H.  ASHLEY — MAJ.  J.  W.  POWELL JAMES  WHITE — MISCELLANEOUS  EX- 
PEDITIONS—  KOLB  BROTHERS — "DOC"  MIDDLETON — MELBOURNE  THE  RAIN 
MAKER — EXPLOSION  AT  ROCK  SPRINGS EXECUTION  OF  TOM  HORN — AN  IN- 
DIAN'S CURSE — SOME  EARLY  PRICES — FRONTIER  DAYS  CELEBRATION 613 

CHAPTER  XXXV 
STATISTICS  AND  CHRONOLOGY 

FIRST    ACCURATE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    GREAT    WEST WYOMING    FIFTY    YEARS 

OLD CENSUS    REPORTS    FROM    1870    TO    I915 — POPULATION    BY    COUNTIES 

FAULTS    OF   THE    STATE    CENSUS IN    THE    CITIES — PUBLIC    OFFICIALS — LIST 

OF    TERRITORIAL   AND    ELECTIVE    STATE    OFFICERS CHRONOLOGY SUMMARY 

OF  LEADING  EVENTS  IN  WYOMING  HISTORY 637 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Wyoming  State   Flag   Frontispiece 

Little  Goose  Creek  Falls,  near  Sheridan i6 

Scene  in  Big  Horn  Mountains 19 

Cloud  Peak,  Big  Horn  Range 19 

Castle  Rock,  Green  River    21 

Teakettle  Rock  and  Sugar  Bowl,  Green  River   21 

Devil's   Garden,    Meeteetse    25 

Natural  Bridge,  Clear  Fork,  Green  River 25 

"The  Club  Sandwich"  on  Rock  Creek 29 

Upper  Ouartzite  Stratum  showing  Jasper  Nodules ^^ 

"Spanish  Diggins"    35 

Old  Faithful,  Yellowstone  Park   47 

Castle  Geyser,  Yellowstone  Park   49 

Firehole  River  Falls.  Yellowstone  Park 49 

Yellowstone  Lake,  Yellowstone  Park 51 

Yellowstone  Canyon,'  from  Inspiration  Point 51 

Cascade  Geyser,  Yellowstone  Park 55 

Yellowstone  Falls   55 

Two  Moons  58 

Medicine  Crow   63 

Jim  Baker 105 

John  Hunton 143 

State  Capitol   183 

Tablet  to  mark  Site  where  the  Council  of  the  First  Territorial  Legislature  of 

Wyoming  convened 199 

Governor's  Mansion ._ 235 

Wyoming  State  Hospital,  Sheridan   -. 267 

Wyoming  State  Penitentiary,  Rawlins 267 

Fort  Kearny  Monument 285 

Old   Fort  Laramie   304 

Old  Fort  Laramie,  1899   307 

"Mike"  Henry,  of  Douglas 309 

Monument  marking  the  Old  Oregon  Trail  at  Torrington 327 

George  Gardner  and  O.  P.  Hanna   331 

Last  Black  Hills  Coach  leaving  Cheyenne 335 

Last  Stage  out  of  Saratoga 335 

Union  Pacific  Station,  Cheyenne 343 

Union  Pacific  and  St.  John's  Hospitals,  Cheyenne 343 

Dry  Farm  Crop  of  Potatoes,  Golden  Prairie,  near  Cheyenne 355 

Dry  Farm  Wheat  Crop,  near  Cheyenne 355 

Sheep  on  the  Range  near  Buffalo 367 

Home  of  the  Corriedales  367 

Wyoming  Corriedale  Sheep  Company's  Corriedales 369 

Champion  Corriedales    371 

Laramie  Boy,  Grand  Champion   373 

Midwest  Refinery.  Casper    383 

Standard  Refinery,  Casper 383 

The  Big  Muddy,  near  Casper 387 

13 


14  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

In  the  Big  Muddy  Field 387 

Central  Coal  and  Coke  Company's  No.  2  Mine,  Rock  Springs 391 

Mine  No.  3  of  the  Bear  River  Coal  Company,  Inc.,  at  Evanston 391 

Cambria  Fuel  Company,  Cambria   393 

Carney ville.  One  of  the  Coal  Camps 395 

Dietz,  Home  of  "Sheridan  Coal" 395 

First  National  Bank,  Cheyenne 419 

The  Stock  Growers  National  Bank,  Cheyenne 419 

High  School  Building,  Cheyenne 429 

Central  School,  Cheyenne   429 

Schools  of  Casper 433 

Catholic  Academy,  Cheyenne   433 

High    School,   Kemmerer    437 

High  School,  Sheridan 437 

High  School,  Newcastle 439 

High  School,  Evanston 439 

State  University  of  Wyoming,  Laramie 445 

Women's  Hall,  University  of  Wyoming,  Laramie 445 

St.  Mary's  Cathedral  and  Bishop's  Residence,  Cheyenne 477 

Catholic  Church,  Laramie 479 

St.  Patrick's  Church,  Kemmerer 481 

St.  Joseph's  Catholic  Church,  Rawlins    481 

St.  Matthew's  Cathedral,  Laramie 483 

Presbyterian  Church,  Laramie 483 

Episcopal  Church,  Evanston 485 

Catholic  Church,  Evanston   485 

St.  Peter's  Episcopal  Church,  Sheridan 487 

Presbyterian   Church,   Cheyenne    491 

Churches  of  Casper 491 

Baptist   Church,   Evanston    495 

Presbyterian  Church,  Evanston   495 

Baptist  Church,  Laramie ' 499 

First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Parsonage,  Laramie 499 

Baptist  Church,  Cheyenne 501 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Cheyenne 501 

Postofifice,  Laramie  505 

Albany  County  Courthouse    505 

Residence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  H.  Homer 507 

John  Owens 5^9 

Carbon  County  Pioneers 513 

Crook  County  Courthouse 517 

F.  S.  King  Ranch,  near  Cheyenne 525 

Original  Homestead  of  F.  S.  King 527 

Natrona  County  Courthouse  531 

Postofifice,  Casper  531 

Sheridan  County  Courthouse   539 

Uinta  County  Courthouse   543 

Postoffice,  Evanston   543 

Weston  County  Courthouse 547 


ILLUSTRATIONS  15 

PAGE 

Bird's-eye  View  of  Newcastle 547 

Commercial  Club,  Cheyenne 549 

Plains  Hotel,  Cheyenne 549 

Masonic  Temple,  Cheyenne    553 

Elks'  Home,  Cheyenne 553 

Senator  Warren's  Residence,   Cheyenne 557 

Carnegie  Public  Library,  Cheyenne 559 

Postoffice  and  Laramie  County  Courthouse,  Cheyenne 559 

Bird's-eye  View  of  Casper 565 

Carnegie  Library,  Casper   567 

Masonic  Temple,  Casper 567 

Main  Street,  Casper 569 

Cody  in  1897 ■'-  ■  •    569 

Colonel  William  F.  Cody 571 

View  of  Evanston 573 

Douglas  in  1886  573 

Public  Library,  Evanston   575 

Masonic  Temple,  Evanston 575 

First  Boys  leave  Green  River  for  the  World  War 579 

Marshall  Day,  Kemmerer 583 

Bird's-eye  View  of  Kemmerer 583 

Laramie  in  1870   585 

Ivinson  Memorial  Hospital,  Laramie*. 587 

Carnegie  Library,  Laramie   587 

Masonic  Temple,  Laramie    589 

Elks'  Home,  Laramie 589 

Residence  of  Edward  Ivinson,  Laramie 591 

Holliday  Building,  Laramie    593 

Daily  Parade  at  Fort  Russell 593 

City  Library,  Newcastle   595 

Company  A  Armory  Building,  Newcastle 595 

Bird's-eye  View  of  Rawlins 597 

Osborne  Block,  Rawlins   597 

Postoffice,  Rawlins   597 

Residence  of  Charles  H.  Anderson 598 

West  Pine  Street,  Rawlins 598 

Elks'  Home,  Rawlins   ' 599 

Masonic  Temple,  Rawlins 599 

South  Front  Street,  Rock  Springs  601 

North  Front  Street,  Rock  Springs 601 

Postoffice  and  Masonic  Temple,  Rock  Springs 603 

School  at  Rock  Springs   603 

Views  of  Sheridan   605 

Sheridan  Sugar  Factory,  Sheridan .   607 

View  of  Main  Street,  Sheridan,  in  1887 607 

Elks'  Home,  Sheridan 609 

Home  of  United  States  Senator  John  B.  Kendrick,  Sheridan   609 

"Frontier  Days"  Celebration  at  Cheyenne 629 

"Frontier  Days"  Celebration  at  Cheyenne 631 


From  the  Herbert  Coffeen  > 

LITTLE  GOOSE  CREEK  FALLS.   NEAR   SHERIDAN 


History  of  Wyoming 

CHAPTER  I 
WYOMING— A   GENERAL  VIEW 

TOPOGRAPHY RIVERS       AND       LAKES FORESTS GAME       AND       FISH REMARKABLE 

SCENERY CLIMATE PRECIPITATION CLASSIFICATION       OF       LANDS MINERAL 

RESOURCES PRODUCTIONS INDUSTRIAL     DEVELOPMENT IRRIGATION     AND     DRY 

FARMING. 

Wyoming  has  an  area  of  about  98,000  square  miles,  or  to  be  exact,  62,664,960 
acres.  It  is  a  parallelogram  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long,  east  and 
west,  and  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  wide.  It  is  an  empire  equal  to  the  com- 
bined area  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Maine  and  Penn- 
sylvania and  these  states  have  over  15,000,000  inhabitants.  If  we  compare  the 
state  with  foreign  lands,  Wyoming  has  an  area  greater  than  England  and  Switzer- 
land combined  and  they  have  a  population  of  about  40,000,000. 

TOPOGRAPHY 

The  topography  of  the  state  is  diversified.  It  is  an  elevated  plateau  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  uplift,  broken  by  foot  hills  and  lofty  mountain  ranges,  with 
intervening  valleys  and  extensive  stretches  of  level  and  rolling  plains.  Approach- 
ing from  the  east  the  great  plains  have  a  gradual  rise  to  the  foot  hills  of  the 
Rockies  and  maintain  an  average  of  from  five  thousand  to  six  thousand  five 
hundred  feet  above  sea  level. 

The  front  range  of  the  Rock'ies  extends  from  Colorado  northward  to  the 
North  Platte  River,  and  consists  principally  of  the  Laramie  and  Medicine  Bow 
mountains  which  rise  above  the  plains  from  fifteen  hundred  to  three  thousand 
feet.  Beyond  the  North  Platte  the  foot  hills  and  mountain  ranges  trend  to  the 
northwest  and  culminate  in  the  Big  Horn  range  which  reaches  an  elevation  of 
twelve  thousand  to  over  thirteen  thousand  feet.  Beyond  the  front  range  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  state  is  the  Wind  River  range  extending  south  and  east. 
Its  spurs  and  elevations  from  the  Rattlesnake  and  the  Seminole  Mountains  south 
along  the  Sweetwater  River.  South  of  the  Sweetwater  is  a  treeless,  unwatered, 
high  plateau  known  as  the  Red  Desert,  broken  near  its  southern  border  by  the 
spurs  of  the  Uinta  Mountains.  West  of  the  Red  Desert  the  plateau  maintains 
17 


18  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

an  elevation  averaging  7,000  feet  above  the  sea  level.  On  the  extreme  western 
.boundary  of  the  state  the  Salt  and  Teton  ranges  extend  south  from  the  Yellow- 
stone Mountains.  From  the  northeast  corner  of  the  state  the  Black  Hills  of 
Dakota  extend  in  a  southerly  direction  rising  from  the  plains  in  spurs  and 
buttes  and  become  the  Black  Hills  of  Wyoming. 

The  topography  of  Wyoming's  surface  is  so  varied  as  to  be  impossible  to 
describe  in  definite  terms.  The  mountain  areas  take  all  forms  of  majestic  and 
rugged  beauty,  and  frame  mountain  parks,  beautiful  with  flowers  and  leaping 
cascades.  On  the  highest  peaks  crowned  with  everlasting  snows,  glaciers  are 
ftDrmed  and  become  the  source  of  pure  nmning  streams  abounding  in  trout,  and 
flowing  down  through  the  valleys  and  low  lands,  give  water  to  the  ranches  and 
become  tributaries  of  the  great  rivers  that  course  through  the  state. 

RIVERS    AND  L.-\KES 

Wyoming  has  more  large  rivers  and  streams  than  any  state  of  the  arid  or 
semi-arid  region.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  among  the  large  streams, 
are  the  Snake,  the  Yellowstone,  the  Big  Horn  and  Wind  rivers.  In  Southern 
and  Central  Wyoming  we  have  the  Green,  the  Laramie  and  the  North  Platte. 
These  and  other  rivers  with  their  numerous  tributaries  make  a  network  of 
streams  over  the  entire  state.  The  North  Platte  alone  has  over  fifty  tributary 
streams.  The  sources  of  the  Columbia,  the  Colorado  and  the  Missouri  rivers 
are  found  in  the  mountain  ranges  of  Wyoming. 

The  Continental  Divide  beginning  in  Sweetwater  County  on  about  the  twelfth 
meridian  follows  the  mountain  ranges  in  a  northwesterly  direction  and  on  the 
west  slope  of  these  ranges  the  waters  flow  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  principal 
streams  on  this  slope  being  the  Snake  and  Green  rivers  and  their  tributaries. 

It  is  estimated  that  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  waters  of  the  state  go  to  waste 
in  floods  and  natural  run  olif,  and  that  a  system  of  reclamation,  impounding 
these  waters  in  dams  and  catchment  basins  would  irrigate  15,000,000  acres 
of  land.  A  beginning  has  been  made  in  this  direction  by  reclamation  projects 
under  the  United  States  service  and  the  Carey  Acts. 

The  potential  energy  that  can  also  be  derived  from  these  rivers  in  the  form 
of  hydro-electro  power  is  so  great  as  to  be  almost  impossible  to  estimate.  At 
present  not  one  per  cent  of  this  power  has  been  utilized.  The  streams  having 
their  sources  high  up  in  the  mountains  and  rushing  down  their  sides  afford  ad- 
mirable location  for  power  sites  in  every  section  of  the  state. 

The  canyons  and  waterfalls  made  by  these  rivers  and  lakes  are  noteworthy 
features  of  the  topography.  The  canyons  of  the  Yellowstone,  Big  Horn  and 
North  Platte  rivers  are  wonderful  gorges  cut  through  the  mountains  and  are 
deep,  dark,  silent  and  mysterious.  In  majesty  and  sublimity  they  are  only  ex- 
celled by  the  Grand  Canyon  of  Arizona,  while  in  variety  they  are  in  many 
respects  superior.  The  Grand  Canyon  and  Falls  of  the  Yellowstone  afford 
a  marvelous  view  of  scenic  grandeur  and  impressive  beauty. 

The  mountain  lakes  of  Wyoming  are  numerous  and  are  found  in  the  highest 
ranges,  the  largest  being  Yellowstone  JLake  in  the  National  Park.  Jackson  Lake 
is  next  in  importance,  located  at  the  base  of  the  Grand  Tetons.  There  are  many 
lakes  in  the  Wind  River  range  and  in  the  Sierra  Madre,  in  Southern  Wyoming, 


SCENE  IX  BIG  HORN  MOUNTAINS 


CLOTD  PEAK,  BIG  HORN  RANGE 


20  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

found  at  various  altitudes  from  9,000  to  11,000  feet  above  sea  level.  These  lakes 
are  beautiful  in  scenic  surroundings,  their  waters  being  clear  and  cold  and 
abounding  with  fish  mostly  of  the  trout  species.  Jacksons  Lake  is  the  most 
beautiful  and  interesting  of  all  lakes  in  its  magnificent  surroundings  of  moun- 
tains and  forests  which  aft'ord  the  finest  hunting  ground  for  large  game  animals, 
to  be  found  in  the  United  States.  It  is  also  noted  for  its  fine  fishing,  making  it 
a  famous  resort  for  sportsmen  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

FORESTS 

The  forest  area  of  Wyoming  covers  over  10,000,000  acres.  Of  this  area 
8,385,288  acres  have  been  designated  by  the  United  States  Government  as  forest 
reserves.  The  Yellowstone  Park  contains  1,954,560  acres  which  is  largely  timber 
land.  These  magnificent  forests  are  constantly  increasing  by  natural  growth, 
the  cut  off,  mostly  for  railroad  ties,  not  being  equal  to  the  increase  by  growth. 
The  forest  reserves  being  under  Government  control  and  supervision,  are  ad- 
mirably cared  for  and  conserved  by  forest  supervisors  and  rangers  who  make 
their  home  in  the  reserves.  Good  roads  and  telephone  lines  are  built,  new 
forests  are  seeded,  forest  fires  are  fought  and  predatory  animals,  such  as  timber 
wolves,  mountain  lions,  bears,  etc.,  are  trapped  and  killed  oflf.  Under  a  gov- 
ernment leasing  system  the  timber  reserves  are  utilized  largely  for  grazing  of 
live  stock,  including  sheep,  cattle  and  horses.  Under  this  system  grazing  per- 
mits are  issued  for  thousands  of  these  animals  to  the  great  benefit  of  the  state 
and  nation. 

The  largest  national  forest  reserve  is  the  Teton,  on  the  western  borders  of 
the  state  and  lying  south  of  Yellowstone  Park.  The  Shoshone,  the  Washakie 
and  the  Wyoming  forest  reserves  are  the  next  in  importance,  these  all  being  in 
the  western  part  of  the  state.  The  Big  Horn  National  Forest  practically  covers 
the  Rig  Horn  Mountains  in  the  northern  and  central  part  of  the  state.  The 
Black  Hills  reserve  is  located  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Wyoming  and  the 
Hayden  and  Medicine  Bow  forests  are  on  its  southern  border. 

GAME  ANIMALS  IN   WYOMING 

In  referring  to  the  mountains  and  forests  of  Wyoming  we  must  naturally 
revert  to  the  wild  life  of  these  regions,  the  animals,  birds  and  fish  that  here 
find  congenial  homes.  Nate  P.  Wilson,  state  game  warden  says  in  his  latest 
report:  "No  state  in  the  Union  has  the  natural  resources  that  appeal  to  the 
sportsman  and  lovers  of  nature  as  those  of  Wyoming,  and  the  greatest  of  all 
is  our  wild  life.  From  the  lowlands  to  the  highest  peaks  can  be  found  game  and 
fish  in  abundance.  Each  year  sportsmen  from  all  civilized  countries  journey  to 
Wyoming  to  spend  their  vacations  where  they  can  be  sure  of  getting  their  limit 
of  game  and  enjoy  the  best  of  fishing.  It  is  indeed  a  rare  case  when  one  is 
disappointed. 

"Within  the  borders  of  our  state  are  to  be  found  vast  herds  of  that  wonder- 
ful game  animal — the  North  American  Elk;  high  up  above  timberline  on  any 
of  our  mountain  ranges  the  energetic  hunter  can  find  the  most  prized  of  all 
game — the  big  horn  or  Rocky  Mountain  sheep.     Grizzly,  black  and  brown  bear 


CASTLE  ROCK,  GREEN  EIVEK 


TEAKETTLE  ROCK  AND  SUCrAR  BOWL,  GREEN  RIVER 


22  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

are  plentiful  in  many  districts.  Deer  are  to  be  had  in  every  county.  Antelope 
are  still  to  be  seen  roaming  on  our  plains  districts.  Moose  are  increasing  wonder- 
fully— many  have  been  killed  this  year.  Game  birds  and  fish  are  everywhere. 
Our  streams  are  well  stocked  with  trout  of  all  kinds,  especially  Cut  Throat 
(Mountain  Trout),  Rainbow.  Brook,  Loch  Leven  and  iMackinaw.  Last  season  a 
Mackinaw  weighing  275/'  pounds  was  caught  in  Jacksons  Lake." 

This  state  leads  all  the  other  states  in  its  provisions  for  protecting  and 
increasing  its  wild  game  by  its  legislation  and  by  the  establishment  of  game 
preserves,  where  game  animals  can  live  in  security  and  raise  their  young.  Con- 
sequently our  game  resources  are  increasing  every  year.  The  game  preserves 
established  by  the  state  are  the  Big  Horn,  960,000  acres;  Teton,  507.000  acres; 
Shoshone,  200,000  acres;  Hoodoo  Basin,  200,000  acres;  Popo  Agie,  165,000 
acres ;  Boulder  Basin,  50,000  acres. 

Among  the  large  game  animals  we  have  the  elk,  moose,  mountain  sheep,  deer 
and  antelope.  The  bear  is  also  regarded  as  a  game  animal  and  is  found  in  great 
numbers.  Nowhere  on  the  continent  are  there  such  immense  herds  of  elk  as  in 
the  Jackson  Hole  region.  In  this  section  and  the  Yellowstone  Park  it  is  esti- 
mated there  are  fifty  thousand  elk,  and  for  the  last  ten  years  many  states  have 
been  re-stocked  from  these  herds  in  addition  to  supplying  the  demands,  of 
museums  and  zoological  parks  in  this  country  and  abroad.  The  deer,  moose  and 
antelope  herds  are  increasing.  The  beaver  is  found  in  every  section  of  Wyo- 
ming. The  principal  game  birds  are  the  pine  grouse,  the  sage  hen.  all  kinds  of 
ducks  and  geese  and  all  of  these  exist  in  great  abundance. 

A  fisherman's  paradise 

Wyoming  is  a  paradise  for  fishermen.  Out  of  the  twenty-one  counties  that 
compose  the  state  there  is  not  one  without  its  mountain  streams  abounding  in 
trout,  while  in  the  larger  streams  and  rivers  the  pike,  catfish,  sturgeon,  black 
bass  and  other  varieties  are  caught.  The  purity  and  coldness  of  the  waters  hav- 
ing their  source  in  the  mountain  springs  make  the  flesh  of  the  fish  of  fine  quality 
and  gives  the  strength  and  gameness  to  the  fish  that  make  the  sport  attractive  and 
exhilarating.  The  state  has  three  fish  hatcheries,  located  respectively  in  the 
counties  of  Albany,  Bighorn  and  Sheridan,  and  these  hatcheries  are  supple- 
mented by  the  United  States  hatchery  at  Saratoga.  Thus  all  the  streams  and 
lakes  in  every  section  are  stocked  with  young  fish  whenever  the  demand  exists. 

The  economic  value  of  the  game  and  fish  in  adding  to  the  food  supply  of  the 
people  is  much  greater  than  is  generally  estimated,  in  addition  to  the  healthful 
recreation  and  sporting  pleasure  given  the  hunter  and  fisherman  in  vacation  and 
camping-out  life. 

SCEXIC   FREAKS  AND  WONDERS 

The  Yellowstone  National  Park  with  its  marvelous  physical  phenomena,  hot 
springs,  spouting  geysers,  mud  ^•olcanos,  petrified  forests,  mountains  of  glass, 
canyons,  lakes,  forests  and  waterfalls,  is  described  in  another  chapter  as  the 
world's  wonderland. 

In  other  sections  are  peculiar  and  eccentric  manifestations  of  nature  such  as 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  23 

the  soda  lakes  with  millions  of  tons  of  almost  pure  sulphate  of  soda,  which 
glisten  like  snow  and  ice;  or  the  weird  stone  formations  in  the  bad  lands  which 
assume  shapes  of  castles,  towers,  monuments,  and  ruined  cities,  and  sometimes 
the  grotesque  forms  of  animals.  In  Converse  County  on  the  La  Prelle"  and  in 
Sweetwater  County  on  Clear  Fork,  there  are  natural  bridges  of  stone  made  by 
centuries  of  natural  chiseling.  In  Crook  County  is  one  of  Nature's  most  curious 
formations  called  the  "'Devil's  Tower,"  a  large  mass  of  basaltic  rock  rising 
abruptly  from  the  plain  in  bold  and  column-hke  outlines,  1300  feet  high.  This 
is  now  placed  as  a  monument  in  a  United  States  reserve. 

The  "Club  Sandwich"  is  another  eccentric  rock  formation  in  Johnson  County. 
The  "Devil's  Garden,"  near  Meeteetse  is  still  another  example  of  Nature's  unique 
carving  in  the  eternal  rocks. 


The  climate  of  Wyoming  is  remarkably  healthful  and  invigorating.  Con- 
trary to  the  prevailing  idea  regarding  much  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  the 
winters  are  not  severe  and  cold  waves  are  of  short  duration.  The  dryness  of 
the  atmosphere  and  the  universality  of  sunshine  ameliorates  the  severity  of  the 
cold  waves  of  winter.  In  the  lower  altitudes  which  constitute  the  settled  por- 
tion of  the  state  the  snow  fall  is  generally  light  even  when  heavy  snows  cover 
the   high   ranges  to  great  depths. 

While  the  winters  are  mild,  the  summers  are  delightfully  cool  and  hot  nights 
are  practically  unknown  anywhere  in  the  state,  even  in  mid-summer. 

The  climatology  of  the  state  for  Weather  Bureau  observations  is  divided 
into  three  sections,  designated  as  southeastern,  northeastern  and  western.  Of 
the  southeastern  section  the  United  States  Bureau  reports  the  annual  mean  tem- 
perature over  the  greater  portion  to  be  from  40°  to  45°.  Temperatures  in  excess 
of  100°  are  seldom  registered.  At  Cheyenne  the  maximum  temperature  of  100° 
was  reached  only  once  in  thirty-nine  years.  For  many  seasons  it  has  not  been 
above  95°.  At  Laramie  the  maximum  on  record  for  a  period  of  nineteen  years 
is  only  92°.    The  air  of  the  section  is  pure  and  dry. 

An  important  climatic  factor  is  the  high  percentage  of  sunshine,  it  averag- 
ing nearly  70  per  cent  in  the  plains  region.  This  plays  an  economic  part  in 
the  flavor  and  maturing  of  agricultural  products. 

In  the  northeastern  section  the  climate  does  not  differ  materially  from  the 
southeastern,  except  that  owing  to  the  higher  mountain  ranges  there  are  greater 
extremes  of  temperature — the  mean  temperature  being  between  42°  and  45°. 
Sunshine  records  kept  at  Lander  and  Sheridan  show  the  average  of  70  per 
cent  of  the  possible  amount  for  the  year. 

The  western  section  which  is  largely  covered  by  rugged  mountains  and  in- 
cluding the  Red  Desert  has  a  mean  temperature  of  about  40°  ranging  from  about 
20°  in  January  to  70°  in  July  and  August.  The  ^'alley  records  made  at  eleva- 
tions from  six  thousand  to  seven  thousand  feet  show  a  mean,  annual  tempera- 
ture of  from  :^J°  to  40°  except  in  the  Green  River  Valley  where  it  is  from 
32°  to  34°  degrees.     No  good  mountain  records  are  available. 

In  general,  Wyoming  is  a  part  of  the  great  Rocky  ^Mountain  region,  central 
in  location  and  not  subject  either  to  extreme  heat  or  cold.     With  its  abundant 


24  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

sunshine,  ozone,  and  pure  mountain  air,  no  more  healthful  climate  can  be  found 
on  the  continent. 

PRECIPITATION 

In  the  so-called  arid  states  with  which  Wyoming  may  be  classed,  precipita- 
tion is  a  subject  of  the  utmost  importance.  The  farming  and  live  stock  interests 
are  largely  dependent  on  the  snow. and  rainfall.  Both  irrigation  and  dry  farming 
exist  by  utilizing  the  fall  of  moisture,  the  first  in  the  mountains  and  the  second 
on  the  plains.  The  recent  report  of  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau  at 
Cheyenne  gives  interesting  data  showing  the  precipitation  in  every  part  of  the 
state.  An  area  comprising  over  one-half  of  the  state,  largely  its  central  and 
eastern  part,  has  a  rainfall  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  inches.  About  one-fourth  of 
the  state  lying  southeast  and  northeast,  and  sections  in  the  northwest  have  a 
precipitation  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  inches.  A  small  area  in  the  Jackson  Hole 
region  shows  precipitation  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  inches.  In  the  Big  Horn 
Basin  and  Red  desert,  comprising  about  one-eighth  of  the  state,  the  precipitation 
is  less  than  ten  inches. 

Recent  practical  experience  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  dry  farming  can 
be  carried  on  successfully  where  the  precipitation  is  ten  inches  and  upwards. 
The  state  has  nearly  30,000,000  acres  of  unappropriated  public  lands  and  it  is 
considered  a  fair  estimate  that  20,000,000  acres  can  be  classed  as  farming  land, 
^nd  the  remainder  as  grazing  land.  Wyoming  will  soon  be  numbered  among  the 
farming  states. 

Primitive  Wyoming  was  classed  as  a  part  of  the  "Great  American  Desert" 
and  its  native  plant  productions  were  sage  brush,  cactus  and  grama,  or  buffalo 
grass.  A  wonderful  transformation  has  taken  place  as  will  be  shown  in  the 
chapter  on  Agriculture,  exhibiting  the  rapid  increase  of  farming  settlements  and 
agricultural  crops. 

CLASSIFICATION    OF    LANDS 

The  present  status  of  all  the  lands  of  Wyoming  is  given  in  a  recent  classifica- 
tion by  State  Engineer  James  B.  True,  as  follows : 

Patented  Lands 10,890,521  acres 

Forest  Reserves   8,385,288  acres 

Yellowstone  Park i,954.56o  aci;es 

Under  Reclamation  Filings   12,016,499  acres 

Unappropriated  Public  Lands 29,418,092  acres 

Total 62,664,960  acres 

The  patented  lands  are  mostly  occupied  as  farms  and  stock  ranches,  a 
small  proportion  only  being  patented  under  the  mining  and  placer  acts.  The 
acreage  designated  as  under  reclamation  filings,  includes  incompleted  irriga- 
tion projects,  the  actual  amount  of  lands  now  under  irrigation  being  estimated 
at  2,500:000  acres.  Of  the  unappropriated  public  lands,  after  taking  out  the 
mountainous  and  desert  areas,  Wyoming  has  at  least  20,000,000  acres  suitable 
for  farms  or  grazing  homesteads. 


DEVIL'S   GARDEN,  MEETBETSE 


NATURAL  BRIDGE,  CLEAR  FORK,  GREEN  RIVER 


26  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

In  describing  the  surface  area  of  \\'yoming  and  its  agricultural  and  live  stock 
products  we  are  apt  to  forget  the  enormous  underground  mineral  resources  of 
the  state  in  coal,  iron,  oil,  phosphate,  etc. 

MINERAL  RESOURCES 

No  State  in  the  Union  can  compare  with  Wyoming  in  its  marvelous  unde- 
veloped resources  of  oil,  coal  and  iron,  the  great  factors  of  modern  industry  and 
commerce.  Geologists  estimate  25.000,000  acres  underlaid  with  coal;  15,000,000 
acres  underlaid  with  oil;  1,500,000  acres  of  phosphate  lands,  and  mountains  of 
iron  containing  1,250,000,000  tons  of  ore.  In  fact,  it  is  safe  to  say  no  ecjual  area 
in  the  world  so  far  discovered,  contains  such  enormous  deposits  of  the  minerals 
valuable  to  the  world. 

The  following  summary  of  Wyoming's  resources,  including  the  lands,  made 
from  United  States  Geological  Surveys,  State  Geological  and  land  reports  and 
special  examinations  of  experts  will  give  some  idea  of  the  state's  undeveloped 
wealth. 

29,000,000  acres  public  lands,  $5  per  acre $      145,000,000 

Water  resources  for  15.000,000  acres,  $20  per  acre.  .  .  .  300,000,000 

10,000,000  acres  forest  lands,  $300  per  acre 3,000,000,000 

Electro-water  power  for  12,000,000  H.  P.,  $25  per  acre  300,000,000 

15,000,000  acres  oil  deposits,  $500  per  acre 7,500,000.000 

424,000,000,000  tons  of  coal  at  I2^c  per,  in  the  ground  53,000,000,000 

1,500,000,000  tons  iron  ore,  $1,  in  the  ground 1,500,000,000 

10,000,000  tons  natural  soda,  $10  per  ton 100,000,000 

1,500,000  acres  phosphate  lands,  $500  per  acre 750,000,000 

Metallic  ores,  gold,  silver  and  copper,  estimated 1,250,000,000 

Asbestos,  Graphite,  Sulphur,  mica,  etc.,  estimated.  .  .  .  500,000,000 

Building  stone,  cement,  gypsum,  etc.,  estimated 100,000,000 

Other  natural  resources,  estimated 1,000,000,000 


1,445,000,000 


The  above  tabulation  has  been  made  as  far  as  possible  from  official  reports. 
The  largest  single  item,  that  showing  the  state's  coal  deposits  are  the  figures  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey.  When  estimates  have  been  made  they 
are  based  upon  the  best  data  obtainable  and  may  be  regarded  as  conservative. 

The  metallic  resources  of  the  state  such  as  gold,  silver,  copper  and  lead  have 
never  been  developed  to  any  large  extent.  There  is  no  question  however  as  to 
the  existence  in  large  quantities  of  these  metals  in  all  the  mountains  of  the  state. 
Geologically  Wyoming  is  directly  on  the  mineral  belt  between  Colorado  and  Mon- 
tana and  its  western  border  adjoins  the  mineral  zone  of  Idaho.  State  lines  do 
not  cut  off  mineral  production,  and  the  only  reason  our  great  mineral  veins  and 
deposits  have  not  been  worked  is  the  fact  that  Wyoming  is  sparsely  settled  and 
the  new  settlers  could  see  quicker  fortunes  in  cattle  and  sheep  on  a  free  range, 
and  in  mining  coal  and  petroleum  which  was  found  everj'where. 

In  early  days  California  miners  took  out  millions  in  the  gold  placers  of  the 
state.     Very  rich  copper  mines  have  been  discovered  and  worked  in  the  Grand 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  27 

Encampment  and  Hartville  districts.  It  is  estimated  that  the  Colorado  Fuel  & 
Iron  Co.  produced  $750,000  worth  of  copper  from  one  mine  at  Sunrise  last  year, 
and  this  was  done  as  an  incident  to  their  mining  of  iron  from  the  same  mine. 
In  this  history  we  shall  give  the  facts  to  show  that  the  mountains  are  veritable 
treasure  vauhs  of  metallic  wealth. 

It  should  be  noted  also,  that  this  summary  refers  only  to  undeveIopt?d  re- 
sources, and  that  the  ranches,  cattle,  sheep,  and  industries  of  the  state,  manufac- 
tures, buildings,  personal  and  real  property  are  not  included. 

Although  these  stupendous  resources  have  hardly  been  touched,  the  state  is 
showing  a  remarkable  increase  in  its  agricultural,  live  stock  and  industrial  produc- 
tions as  is  shown  in  the  following  table  of  the 

PRODUCTION   IN    I917 

Oil   $  48,750,000 

Coal    22.108,350 

Iron     2,516,250 

Other  minerals    4,040,000 

Agriculture     54,230,820 

Live  stock 31,897,200 

Wool  and  hides 13,583,000 

Dairy  and  poultry 2.125,000 

Manufactures    15,125,000 

Miscellaneous    7,500,000 

Total   $201,875,630 

This  shows  that  the  annual  production  of  the  state  is  equal  to  over  $1,000 
for  each  person — man,  woman  and  child  in  Wyoming. 

Or,  if  we  take  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  state  for  the  year  191 7,  which  is 
$247,976,465,  we  find  that  the  per  capita  wealth  would  be  $1,239.  As  the 
assessment  is  probably  at  least  twenty  per  cent  below  actual  value,  that  would 
show  the  average  wealth  of  every  individual  in  the  state  to  be  nearly  $1,500. 

Another  fact  disclosed  by  these  statistics  is  the  great  increase  in  production 
during  the  year  1917.  For  instance,  comparing  different  items  with  1916,  agricul- 
ture has  increased  seventy-three  per  cent,  live  stock  over  seventy  per  cent,  and 
minerals  sixty-eight  per  cent. 

DEVELOPMENT 

Wyoming  is  now  in  an  era  of  wonderful  development.  This  is  shown  by 
some  of  the  facts  and  figures  heretofore  given.  For  forty  years  after  the  terri- 
tory was  organized  it  was  solely  a  range  state.  Some  coal  was  mined  along  the 
Union  Pacific,  but  nine-tenths  of  its  area  was  first  occupied  by  herds  of  cattle 
and  bronco  ponies  and  later,  by  an  influx  of  sheep.  Everj'where  it  was  re- 
garded as  an  unfenced  wilderness  and  the  national  home  of  the  cowboy  and 
sheep  herder.    It  was  a  frontier  land. 

Now  all  is  changed.  A  remarkable  transformation  has  taken  place.  There 
is  no  longer  any  frontier,  and  in  order  to  recall  the  memories  of  the  days  of 


28  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  Indians  and  cowboys  and  the  phases  of  pioneer  life  of  territorial  days,  an 
annual  Frontier  Day  celebration  is  held  at  Cheyenne  every  summer.  The  pic- 
turesque scenes,  customs  and  exploits  of  the  old  Wyoming  are  reproduced  in 
thrilling  performances  that  attract  crowds  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and 
even  from  foreign  lands. 

While  the  live  stock  industry  has  increased  under  new  and  improved  condi- 
tions in  care,  treatment  and  breeding,  the  state  has  realized  a  great  transformation 
in  the  development,  or  rather,  the  beginning  of  development  of  its  gigantic  mineral 
deposits  and  added  to  that,  the  utilization  of  its  great  agricultural  possibilities 
of  "dry  farming"  and  by  large  irrigation  enterprises  perfected  under  the  Carey 
Act  and  the  United  States  reclamation  service.  Wyoming  is  also  the  greatest 
state  in  the  Union  in  its  production  of  sheep  and  wool. 

Within  the  last  ten  years  thousands  of  settlers  have  come  to  the  state  and 
taken  up  dry  farming  and  grazing  homesteads  and  have  been  universally  suc- 
cessful and  prosperous.  New  towns  have  sprung  up  all  over  the  state  and  with 
them  have  come  banks,  elevators,  flouring  mills,  schools  and  all  the  conditions 
of  high  class  communities.' 

Large  government  irrigation  projects  upon  which  many  millions  have  been 
spent  have  been  completed  and  others  are  under  construction.  The  completed 
projects  are  the  Pathfinder,  the  North  Platte  and  the  Shoshone.  Begun  and 
partially  constructed  are  the  Wyoming  Central,  the  Oregon  Basin  and  the  Wind 
River  projects.  Hundreds  of  other  large  and  small  irrigation  enterprises  are 
completed  or  in  progress  of  construction  in  various  parts  of  the  state,  some 
under  the  Carey  Act  and  State  supervision  and  others  individual  enterprises. 
Lands  under  irrigation  to  the  extent  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  are 
being  rapidly  settled  up  and  will  prove  a  great  source  of  wealth  to  the  settlers  and 
the  resources  of  the  state. 

Our  greatest  industrial  development  for  the  past  ten  years  has  been  in  the 
oil  fields  and  the  building  of  refineries  resuUing  from  increased  production.  The 
industry  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds  as  will  be  shown  in  another  chapter 
of  this  work.  It  is  enough  to  say  here  that  the  value  of  the  oil  production  in 
1917  placed  at  $50,000,000  will  be  enormously  increased  with  future  develop- 
ment. The  number  of  producing  wells  completed  is  given  at  four  hundred  and 
seventy-five  and  the  number  of  wells  now  drilling  is  estimated  at  five  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  number  of  proven  fields  in  the  state  is  twenty-three.  This  will 
give  some  idea  of  what  is  only  a  beginning,  as  it  is  now  believed  by  many  geolo- 
gists that  Wyoming  has  the  largest  producing  oil  territory  of  any  similar  area 
in  the  world. 

EDUCATIONAL 

In  concluding  this  general  review  of  the  state,  a  feature  important  to  its 
future  welfare  and  the  character  of  its  citizenship,  is  its  educational  advantages. 
In  this  respect  Wyoming  takes  high  rank  and  with  its  splendid  financial  endow- 
ment promises  to  surpass  most  of  the  states  of  our  land. 

The  public  schools  have  a  permanent  endowment  of  three  million  acres  of 
land  which  cannot  be  sold  in  tracts,  for  less  than  ten  dollars  per  acre,  or  a  total 
value  of  thirty  million  dollars.     Some  of  this  land  may  not  be  worth  ten  dollars 


'THE   CLUB    SANDWICH"   ON    ROLK    (  REFK      lOHNSOX    COUNTY,    "  H.   F.   BAR 
RANCH ' ' 


30  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

per  acre,  but  on  the  other  hand  some  sections  having  proved  to  be  oil  lands,  is 
worth  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars  per  acre.  This  is  leased  by 
the  state  and  a  royalty  on  the  production  goes  into  the  school  fund  and  together 
with  the  receipts  from  sales  of  land  and  grazing  leases,  is  made  a  permanent 
fund  for  all  future  time  to  be  used  exclusively  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public 
schools.  At  the  present  time  the  amount  derived  from  these  lands  is  about  fifty 
thousand  dollars  per  month  or  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  This 
income  will  soon  reach  one  million  dollars  a  year  and  may  go  far  beyond  that, 
and  Wyoming  will  have  the  richest  endowment  of  its  schools,  per  capita  of  any 
state  in  the  Union,  and  no  citizen  of  the  state  will  be  compelled  to  pay  a  school 
tax.  A  public  school  system  can  be  established  that  will  include  normal  train- 
ing, manual  training,  mechanical  and  art  schools  and  night  schools,  so  that  every 
child  in  the  state  may  obtain  without  cost  a  liberal  education.  Already  the  public 
spirit,  liberality  and  intelligence  of  Wyoming's  electorate  has  established  an 
educational  system  based  upon  the  most  advanced  ideas.  Education  is  made 
compulsory,  free  text  books  are  furnished,  hygenic  rules  requiring  physical  ex- 
amination are  required,  human  treatment  of  animals  must  be  taught,  etc.  Wyo- 
ming was  the  first  state  to  adopt  and  introduce  the  Steever  system  of  military 
training,  and  the  legislature  voted  the  necessary  appropriations  to  equip  the 
cadets. 

The  constitution  of  Wyoming  has  an  intelligence  qualification  requiring  that 
every  voter  shall  be  able  to  read  the  Constitution  in  the  English  language.  The 
very  first  legislature  of  the  state  passed  an  act  giving  woman  teachers  the  same 
pay  as  men  for  the  same  kind  of  service. 

So  it  is,  Wyoming,  unsurpassed  in  the  splendid  opportunities  it  ofifers  the 
industrial  worker,  the  farmer  and  the  capitalist,  presents  still  greater  attrac- 
tions to  the  boys  and  girls,  the  ambitious  youth  of  the  nation,  who  prize  an  edu- 
cation above  material  wealth,  and  are  proud  to  become  citizens  of  this  great 
state. 


CHAPTER  II 
WYOMING'S  PRE-HISTORIC  RACES 

RECENT    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    DISCOVERIES — SCIENTIFIC    EXPLORATIONS ANCIENT    AB- 
ORIGINAL QUARRIES THE  SO-CALLED  "SPANISH   DIGGINS" ANCIENT  SYSTEM    OF 

MINING DESCRIPTION     OF    STONE     IMPLEMENTS SHOP     AND    VILLAGE     SITES 

LATER    QUARRIES    FOUND SHOULD    BE   A    NATIONAL     PARK THEORIES     OF     THE 

ANTIQUITY   OF  THE  SPECIMENS CAVE  DWELLINGS ^THE   MEDICINE  WHEELS   IN 

THE    BIG    HORN    MOUNTAINS DISCOVERIES    IN    BRIDGER    BASIN STORY    OF    THE 

PREHISTORIC  ANIMALS  AND  THE  GREAT  FOSSIL  FIELDS  OF  WYOMING. 

The  story  of  Wyoming's  earliest  inhabitants  is  enveloped  in  a  haze  of  mys- 
tery and  obscurity,  but  recent  explorations  have  developed  the  fact  that  this 
state  has  the  most  ancient  remains  of  vanished  races  to  be  found  on  this  con- 
tinent. In  the  pre-historic  mines  of  this  state  there  is  embedded  the  hidden 
chronicles  of  extinct  races — the  story  of  the  stone  age  and  the  cave  man,  of  the 
buried,  untold  history  of  the  primitive,  rude  and  savage  life  of  the  childhood  of 
the  world. 

Dr.  Harlem  I.  Smith,  a  noted  archaeologist,  after  his  explorations  in  this 
state,  described  the  plains  and  foot  hills  of  Wyoming  as  "Darkest  Archaeological 
America."  Mr.  C.  H.  Robinson,  one  of  the  most  recent  explorers  of  the  Aborig- 
inal Quarries  north  of  Hartville,  says  the  region  he  investigated  is,  "An  Archae- 
ological Wonderland.'' 

The  oldest  students  of  Ethnology  have  been  so  mystified  and  puzzled  by  the 
unique,  remarkable  and  extensive  stone  quarries  and  village  sites  found  in  this 
state  that  they  hesitate  to  give  any  opinions  as  to  the  period  of  their  settlement 
and  active  operation.  Dr.  George  A.  Dorsey  says,  "There  are  here  many  prob- 
lems unsolved  but  well  worthy  of  solution."  All  evidences  point  to  their  existence 
before  the  period  of  the  mound  builders  or  the  cliff  dwellers. 

In  addition  to  the  remains  of  the  stone  workers  there  have  been  recently 
discovered  in  Wyoming  the  medicine  wheels  and  cave  dwellings,  the  latter  being 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  quarries.  The  medicine  wheels  are  found  on  the  tops 
of  mountains  of  the  Big  Horn  range. 

ANCIENT    ABORIGINAL    QU.\RRIES 

The  editor  of  this  volume  was  the  first  to  give  to  the  world  an  account  of 

the  ancient  aboriginal  quarries  discovered  about  thirty  miles  north  of  Hartville, 

where  he  was  then  engaged  in  mining  operations.    This  was  in  1892,  and  after  a 

visit  to  the  locality  he  wrote  to  the  San  Francisco  Examiner  and  St.  Louis  Repub- 

31 


32  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

lie  a  description  of  his  trip  and  what  he  saw.  Up  to  this  time  the  working  had 
been  known  to  cowboys  as  "The  Spanish  Diggins." 

In  1899  he  made  a  second  visit  to  the  qtiarries  accompanied  by  his  son, 
Sydney  E.  Bartlett  and  Judge  Sydney  E.  Eastman  of  Chicago.  Judge  Eastman 
took  the  specimens  of  stone  work  he  collected  to  Chicago  and  submitted  them 
to  Dr.  George  A.  Dorsey,  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the 
Field  Columbian  Museum.  Dr.  George  A.  Dorsey  was  so  much  interested  in  the 
find,  he  wrote  requesting  me  to  arrange  an  expedition  for  him  to  the  locality  and 
I  arranged  with  Mr.  William  Lauk  and  W.  L.  Stein  of  Whalen  Canyon  (near 
Guernsey),  two  experienced  miners  and  prospectors  who  knew  the  country 
thoroughly,  to  supply  the  teams  and  equipment  and  accompany  the  party  as 
guides. 

This  was  the  first  scientific  expedition  to  the  quarries  and  shop  sites.  Doctor 
Dorsey's  report  of  this  investigation  appears  in  the  Anthropological  series  of  the 
Columbian  Museum  of  December,  1900,  with  photographic  illustrations  showing 
the  pits,  quartzite  workings,  excavations  and  about  fifty  examples  of  stone  im- 
plements. 

Since  that  time  many  explorations  have  been  made  by  archaeologists  repre- 
senting various  museums,  colleges  and  scientific  societies  of  this  country  and 
Canada. 

OTHER   EXPEDITIONS 

Among  other  expeditions  to  these  fields  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 
Dr.  Harlem  I.  .Smith  of  the  Canadian  Geological  Survey — two  trips — one  in 
1910  and  one  in  1914.     These  resulted  in  his  issuing  a  publication  entitled,  "An 
Unknown  Field  in  American  Archaeology"  and  another  work  on  "Cave  Explora- 
tions in  Eastern  Wyoming." 

Amherst  College  sent  two  expeditions  under  Professor  Loomis  in   igo"  and 

1908.  These  were  research  expeditions  of  students  on  vacation. 

Dr.  Erwin  H.  Barbour,  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  Geology  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska,  visited  the  locality  in  1905. 

Dr.  M.  H.  Everett  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  accompanied  Dr.  Barbour  on  this 
trip  and  became  so  interested  he  made  two  more  trips. 

Professor  Richard  Lull  of  the  Yale  College  Department  of  Geology  made 
an  investigation  of  the  field  in  1903. 

R.  F.  Gilder,  of  the  Omaha  World- Herald,  has  been  a  most  enthusiastic  inves- 
tigator of  Wyoining's  ancient  remains,  and  has  made  many  visits  to  the  aboriginal 
quarries  since  1905,  and  has  written  interesting  reports  of  same  in  the  "Records 
of  the  Past"  magazine  appearing  in  the  issues  of  August,   1908,  and  February. 

1909.  Probably  Mr.  Gilder  has  spent  more  time  in  exploring  these  workings 
than  any  other  person. 

C.  H.  Robinson,  of  Bloomington,  111.,  an  earnest  student  of  Ethnology,  repre- 
senting the  Illinois  State  Museum  and  the  McLean  County  Historical  Society, 
visited  the  field  in  August,  191 5,  and  has  written  a  valuable  bulletin  descriptive  of 
his  experiences  and  discoveries. 

In  191 5  the  Smithsonian  Institution  sent  a  party  of  scientists  to  investigate 
the  field  with  a  view  of  establishing  a  National  Park.    This  expedition  was  under- 


UPPER  QUARTZITE  STRATUM  SH 
Dr.  George  A.   Dorse}-,  curator  Fielil 


ER   NODULES 
Museum,  Chicago. 


34  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

taken  upon  representations  made  by  the  writer  and  United  States  Senator  Ken- 
drick,  who  was  then  governor  of  Wyoming.  Its  report  was  favorable  and  will 
be  more  fully  explained  in  this  chapter.  In  addition  to  these  expeditions  in  the  in- 
terests of  science,  hundreds  of  tourists,  curiosity  seekers  and  hunters  have  made 
trips  to  the  region  and  have  carried  away  thousands  of  stone  implements  of 
varied  character,  comprising  war,  hunting,  domestic  and  agricultural  tools. 

THE  SO-C.\LLED  "SPANISH  DIGGINS" 

The  names  "Mexican  Mines"  and  "Spanish  Diggins,"  were  first  applied  to 
these  workings  by  the  cowboys  who  rode  the  range.  The  ancient  village  sites, 
shop  sites  and  quarries  are  located  over  an  area  of  ten  by  forty  miles,  extending 
from  a  point  south  of  Manville  to  Bulls  Bend  on  the  north  Platte  River.  Not 
all  of  this  ground  is  taken  up  with  workings,  of  course,  but  in  all  this  region 
of  four  hundred  square  miles,  the  visitor  is  seldom  out  of  sight  of  some  village 
site  or  quarry.  C.  H.  Robinson,  who  spent  several  weeks  in  the  region  says  he 
traveled  over  six  hundred  miles  on  foot  and  horseback,  and  collected  for  Illinois 
State  Museum  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  specimens  of  rock  work  and  for  the 
McLean  County  Historical  Society  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  specimens. 
This  will  give  one  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  these  remains. 

Mr.  Gilder  says,  "In  no  section  of  the  entire  world  can  be  found  ancient 
quarries  of  such  magnitude."  There  must  have  been  a  dense  population  and 
thousands  of  workers  in  active  employment  in  these  fields  for  at  least  half 
a  century. 

TOPOGRAPHY    AND    SCENERY 

A  description  of  the  quarries  first  discovered  (there  were  many  others  found 
later)  was  given  by  Mr.  Bartlett  in  his  correspondence  in  1892,  as  follows: 

"The  region  is  intensely  weird  and  picturesque.  The  surrounding  country  is 
broken  into  a  series  of  rugged  hills,  interspersed  with  rocky  and  sandy  gulches, 
with  stretches  of  mesas  and  desert  plains  to  the  south.  Much  of  the  area  resem- 
bles the  bad  lands  in  its  loneliness  and  its  grotesque  rock  formations.  From 
the  top  of  the  mesa  where  the  principal  workings  are  found,  the  scene  though 
wild  and  desolate  was  magnificent.  The  Laramie  range  loomed  up  in  the  west 
against  a  clear  sky,  the  table  lands  and  foot  hills  between  showing  picturesque, 
rocky  formations  rising  abruptly,  clean  cut  and  distinct,  like  castle  towers  and 
fortifications,  but  everywhere  around  us  was  an  oppressive  silence  and  desolation, 
as  if  we  had  invaded  the  burial  ground  of  a  long  departed  race." 

The  locality  of  the  first  discoveries  is  along  the  Dry  Muddy.  The  country 
is  so  dry  that  live  stock  cannot  range  there.  From  the  dry  creek  there  arises  a 
series  of  clififs  of  sandstone  and  quartzite,  and  along  the  top  of  these  clififs  in 
their  broken  and  irregular  formations  stretching  away  for  some  miles  are  found 
the  quarry  workings,  consisting  of  pits,  tunnels,  open  cuts  and  immense  bodies 
of  rock  dumps  created  by  the  mining  operations.  Beyond  the  workings  and 
broken  ledges  at  the  top  of  the  clifT  a  flat  mesa-like  formation  extends  south- 
wardly an^  here  the  village  and  shop  sites  are  located. 


1698216 


'■Si'AMSIi  DIGGINS,"  1915 
Vase  14  inehes  high,  10  inches  in  diameter,  7  inches  at  top. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


THEIR    SYSTEM    OF    MINING 


The  mining  operations  carried  on  in  great  magnitude  among  these  rocks 
seem  to  have  been  on  a  pecuHar  stratum  of  quartzite  lying  in  sandstone.  This 
quartzite  was  selected  undoubtedly  on  account  of  its  conchoidal  fracture  which 
gave  sharp  edges,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  could  be  shaped  and  worked.  In 
order  to  reach  the  vein  of  quartzite  the  overlying  strata  of  other  kinds  of  rock 
had  to  be  mined  and  removed.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  all  this  rock  mining 
was  done  with  rock  tools,  such  as  wedges  and  heavy  hammers.  In  some  instances 
the  wedges  were  found  set  in  the  rock  seams  ready  to  be  driven,  and  this  seems 
to  bear  out  Doctor  Dorsey's  theory  that  the  region  was  suddenly  abandoned 
either  from  attacks  from  enemy  tribes  or  from  some  cataclysm  of  nature. 

Nowhere  is  there  any  evidence  that  metal  tools  were  used  in  either  mining 
or  for  domestic  purposes.  As  to  their  manner  of  working,  Doctor  Dorsey  says, 
"At  one  place  on  the  bank  near  the  ravine  I  found  a  great  slab  which  evidently 
served  as  a  seat  for  some  workingman.  Seating  myself  upon  it,  I  could  readily 
make  out  the  grooves  in  front  of  the  seat  where  had  rested  the  legs  and  feet,  while 
on  the  right  were  two  hammer-stones  of  different  sizes,  and  all  about  were  chips, 
refuse,  and  many  rejected  and  partially  roughed-out  implements." 

Evidently  their  mining  work  was  a  slow,  tedious  and  laborious  process  and 
very  crude,  requiring  hundreds  of  workers  to  accomplish  what  two  or  three  men 
could  easily  do  today.  Much  of  the  work  was  done  in  pits  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  feet  in  diameter  and  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  deep.  There  were  some  tun- 
nels and  many  open  cuts  of  large  extent.  Everywhere  were  huge  dumps  of 
broken  rock  which  had  been  worked  out  and  worked  over.  In  most  cases  the 
pits  were  nearly  filled  up  with  accumulation  of  soil  and  debris  and  trees  and 
shrubbery  were  growing  from  them. 

THE    ROCK    IMPLEMENTS    FOUND 

The  implements  manufactured  were  for  war,  domestic  and  agricultural  uses. 
In  the  opinion  of  experts  the  agricultural  tools  predominated. 

A  general  summary  of  the  specimens  found  includes  arrow  and  lance  heads, 
knives,  hide  scrapers,  hammers,  axes,  hoes,  grinding  mills,  wedges,  mauls  and 
various  leaf-shaped  implements. 

The  heavy  hammers  or  grooved  mauls  were  usually  of  dense  hard  granite,  but 
all  the  other  output  of  the  quarries  was  of  the  peculiar  quartzite  here  excavated, 
so  peculiar  in  fact  that  when  in  the  surrounding  country  or  in  the  neighboring 
states  of  Nebraska  and  Oklahoma,  the  tools  can  be  easily  recognized  as  coming 
from  the  Wyoming  quarries — the  character  of  the  rock  at  once  establishing  a 
trade  mark. 

Tons  of  cores  left  just  in  the  beginning  of  being  shaped  are  found  round 
the  pits  and  shop  sites.  As  to  other  rock  manufactures,  R.  F.  Gilder  says: 
"Strange  stone  figures  of  immense  proportions  representing  human  beings  and 
thousands  of  stone  cairns  are  strewn  over  the  landscape  for  many  miles." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


SHOP  AND  VILLAGE  SITES 


Back  on  the  mesa  in  close  proximity  to  the  workings  are  extensive  village 
sites,  marked  by  hundreds  of  tepee  or  lodge  circles  made  by  stones  used  to  keep 
the  poles  in  place  that  were  covered  with  skins  of  animals  or  brush,  and  these 
were  the  habitations  of  this  primitive  race.  Many  of  such  villages  are  located 
forty  or  fifty  miles  away  in  pleasant  valleys  and  parks  where  there  were  springs 
or  running  streams.  Nearly  all  of  these  villages  were  also  shop  sites  as  is  demon- 
strated by  large  accumulations  of  chips  and  rejects  showing  that  they  were 
simply  adjuncts  of  the  quarry  mining. 

In  these  villages  and  work  shops  scattered  over  a  region  of  probably  five 
hundred  square  miles  there  are  found  many  specimens  of  workmanship  not  made 
from  the  quarry  blocks.  Arrow  and  lance  heads  and  hide  scrapers  are  found 
beautifully  fashioned  from  brilliantly  colored  agates,  jasper  and  chalcedony. 
All  colors  are  represented,  white,  blue,  red,  yellow,  black  and  banded.  They 
are  mostly  small  and  the  work  on  these  is  so  superior  to  that  at  the  quarries  that 
some  are  inclined  to  think  they  may  be  classed  as  the  product  of  the  modem 
Indians  who  occupied  the  country  after  the  quarry  races  had  passed  away. 

The  Indians  of  today  have  no  knowledge,  theory  or  traditions  concerning  these 
remains.  They  have  no  knowledge  of  the  system  of  mining  these  huge  quarries, 
and  never  made  an  efifort  to  perform  such  laborious  tasks. 

OTHER    GREAT    QUARRIES 

The  above  description  applies  to  the  first  discovered  aboriginal  quarries  loca- 
ted on  the  Dry  Muddy.  Recent  explorations  have  brought  to  light  other  exten- 
sive workings,  the  most  important  being  in  the  vicinity  of  Saw  Mill  Canyon, 
near  the  North  Platte  River,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  southeast  of  the  Muddy 
workings  in  Converse  and  Niobrara  counties. 

Dr.  Harlem  I.  Smith  in  an  article  published  in  the  Archaeological  Bulletin  of 
April,  1914,  says:  "On  my  last  trip  we  discovered  many  miles  south  of  the 
'Spanish  Diggins'  proper,  another  quarry  district.  The  exact  location  of  this 
cannot  be  made  known  at  this  time.  Near  these  quarries  are  shop  sites  covering 
many  acres  where  chips  and  cones  are  in  such  abundance  as  to  stagger  one's 
belief.  Most  of  the  material  is  black  and  yellow  jasper  and  fine  grained  moss 
agate." 

Mr.  Gilder  refers  to  this  same  locality  probably  when  he  says :  "Another 
quarry  territory  discovered  on  one  of  my  trips  never  explored  is  so  difficult  of 
access  that  I  hardly  know  how  to  tell  just  where  it  is,  but  if  you  follow  the 
canyon  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Platte  until  west  of  the  Saw  Mill  Canyon,  you 
would  reach  a  section  so  prolific  in  material,  so  tremendous  in  scale  of  work 
performed  that  you  would  never  want  to  see  another  such  district  I  am  sure." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  exploration  of  this  wonderful  region  which 
links  us  to  remote  ages,  has  only  just  begun.  The  experts,  scientists  and  curi- 
osity hunters  who  have  roamed  over  this  area  of  some  four  hundred  square  miles 
have  only  seen  surface  indications  and  picked  up  such  specimens  as  lay  before 
the  naked  eye.    There  has  been  no  systematic  plan  of  exploration  and  no  excava- 


38  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

tion  of  the  pits  to  uncover  the  hidden  rehcs  of  the  race  that  worked  and  dreamed 
and  passed  "life's  fitful  fever"  in  these  desolate  wilds. 

SHOULD  BE  A  NATIONAL  PARK 

In  May,  1905,  the  writer  addressed  a  letter  to  W.  A.  Richards,  commissioner 
of  the  general  land  office,  Washington,  D.  C,  requesting  the  survey  and  with- 
drawal of  these  lands  for  the  protection  of  pre-historic  remains.  Mr.  Richards 
took  up  the  matter  with  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Ethnology  which  favored 
the  project.  The  area  however  was  so  large,  and  so  many  private  land  titles  were 
involved  that  action  was  deferred.  The  commissioner,  however,  said  that  if 
we  could  give  him  a  description  by  survey  of  the  section  or  sections  upon  which 
the  principal  quarries  were  found,  he  would  recommend  the  reservation.  At 
that  time  it  was  impossible  to  furnish  that  information  and  the  national  govern- 
ment had  no  surveyors  in  the  field  in  this  state. 

In  the  summer  of  1914  I  again  took  up  the  matter  and  succeeded  in  getting 
Governor  Kendrick  interested  in  the  park  or  monument  reserve.  He  gave  me  a 
strong  letter  to  Secretary  Lane,  which  I  presented  in  person.  The  matter  was 
referred  to  the  Ethnological  Department  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  and  it 
v;as  agreed  to  send  out  a  party  to  survey  and  investigate  the  fields.  Dr.  Grace 
Raymond  Hebard  of  the  University  of  Wyoming  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
plan  and  urged  such  resen^ation  in  letters  to  the  Smithsonian  people. 

Owing  to  the  great  extent  of  the  region  involved,  400  to  600  square  miles, 
it  was  deemed  impracticable  to  reserve  it  all,  but  it  was  agreed  to  reserve  the 
most  important  of  the  "diggins"'  for  scientific  research.  This  will  undoubtedly 
be  done.  The  next  spring  following  the  examination  made  by  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  the  government  practically  took  charge  of  the  principal  workings  and 
required  all  visitors  who  desired  to  take  away  specimens,  to  secure  a  permit  from 
the  Interior  Department. 

THEORIES    AND    OPINIONS 

The  writer  has  visited  ancient  remains  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  and. 
while  as  objects  they  are  picturesque  and  interesting,  they  cannot  compare  in 
impressiveness.  weirdness  and  mystery  to  the  Wyoming  remains  which  are  to 
be  found  on  the  American  Continent.  Personally  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion 
that  they  belong  to  the  stone  age,  for  various  reasons.  The  rock  work  was  done 
with  rock,  they  had  no  metal  tools  nor  any  domestic  utensils  except  of  rock  manu- 
facture, they  had  no  dwelHngs  that  show  any  signs  of  architectural  skill,  and 
nowhere  can  be  found  any  foundations  of  buildings  except  the  crude  stone  cir- 
cles that  marked  the  skin  covered  tepees. 

•  Mr.  Robinson,  who  has  made  a  thorough  study  of  the  ^Mound  Builders,  says : 
"The  specimens  of  stone  tools,  implements,  etc..  are  the  same  as  found  in  the 
mounds  of  the  Mississippi  \"al!ey  credited  to  the  handicraft  of  the  Mound 
Builders.  The  theory  is  thus  advanced  that  these  quarries  may  have  been  the 
site  of  the  workshops  of  the  pre-historic  men  who  roamed  over  the  land  ages 
before  the  American  Indian  made  his  appearance.  Here  they  made  their  uten- 
sils and  implements  of  war  and  the  chase  to  be  later  carried  down  the  Platte  to 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  39 

the  Missouri  and  ^lississippi  to  be  left  in  Illinois  and  the  various  states  bordering 
on  these  streams." 

Dr.  F.  B.  Loomis  of  Amherst  College  wrote  in  June,  191 5,  as  follows:  "I 
have  in  the  Amherst  Collections  several  implements  from  Arkansas  and  other 
nearer  localities  made  from  material  which  doubtless  came  from  these  quarries, 
so  they  must  have  been  visited  by  tribes  far  and  near,  or  at  least  the  material 
must  have  been  traded  widely.  I  know  of  no  other  place  where  the  quarrying 
of  rock  for  making  stone  implements  was  carried  on  to  anywhere  near  as  large 
an  extent." 

INDIAN  SITES  AND  CAVE  DWELLINGS 

Robert  F.  Gilder  in  an  article  contributed  to  the  "Records  of  the  Past,"  Au- 
gust, 1908,  gives  an  account  of  the  Indian  sites  of  Whalen  Canyon.  The  loca- 
tion of  this  canyon,  or  rather  valley,  is  a  few  miles  east  of  Sunrise  and  winds  in 
a  southerly  direction  to  the  North  Platte  River  through  the  Black  Hills  of  Wyo- 
ming. It  has  always  been  a  favorite  resort  of  the  wild  tribes  on  account  of  the 
fine  grazing,  the  mountain  springs,  that  feed  a  small  stream  which  flows  along 
the  base  of  the  eastern  range  of  hills,  and  the  great  bodies  of  red  hematite  iron 
ore,  which  the  Indians  used  as  a  pigment  to  decorate  themselves,  and  their  domes- 
tic implements.     Especially  on  war  trips  they  made  lavish  use  of  the  paint  ores. 

From  the  north  end  of  this  valley  where  it  is  abruptly  closed  in  by  hills  with 
nothing  but  a  wagon  road  out  to  the  plain,  it  extends  some  fifteen  miles  to  the 
river  with  hills  rising  on  either  side  giving  ample  protection  from  winds  and 
storms  to  those  who  made  it  their  home.  It  was  selected  by  the  Indians  as  an 
ideal  camping  ground  and  for  five  or  six  miles  at  the  base  of  the  eastern  range 
of  hills  they  may  be  traced  by  the  tepee  beds  of  numerous  Indian  villages. 

It  was  near  here  that  Mr.  Parkman  the  historian,  spent  nearly  a  year  living 
with  the  Indians  and  studying  their  manners  and  customs  which  are  so  graphic- 
ally described  in  his  book  "The  Oregon  Trail."  Among  the  hills  at  the  north 
end  of  the  valley  was  the  scene  of  conflicts  among  the  Indian  tribes  and  one 
battle  ground  is  marked  by  an  extensive  burial  ground. 

Around  the  stone  circles  where  their  lodges  were  erected  are  found  abundant 
collections  of  beautifully  colored  stones  of  agate,  chalcedony  and  jasper,  which 
they  used  in  the  manufacture  of  arrow,  lance  heads  and  hide  scrapers,  most  of 
the  implements  being  made  for  war  and  hunting  purposes.  These  were  un- 
doubtedly the  work  of  the  modern  Indian  tribes  and  have  no  relation  to  the 
pre-historic  workings  of  the  so-called  "Spanish  Diggins,"  as  the  former  used 
different  stones  and  produced  much  more  finished  specimens  of  handiwork.  Oc- 
casionally there  is  found  stone  axes  and  hammers  that  were  evidently  brought 
from  the  ancient  workings  on  the  Muddy. 

THE    CAVE    DWELLINGS 

At  the  northern  end  of  the  valley  among  the  western  hills  there  is  a  gorge 
hemmed  in  by  limestone  cliffs  in  which  natural  caves  are  found  that  evidence 
shows  were  once  inhabited  by  human  beings.  On  the  lower  part  of  these  cliffs 
there  are  a  dozen  or  more  large  and  small  caverns  which  were  first  explored  by 


40  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

J.  L.  Stein,  a  miner  and  prospector  whose  home  was  in  Whalen  Valley.  His 
researches  showed  that  the  walls  were  smoke  stained  and  charcoal  embers  were 
found  where  fires  had  been  made,  and  in  the  debris  on  the  floor  of  the  caves 
were  found  flint  chippings  showing  that  work  had  been  done  by  the  dwellers, 
either  during  storms  or  when  hiding  from  tribes  on  the  war  path. 

In  one  cavern  Mr.  Stein  discovered  the  skeleton  of  a  man  covered  with  dust 
and  stone  fragments.  It  had  evidently  lain  there  for  centuries.  The  skull  was 
incrusted  with  lime  accretions.  Mr.  Stein  sent  the  skull  to  Maj.  J.  W.  Powell 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  and  it  is  now  a  part  of  their  ethnological  collec- 
tions. These  caverns  were  visited  by  Dr.  George  A.  Dorsey  in  1900,  by  Harlem  I. 
Smith's  expedition  in  1907  and  by  Air.  Gilder  in  1906.  Mr.  Gilder  found  a  jasper 
blade  and  stone  awl  lying  on  a  shelf  in  one  cave,  ten  feet  from  the  entrance. 
Others  found  various  flint  instruments.  The  bones  of  rabbits  and  sage  hens 
which  had  probably  been  used  for  food  were  found  in  these  caves. 

OTHER   DISCOVERIES 

Several  discoveries  of  great  interest  have  been  made  in  the  excavations  made 
in  opening  up  the  iron  mines  six  or  eight  miles  south  of  the  caves  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Hartville  and  Sunrise.  J.  L.  Stein  and  William  Lauk,  in  running  a  tunnel 
into  the  hill,  found  at  a  depth  of  twenty  feet,  a  stone  mortar  and  grinding  stone, 
an  Indian  necklace  made  of  sinews  strung  with  arrow  heads,  carved  hoof  bones, 
a  stone  tomahawk  and  the  polished  end  of  a  horn.  In  another  mine  nearby  rude 
stone  paint  mills  were  unearthed. 

These  discoveries  tell  their  own  history.  On  account  of  the  presence  of 
large  bodies  of  red  hematite,  the  Indians  made  the  region  a  favorite  resort  to 
obtain  the  brilliant,  soft  pigment  for  coloring  their  various  articles  of  workman- 
ship and  particularly  when  large  bands  were  organized  for  the  warpath,  and  as  a 
first  preparation  for  the  campaign,  their  faces  and  parts  of  the  body  were  painted 
red.  The  rude  stone  paint  mills  found  in  both  these  mines  tell  the  story  as 
vividly  as  if  the  red  warriors  were  fighting  their  battles  today. 

Hartville  is  rich  in  Indian  and  pioneer  history.  The  old  California  and 
Alormon  trail  passes  directly  through  the  townsite.  The  very  gulch  in  which 
the  town  is  located  was  called  "Indian  Spring",  as  far  back  as  the  records  of 
white  men  go.  This  spring  gushes  out  of  solid  rock  at  the  foot  of  a  high  cliff, 
and  formerly  furnished  Hartville  its  supply  of  water.  Along  the  outskirts  of 
the  townsite  and  covering  a  portion  of  it  can  be  traced  the  tepee  beds  of  the 
Indians  who  once  resorted  there,  showing  villages  a  mile  in  extent.  It  was  also 
a  favorite  camping  place  of  the  ■49ers  and  Mormons  on  account  of  its  excellent 
supply  of  water  and  wood,  and  its  beautiful  situation. 

About  ten  miles  above  Hartville  situated  in  a  wild  and  picturesque  spot  in 
the  hills,  between  the  old  trail  and  the  North  Platte  is  Slade's  canyon— the 
home  of  the  famous  desperado  and  his  companions,  and  the  place  where  they 
cached  their  plunder  after  foraging  on  the  immigrant  trains  and  stage  travelers 
of  that  day. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


THE    MEDICINE    WHEELS 


In  this  relation  of  Wyoming  Antiquities  the  "medicine  wheels"  of  the  Big 
Horn  range  deserve  especial  mention,  as  having  been  recently  discovered  and 
still  a  subject  of  discussion  and  conjecture  as  to  their  origin  and  antiquity. 

In  the  American  Anthropologist  of  March,  1903,  C.  S.  Simms  of  the  Field 
Columbian  Museum  gives  an  account  of  the  wheels  found  on  the  summit  of 
Medicine  Mountain  of  the  Big  Horn  range  at  an  elevation  of  over  12.000  feet. 

Mr.  Simms  was  conducted  to  the  spot  by  "Silver  Tip",  a  prospector  and 
hunter  who  had  lived  among  the  Indians  when  a  boy.  The  ascent  was  slow 
and  difficult  as  there  was  no  good  trail  and  heavy  snow  drifts  were  encountered. 
The  summit  of  the  mountain  is  broad  at  the  west  end  tapering  to  narrow  limits 
on  the  east  where  the  medicine  wheel  is  located.  This  is  described  by  Simms  as 
consisting  of  an  immense  wheel  built  upon  the  ground  with  slabs  and  boulders 
of  limestone.  The  circumference  of  the  wheel  measures  245  feet.  In  the  center 
which  corresponds  to  the  hub  of  a  wheel  is  a  circular  structure  built  of  stone 
about  three  feet  high  and  from  this  there  radiates  twenty-seven  lines  of  stone 
forming  the  spokes.  The  outer  circle  or  rim  at  seven  different  places  is  marked 
by  stone  structures  all  on  the  rim,  except  one  on  the  south  which  is  built  several 
feet  beyond  but  connected  by  one  of  the  spoke  lines.  The  eastern  structure  dif- 
fers from  the  others  by  being  nearly  square,  and  unlike  the  others  is  built  higher 
and  the  opening  is  outside  while  the  others  open  on  the  inside.  On  the  project- 
ing slabs  of  this  structure  rested  a  perfectly  bleached  bufifalo  skull  which  had 
been  so  placed  that  it  looked  to  the  rising  sun.  Within  the  central  structure 
which  resembles  a  truncated  cone  there  is  a  slightly  circular  depression  in  the 
ground.  Mr.  Simms  says  he  was  told  of  the  medicine  wheel  by  the  Crow  In- 
dians, but  none  of  them  could  tell  anything  of  its  origin,  excepting  that  it  "was 
made  by  people  who  had  no  iron." 

W.  M.  Camp,  author  of  a  "History  of  the  Indian  Wars"  visited  the  medicine 
wheel  in  July,  1916,  and  wrote  to  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard  some  of  his  ex- 
periences on  the  trip.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  Mr.  Shepherd  who  unearthed 
beads  of  a  peculiar  character  which  he  sent  to  experts  in  New  York.  They 
pronounced  the  beads  to  be  of  a  pattern  worked  in  Venice  over  300  years  ago. 
In  his  letter  Mr.  Camp  says  he  discovered  a  second  medicine  wheel  about  forty 
miles  north  in  a  direct  line  from  the  first,  this  one  being  larger  than  the  first  and 
quite  different  in  design  and  in  its  location  to  landmarks,  more  striking  and 
suggestive. 

Doctor  Long,  a  Sheridan  minister,  recently  made  a  trip  to  the  Medicine 
Mountain  wheel,  going  up  through  the  main  canyon  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  and 
gives  a  graphic  description  of  his  journey  and  the  magnificent  scenic  views  he 
enjoyed.  He  says  the  history  and  origin  of  the  medicine  wheel  is  veiled  in  ob- 
scurity. The  Indians  of  today  frankly  acknowledge  their  ignorance  of  its  origin. 
One  Crow  chief  said,  "It  was  built  before  the  light  came,"  meaning  it  was  pre- 
historic.    One  said,  "It  was  a  shrine  for  the  worship  of  the  sun." 

Mr.  Long  has  the  idea  it  is  in  some  way  related  to  the  worship  of  the  Aztecs, 
or  a  people  akin  to  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico,  who  at  one  time  inhabited  this  moun- 
tain region.  Others  think  that  its  origin  dates  back  to  a  much  earlier  period,  or 
as  the  Indian  says,  "when  the  people  had  no  iron."     The  Aztecs  carried  certain 


42  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

arts  and  manufactures  to  a  high  state  of  perfection.  They  were  especially  skilled 
in  making  potter)'  and  everywhere  they  lived  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  may 
be  found  pottery  and  other  specimens  of  their  handiwork  among  their  ruined 
structures.  Here,  none  of  many  examples  of  Aztec  manufacture  and  domestic 
life  has  been  noted.  The  origin  of  the  medicine  wheel  is  therefore  still  open  to 
conjecture  and  speculation. 

RUDE    STONE    -XRT    IN    BRIDGER    BASIN 

Prof.  Joseph  Leidy.  of  Hayden's  Geological  Survey  of  1873,  gives  a  very 
interesting  report  of  the  remains  of  primitive  art  which  he  discovered  in  Bridger 
Basin,  or  in  the  region  adjacent  to  Fort  Bridger,  made  up  of  table  lands,  val- 
leys, buttes  and  plains.     He  says: 

"In  some  localities  the  stones  strewn  over  the  lower  buttes  and  plains  are 
broken  and  flaked  in  such  a  manner  as  in  many  cases,  to  assume  the  appear- 
ance of  rude  works  of  art.  Among  those  of  rudest  construction  there  are  a 
few  of  the  finest  finish.  In  some  places  the  stone  implements  are  so  numerous, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  rudely  constructed  that  one  is  constantly  in  doubt  when 
to  consider  them  as  natural  or  accidental  and  when  to  view  them  as  artificial. 
Some  of  the  plains  are  so  thickly  strewn  with  natural  and  artificial  splintered 
stones  that  they  look  as  if  they  had  been  the  battlefields  of  great  armies  during 
the  stone  age." 

Representations  of  a  few  of  the  flaked  stones  are  pictured  in  the  report  of 
which  he  says,  "These  with  little  doubt  may  be  viewed  as  rude  implements  of 
art."  He  asked  Dr.  J.  \'an  A.  Carter,  residing  at  Fort  Bridger  and  acquainted 
with  the  language,  history  and  customs  of  the  neighboring  Indian  tribes,  about 
the  origin  of  these  specimens  and  the  doctor  said  the  present  races  of  Indians 
knew  nothing  of  them.  He  said  the  Shoshones  look  upon  them  as  the  gift  of 
God  to  their  ancestors.  Of  the  illustrations  given  of  sixteen  specimens  by 
Doctor  Leidy  all  the  rudest  were  manufactured  from  quartzite  exactly  corre- 
sponding with  the  stone  of  the  great  quarries  first  described  in  this  chapter, 
and  were  of  the  same  shape  and  type  of  workmanship,  of  coarse  flaking.  Un- 
doubtedly these  impletnents  came  from  the  same  locality  and  were  used  by 
the  same  ancient  races. 

In  this  connection  mention  should  be  made  of  a  beautiful  vase  that  was 
found  near  one  of  the  quarries  on  the  Muddy,  standing  upon  a  stone  block. 
This  vase  was  14  inches  high,  ten  inches  in  diameter  and  the  opening  at  the 
top  was  seven  inches.  This  of  course  has  no  relation  to  the  stone  art,  but  was 
left  by  some  late  Indians  or  Mexicans  that  roamed  that  section. 

PRE-HIST()RIC    .\NIMALS    OF    WVOMINC, 

The  ancient  animal  life  of  the  earth  is  always  interesting.  The  strangeness 
and  mystery  of  this  life,  the  peculiar  types  and  the  enormous  size  of  many 
fossil  specimens  discovered,  have  made  it  the  subject  of  much  scientific  inves- 
tigation and  systematic  research,  as  well  as  of  extensive  mining  operations. 

Wyoming  affords  the  most  remarkable  quarries  and  fields  for  this  research 
and  has  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  given  to  the  scientific  societies,  col- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  43 

leges  and  museums  of  the  world  the  most  rare  and  gigantic  specimens  ever  dis- 
covered. 

In  this  way  the  animals  that  roamed  the  western  plains  in  pre-historic  times, 
the  enormous  reptiles  that  plashed  around  in  these  inland  seas,  and  the  huge 
birds  that  tracked  their  shores,  have  been  reconstructed  from  their  discovered 
fossilized  bones,  and  their  environment  visualized,  so  that  we  of  the  present 
day  may  realize  their  surroundings,  habits  of  life,  powers  of  locomotion  and 
habitat.  The  principal  fields  of  research  for  the  remains  of  extinct  animals  in 
Wyoming  that  have  been  successfully  worked,  are  found  on  Lance  Creek,  north 
of  Lusk,  in  the  foot  hills  north  of  Medicine  Bow,  and  at  Fossil,  a  few  miles 
west  of  Kemmerer.  Operations  have  also  been  carried  on  in  other  sections  of 
the  state  where  valuable  examples  of  pre-historic  animal  life  have  been  un- 
earthed. 

The  question  has  been  often  asked,  how  many  years  ago  did  this  or  that 
animal  live?  Prof.  Fred  A.  Lucas  of  the  United  States  National  Museum, 
says:  "The  time  that  has  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  the  Jurassic  age  when 
the  dinosaurs  held  carnival,  is  variously  estimated  from  six  to  fifteen  million 
years." 

How  these  animals  were  exterminated  or  died  off  from  natural  causes  is  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  Poisonous  gases,  lava,  earthquakes,  floods,  etc.,  may 
have  played  a  part.  The  earliest  traces  of  animal  life  says  Doctor  Lucas,  "are 
found  beneath  something  like  eighteen  to  twenty-five  miles  of  rock !" 

If  an  animal  is  sunk  in  a  quiet  lake  the  waves  accumulate  mud  and  sand 
and  deposit  over  it,  a  process  of  entombment  takes  place,  the  air  is  excluded 
and  the  lime  or  silica  soon  makes  the  strata  a  solid  mass.  The  period  of  fos- 
silization,  however,  is  very  slow,  often  a  matter  of  many  centuries. 

Some  are  animals  changed  into  stone,  some  are  footprints  made  by  animals 
in  an  impressible  stratum,  some  are  simply  moulds  of  the  form  where  the  ani- 
mal lay,  from  which  casts  are  made  in  restoring  the  subject.  Among  the  animals 
found  in  Wyoming  the  dinosaurs  claim  distinction  as  being  the  largest  known 
quadrupeds  that  have  walked  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  broiUosaurus  or  Thun- 
der Lizard,  beneath  whose  mighty  tread  the  earth  shook,  and  his  kindred  were 
from  40  to  60  feet  long,  their  thigh  bones  measuring  from  five  to  six  feet.  A 
tooth  of  the  Mammoth  of  the  elephant  type  in  the  United  States  National 
Museum  has  a  grinding  space  five  by  eight  inches  and  weighs  over  15  pounds. 

The  skull  of  a  Triceratops  when  boxed  for  the  museum  weighed  3,650  pounds. 
This  will  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  the  gigantic  size  of  some  pre-historic 
animals.  In  the  West  of  late  years  there  has  been  a  vast  amount  of  collecting 
and  much  new  information  has  been  gained.  In  Wyoming  attention  was  called 
to  our  precious  animal  deposits  by  Professor  Hayden's  reports  in  the  United 
States  Geological  Surveys  of  1868  to  1873.  On  his  expedition  in  1868,  Hayden 
was  accompanied  by  Professor  Agassiz,  the  celebrated  scientist,  and  during  their 
explorations  of  this  section  Agassiz  made  his  headquarters  in  Cheyenne,  his 
especial  studies  being  in  the  department  of  paleontology.  The  fossils  then  un- 
earthed were  small  sea-fish,  shells,  ferns,  etc.,  and  were  studied  with  reference 
to  the  geologic  periods  of  the  formations  examined. 

Impressions  of  feathers  have  been  found  in  the  Green  River  and  Florrisant 
shales  of  Wyoming.     In  the  rock  formations  at  Fossil,  many  forms  of  marine 


44  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

life,  various  kinds  of  fish,  as  well  as  snakes,  and  queer  birds,  and  various  forms 
of  typical  vegetation  are  found  in  great  abundance.  The  largest  specimen  taken 
from  this  field  was  a  fish  about  ten  feet  long.  The  products  of  the  Wyoming 
fossil  fields  may  be  found  today  in  museums  in  many  parts  of  the  world,  al- 
though the  deposits  have  been  only  partially  worked. 

Recent  publications  of  the  National  Museum  by  Charles  W.  Gilmore,  de- 
scribe "new  species  of  fossil  turtles,"  from  the  Lance  formation  and  "the  oste- 
ology of  an  orthopodous"  from  the  same  section  in  Wyoming.  Professor  Gil- 
more  is  curator  of  fossil  reptiles  for  the  museum  and  before  going  to  Wash- 
ington, spent  several  years  in  the  great  fossil  fields  of  this  state  while  a  mem- 
ber of  the  faculty  of  the  University  of  Wyoming. 

The  large  reptiles  are  found  in  the  shales,  chalk  or  hard  clay,  and  the  work 
of  excavating  them  comes  under  a  special  class  of  mining  requiring  expert  di- 
rection. It  is  done  with  mining  tools,  picks,  shovels,  drills,  hammers  and 
wedges.  Every  bone  or  section  must  be  carefully  removed  and  is  duly  recorded 
by  letter  and  number  and  its  position  designated  so  the  parts  can  be  assembled 
in  the  work  room  and  the  skeleton  reconstructed.  Single  bones  weighing  from 
lOO  to  500  pounds,  even  when  shattered  into  fragments  are  reunited  by  the 
skill  of  the  paleontologist,  covered  with  plaster  bandages  and  shipped  by  freight 
for  a  thousand  miles  or  more.  The  real  task  of  restoration  is  done  at  the 
museum.  To  clean  a  single  vertebra  of  a  large  dinosaur  requires  a  month  of 
continuous  labor,  and  a  score  of  these  are  included  in  one  back  bone.  In  its 
remarkable  fossil  fields  Wyoming  has  made  notable  contributions  to  science  and 
to  the  study  of  pre-historic  animal  life  on  this  continent. 


CHAPTER  III 
YELLOWSTONE   NATIONAL   PARK 

FIRST    INHABITANTS — INDIAN    TRAILS — ORIGIN    OF    THE    NAME    "YELLOWSTONE" 

.    GENERAL  DESCRIPTION,   SURFACE,    WATERCOURSES,   ETC. GEOLOGY THE  GEYSERS 

JOHN    COLTER JIM    BRIDGER EXPLORING   EXPEDITIONS ACT  OF  DEDICATION 

MANAGEMENT  OF  THE   PARK AN  ANIMAL  SANCTUARY BIRDS  AND   FISH. 

In  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  is  situated  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park,  which  has  justly  been  called  "Nature's  Wonderland." 
Probably  no  other  spot  of  equal  size  on  this  planet  presents  as  much  romantic 
scenery  of  mountain,  lake  and  plateau,  or  as  interesting  natural  curiosities  as 
the  obsidian  clifif  and  the  great  geysers,  which  may  have  been  sending  forth 
their  volumes  of  hot  water  from  the  interior  of  the  earth  "when  the  morning 
stars  sang  together."  The  visitor  to  the  park,  as  he  gazes  with  awe  from  In- 
spiration Point  down  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Yellowstone,  or  witnesses  the 
action  of  the  geysers  in  the  Firehole  Basin,  may  well  be  filled  with  wonder  at 
why  American  citizens  will  travel  in  foreign  countries  to  the  neglect  of  the 
beauties  of  their  own  land. 

FIRST   INHABITANTS 

For  years  before  the  wonders  of  the  Upper  Yellowstone  region  became 
known  to  the  white  man,  the  country  about  the  park  was  inhabited  by  Indian 
tribes  of  the  Algonquian,  Siouan  and  Shoshonean  families.  The  Blackfeet,  an 
Algonquian  tribe,  dwelt  around  the  sources  of  the  Yellowstone  River.  The 
Crow,  a  Siouan  tribe,  lived  farther  down  in  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone  and 
eastward  to  the  Big  Horn  River.  The  Bannock  Indians  and  another  Shoshonean 
tribe  called  the  Tu-ku-a-ri-ki  (Sheepeaters)  inhabited  the  country  now  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  None  of  these  Indians 
knew  much  about  the  wonders  of  the  park,  for  the  reason  that  their  ancestors 
for  generations  had  a  superstitious  fear  of  the  geyser  region,  and  brave,  in- 
deed, was  the  red  man  who  would  venture  into  the  district  where  the  evil  spirits 
held  sway. 

INDIAN    TRAILS 

Even  in  locating  their  trails,  these  aboriginal  inhabitants  studiously  avoided 

close   contact    with   the    dreaded    geysers.    The    principal    Indian    trail    was    the 

"Great  Bannock,"  which  ran  westward  from  the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs,  in  the 

northern  part  of  the  park,  over  the  Gallatin  Range  to  Henry  Lake.    At  the  Mam- 

•  45 


46  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

moth  Hot  Springs  it  was  joined  by  a  trail  coming  up  the  valley  of  the. Gardiner 
River.  Another  important  trail  followed  the  Yellowstone  River  from  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  park  to  the  foot  of  Yellowstone  Lake,  where  it  divid- 
ed, one  branch  running  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  until  it  intersected 
the  trail  leading  to  the  valleys  of  the  Snake  and  Wind  rivers.  The  other 
branch  followed  the  western  shore  of  the  lake,  crossed  the  divide,  and  continued 
southward  to  the  Jackson's  Hole  country  and  the  Snake  River.  From  the  foot 
of  Yellowstone  Lake  a  trail  ran  westward  along  the  base  of  the  Continental 
Divide  to  the  Madison  Plateau.  Nearly  all  these  trails  are  now  established  routes 
of  travel  for  tourists  to  the  park. 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    NAME    "YELLOWSTONE" 

David  Thompson,  an  English  fur  trader,  who  spent  part  of  the  winter  of 
1797-98  among  the  Mandan  Indians,  was  probably  the  first  man  to  give  the 
name  "Yellowstone"  to  the  river,  which  in  turn  gives  its  name  to  this  land  of 
scenic  wonders.  The  Minnetaree  Sioux  called  the  river  the  "Mi-tsi-a-da-zi," 
which  in  their  language  means  "Rock  Yellow  Water."  The  French  called  the 
river  the  "Roche  Jaune"  (sometimes  written  "Pierre  Jaune"),  signifying  "Yel- 
low Rock,"  but  when  or  by  whom  the  name  was  thus  first  applied  is  not  known. 
That  there  is  good  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  name  is  seen  in  the  report  of 
Captain  Jones,  who  visited  the  Upper  Yellowstone  in  1873.  Says  he:  "In  and 
about  the  Grand  Canyon  the  rocks  are  nearly  tinged  a  brilliant  yellow." 

GENERAL    DESCRIPTION 

The  centtal  portion  of  the  park  may  be  described  as  a  "broad,  elevated,  vol- 
canic plateau,  with  an  average  altitude  of  about  eight  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea  level."  Different  names  have  been  given  to  different  parts  of  this  plateau. 
In  the  eastern  part  it  is  called  "Mirror  Plateau,"  in  the  southeast  "Two  Ocean 
Plateau,"  in  the  southwest  "Pitchstone  Plateau,"  and  in  the  western  part  "Madi- 
son Plateau."  At  the  northeast  comer,  where  the  Snowy  and  Absaroka  moun- 
tain ranges  meet,  the  surface  is  broken  and  the  scenery  equals  any  to  be  found 
among  the  Swiss  Alps.  The  Snowy  Range  extends  westward  along  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  park  to  the  Yellowstone  Valley.  West  of  the  Yellowstone  lie 
the  Gallatin  Mountains,  which  extend  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  park,  where 
Electric  Peak,  the  highest  elevation  of  the  range,  affords  a  commanding  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  Besides  these  mountain  ranges,  there  are  many 
peaks,  buttes  and  hills  that  have  been  identified  by  name,  such  as  Bison  Peak, 
Mount  Washburn,  Folsom  Peak,  The  Needles,  Overlook  Mountain,  Pyramid 
Peak,  Mount  Hancock  and  Mount  Hoyt,  the  last  having  been  named  in  honor 
of  one  of  the  territorial  governors  of  Wyoming. 

Over  150  streams  of  clear  mountain  spring  water  flow  through  the  park, 
the  principal  ones  being  the  Yellowstone,  Lamar,  Gardiner,  Madison,  Gallatin, 
Snake,  Gibbon  and  Firehole  rivers.  Obsidian,  Soda  Butte,  Boundary-,  Slough 
and  Clear  creeks.  Along  the  courses  of  these  streams  are  numerous  cascades 
and  waterfalls,  the  best  known  of  which  are  the  Upper  and  Lower  Falls  of  the 
Yellowstone,   Tower  Falls,  Osprey  Falls,   Kepler  Cascade,  Fairy  Falls,   Gibbon 


OLD  FAITHFUL,  YELLOWSTONE   PARK 


48  HISJORY  OF  WYOMII^G 

Falls  and  the  Virginia  Cascade.     These  vary   in  height   from  310   feet  at   the 
Lower  Yellowstone  Falls  to  60  feet  at  the  Virginia  Cascade. 

Government  reports  on  the  park  mention  forty-four  lakes,  the  largest  of 
which  is  the  Yellowstone  and  the  one  having  the  highest  altitude  is  Gardiner 
Lake.  Yellowstone  Lake  is  about  sixty  miles  in  length.  At  the  south  end  it  is 
divided  into  two  arms,  between  which  is  a  beautiful  headland  called  "The 
Promontory."  and  an  arm  extending  from  the  west  side  is  called  "The  Thumb." 


In  191 2  Arnold  Hague,  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  made  ex- 
tended investigations  in  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  and  his  report  gives 
many  interesting  and  scientific  facts  concerning  the  phenomena  of  the  geysers, 
the  general  geological  formation,  etc.  Near  the  northeast  corner  of  the  park 
he  found  an  extinct  volcano,  the  summit  of  which  has  an  altitude  of  10,000 
feet.  The  rocks  of  this  section  he  classified  as  granite,  gneiss,  schist,  etc.,  be- 
longing to  the  pre-Cambrian  series.  Mingled  with  these  rocks  in  places  he 
found  in  abundance  the  volcanic  rock  known  as  "Andesite,"  which  has  played 
an  important  part  in  the  production  of  the  structural  features  of  the  mountains 
in-  and  about  the  park. 

Mr.  Hague  found  evidence  of  glacial  action  in  a  huge  granite  bowlder — 
24  feet  long,  20  feet  wide  and  18  feet  high  above  the  ground.  This  bowlder 
he  found  in  a  forest  on  the  brink  of  the  Grand  Canyon,  and  the  nearest  stone 
of  similar  formation,  so  far  as  known  to  geologists,  is  some  forty  miles  dis- 
tant. Think  of  the  mighty  force  that  must  have  been  exerted  by  the  great  sheet 
of  ice  that  covered  the  northwestern  part  of  the  United  States  at  the  close 
of  the  Pleistocene  period ! 

THE    GEYSERS 

The  number  of  geysers,  hot  springs,  mud  pots,  paint  pots,  etc..  scattered 
over  the  park,  Mr.  Hague  estimated  at  over  three  thousand.  "To  which,"  says 
he  in  his  report,  "should  be  added  the  fumaroles  and  solfatores,  from  which  issue 
in  the  aggregate  enormous  volumes  of  steam  and  acid  sulphur  vapors,  by  which 
the  number  of  active  vents  would  easily  be  doubled.  Each  of  these  vents  is  a 
center  of  decomposition  of  the  acid  lava." 

There  are  several  well  defined  geyser  basins,  the  most  important  of  which 
are  the  Upper  and  Lower  basins  on  the  Firehole  River,  which  takes  its  name 
from  these  wonderful  phenomena  of  nature ;  the  Norris  Basin,  near  the  source 
of  Obsidian  Creek;  and  the  Heart  Lake  Basin,  at  the  north  end  of  that  lake 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  park.  Of  the  large  geysers  there  are  sixty-seven. 
The  action  of  these  geysers  is  far  from  uniform.  The  one  called  "Old  Faith- 
ful," because  of  the  regularity  of  its  eruptions,  throws  a  column  of  hot  water 
150  feet  into  the  air  every  sixty-five  minutes,  the  eruption  lasting  about  4>4 
minutes.  Excelsior  Geyser,  the  greatest  in  the  park,  throws  water  to  a  height 
of  300  feet  and  spouts  at  intervals  varying  from  one  to  four  hours.  Mr.  Hague 
estimated  the  discharge  of  this  geyser  at  "forty-four  hundred  gallons  of  boil- 
ing water  per  minute." 


CASTLE  GEYSER,  YELLOWSTONE  PARK 


FIREHOLE  RIVER  FALLS,   YELLOWSTONE   PARK 


50  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Other  noted  geysers,  with  the  height  of  column  and  interval  of  eruption 
are:  The  Giant,  200  feet,  once  in  six  days,  duration  of  eruption  13^  hours;  the 
Giantess,  250  feet,  every  fourteen  days,  time  of  eruption  twelve  hours;  the  Bee 
Hive,  220  feet,  once  every  twenty  hours,  eruption  lasts  eight  minutes;  the 
Grand,  200  feet,  once  in  twenty  hours,  time  of  action  twenty  miirutes;  the 
Castle.  100  feet,  every  twenty-four  hours,  lasts  twenty-five  minutes;  the  Mon- 
arch, 125  feet,  at  intervals  of  twelve  hours,  eruption  lasts  twenty  minutes. 

JOHN    COLTER 

To  John  Colter  must  be  accorded  the  distinction  of  having  been  the  first 
white  man  to  behold  the  wonders  of  what  is  now  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park.  Colter  was  a  private  soldier  with  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition.  In 
August,  1806,  as  the  expedition  was  returning  to  St.  Louis  and  when  near  the 
]\Iandan  villages  on  the  Missouri  River,  two  trappers  named  Hancock  and 
Dixon,  visited  the  camp  and  pictured  in  such  glowing  language  the  excitement 
and  profits  of  a  trapper's  life,  that  Colter  was  induced  to  ask  for  his  discharge 
that  he  might  join  them  on  the  Yellowstone  River.  The  journal  of  the  expedi- 
tion for  August  15,  1806,  contains  the  following  entry.  "As  he  had  always  per- 
formed his  duty  and  his  services  might  be  dispensed  with,  we  agreed  that  he 
might  go,  provided  none  of  the  rest  would  ask  or  expect  a  similar  indulgence. 
To  this  they  cheerfully  answered  that  they  wished  Colter  every  success  and 
would  not  apply  for  liberty  before  we  reached  St.  Louis.  We  therefore  sup- 
plied him,  as  did  his  comrades  also,  with  powder,  lead  and  a  variety  of  articles 
which  might  be  useful  to  him  and  he  left  us  the  next  day." 

The  following  spring  Colter  passed  through  the  Pryor  Gap  of  the  Big  Horn 
Mountains  and  wandered  about  on  Clark's  Fork,  the  Stinking  Water  (now  the 
Shoshone  River),  and  it  is  believed  he  reached  the  headwaters  of  the  Green 
River.  On  his  return  he  struck  the  headwaters  of  the  Wind  River,  which  he 
mistook  for  the  Big  Horn,  but  finally  found  his  way  back  to  the  camp  of  the 
previous  winter.  He  then  decided  to  return  to  St.  Louis  and  set  out  alone  in 
a  log  canoe.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  River  he  met  Manuel  Lisa,  who 
persuaded  him  to  return  to  the  L'pper  Missouri  country.  Lisa  established  a 
trading  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  River  and  Colter  again  struck  into 
the  wilderness  to  the  southward  in  pursuit  of  fur-bearing  animals.  Somewhere 
on  this  expedition  he  came  in  contact  with  a  band  of  hostile  Indians  and  wan- 
dered many  miles  out  of  his  way  in  his  efiforts  to  reach  the  trading  post.  It 
was  on  this  occasion  that  he  passed  through  what  is  now  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park.  In  the  spring  of  1810  he  returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  met 
his  old  commander.  Captain  Clark,  who  outlined  the  course  described  in  the 
map  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  marking  it  "CoUer's  Route  in  1807." 
By  this  means  Colter's  wanderings  were  given  official  recognition  and  made 
a  matter  of  public  record. 

From  the  map  mentioned  (Colter's  description  was  not  accurate  in  many 
particulars)  the  course  of  this  first  discoverer  can  be  traced  to  the  west  of  Yel- 
lowstone Lake  and  into  the  geyser  district.  That  he  saw  the  Grand  Canyon  of 
the  Yellowstone,  Tower  Falls  and  Mount  Washburn  is  almost  certain.  He  no 
doubt    followed   the   Indian   trail   leading    from   Yellowstone   River  to    the    Big 


YELLOWSTONE  LAKE,  YELLOWST( 


■i 

■tegj^      ^     '^^^ 

jofflF^^*^ 

!f^ 

r^ 

't&mm^. 

^P-  '^ 

sfci^'-  a 

-  '<  ^^    .'"^-^ 

f'^^^K 

^'  ■  €^ 

i  *fe^^ 

l&m^'i^ 

4'^'  :;5^K3.?*||  - 

^.J^Jl^if  K* 

■  i.     v\-     ■    ■'■ 

Hy^a^a:^   ^  ' 

^     ^^V:.?-'i^ 

■  •  '.>'    '' 

^  : 

^II^^H9H^x4 

£il.f\:^            '  "'If' 

YELLOWSTONE  CANYON  FROM  INSPIRATION  POINT 


52  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Horn,  finally  arriving  at  Lisa's  trading  post,  after  he  had  long  been  given  up 
as  lost. 

Colter's  account  of  the  wonders  he  had  seen  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  was 
not  accepted  by  the  public.  Even  his  friends  are  said  to  have  tapped  their 
foreheads  significantly  when  referring  to  the  subject,  as  much  as  to  say:  "Poor 
Colter!  He  has  told  that  story  so  often  that  he  probably  believes  it  himself, 
but  his  mind  is  evidently  wandering."  Others,  in  a  spirit  of  derision,  gave  the 
name  of  "Colter's  Hell"  to  the  region  that  later  explorers  were  to  prove  he 
had  graphically  and  truthfully  described. 

JIM    BRIDtlER 

After  Colter,  the  next  man  to  visit  the  park  region  was  probably  Jim  Brid- 
ger,  the  famous  scout  and  frontiersman.  Bridger  was  something  of  a  romancer, 
and  the  stories  he  told  of  the  wonders  of  the  Yellowstone  were  somewhat  "over- 
drawn," to  say  the  least.  One  of  his  stories  was  that  one  day,  while  going 
through  what  is  now  the  National  Park,  he  saw  an  elk  quietly  grazing  within 
easy  rifle  range.  Taking  deliberate  aim,  he  fired  his  rifle,  but  much  to  his 
astonishment  the  animal  kept  on  grazing  as  though  it  had  not  even  heard  the 
report  of  the  gun.  Two  or  three  more  shots  were  fired  with  no  better  results, 
so  he  determined  to  investigate.  Approaching  the  elk  stealthily  he  was  again 
surprised  when  he  came  to  a  solid  wall  of  glass,  on  the  opposite  side  of  which 
was  the  elk  at  which  he  had  been  shooting.  Not  only  that,  but  the  wall  of  glass 
acted  as  a  magnifying  lens  and  the  elk  was  twenty-five  miles  away.  No  wonder 
it  did  not  hear  the  reports  of  Bridger's  rifle. 

The  story  was  quite  likely  suggested  to  Bridger's  imagination  by  his  dis- 
covery of  the  obsidian  cliff  of  black  volcanic  glass,  about  half  way  between  the 
Norris  Geyser  Basin  and  the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs,  though  the  obsidian  is 
opaque  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  see  an  elk,  or  any  other  object  through 
it  at  any  distance.  This  volcanic  glass  was  used  by  the  aborigines  for  lance 
and  arrow  heads  and  other  weapons,  large  numbers  of  which  have  been  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  park. 

Bridger  told  some  of  his  wonderful  stories  to  Captain  Warner,  Capt.  W.  F. 
Raynolds,  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden  and  other  early  explorers,  who  received  them  with 
the  proverbial  "grain  of  salt,"  though  they  afterward  found  that  the  old  scout's 
narrative  contained  a  large  percentage  of  truth.  An  editor  of  one  of  the  lead- 
ing western  newspapers  stated  in  1879,  after  the  reports  of  Colter  and  Bridger 
had  been  verified  by  official  explorations,  that  more  than  thirty  years  before 
he  had  prepared  an  article  for  publication,  based  upon  Bridger's  account  of  the 
Yellowstone  region,  but  did  not  publish  it  because  one  of  his  friends  advised 
him  that  he  would  "be  laughed  out  of  town  if  he  printed  any  of  old  Jim  Bridger's 
lies."    He  afterward  apologized  to  Bridger  for  lack  of  confidence  in  his  veracity. 

EXPLORING    EXPEDITIONS 

Capt.  W.  F.  Raynolds  of  the  United  States  topographical  engineers,  under 
orders  from  the  war  department,  led  an  expedition  from  Fort  Pierre  on  the 
Missouri   into   Wyoming,     His   orders   were   to   explore   "the   country   through 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  53 

which  flow  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Yellowstone  River,  the  mountains 
in  which  they  and  the  Gallatin  and  Madison  forks  of  the  Missouri  have  their 
source,"  etc.  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden  accompanied  the  expedition  as  geologist  and 
James  Bridger  acted  as  guide.  Captain  Raynolds  made  his  report  in  i860,  but 
the  Civil  war  came  on  the  next  year,  which  practically  put  a  stop  to  further  ex- 
ploration for  almost  a  decade. 

During  the  war  parties  of  gold  seekers  penetrated  into  the  mountain  ranges 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  park  and  some  accounts  of  their  discoveries  were 
published  in  the  newspapers.  In  September,  1869,  David  E.  Folsom,  William 
Peterson  and  C.  W.  Cook  left  Diamond  City  on  the  Missouri  River  and  spent 
about  a  month  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Yellowstone  Lake.  In  the  Western  Monthly 
for  July,  1871,  was  published  an  article  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Folsom  which 
wielded  considerable  influence  toward  the  sending  of  other  expeditions  into 
the  country  about  the  sources  of  the  Yellowstone. 

What  is  generally  known  as  the  "Washburn-Doane  Expedition"  was  organ- 
ized in  Montana  in  the  summer  of  1870  and  was  provided  with  a  military 
escort  from  Fort  Ellis  by  order  of  Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan.  The  leader  of  this 
expedition  was  Gen.  Henry  D.  Washburn,  then  surveyor-general  of  Montana. 
Among  those  who  accompanied  him  were  Nathaniel  P.  Langford,  who  wrote 
an  account  of  the  explorations  for  Scribner's  Magazine,  and  who  was  after- 
ward the  first  superintendent  of  the  park;  Thomas  C.  Everts,  ex-United  States 
assessor  for  Montana ;  Samuel  T.  Hauser,  later  governor  of  Montana ;  Walter 
Trumbull,  son  of  United  States  Senator  TnmibuU,  who  also  published  an  ac- 
count of  the  expedition  in  the  Overland  Monthly  for  June,  1871 ;  and  Cornelius 
Hedges,  who  was  the  first  man  to  propose  setting  apart  the  region  as  a  national 
park.  This  party  entered  the  park  on  August  21,  1870,  under  the  escort  of  a 
small  detachment  of  the  Second  United  States  Cavalry  commanded  by  Lieut. 
Gustavus  C.  Doane,  whose  name  is  coupled  with  that  of  General  Washburn. 

From  the  heights  of  Mount  Washburn  (then  unnamed)  they  saw  at  a 
distance  the  Canyon  and  Falls  of  the  Yellowstone,  the  geyser  basin  on  the 
Firehole  River,  which  was  pointed  out  to  them  by  James  Bridger,  and  then  de- 
scended into  the  plateau  for  a  more  systematic  examination  of  the  natural  won- 
ders. On  September  9,  1870,  Thomas  C.  Everts  became  separated  from  the 
other  members  of  the  expedition  and  wandered  about  through  the  wild  region 
for  thirty-seven  days  before  his  comrades  found  him  almost  dead  from  hunger 
and  exposure.  Mr.  Everts,  after  his  recovery,  wrote  an  account  of  his  experi- 
ences for  Scribner's  Magazine,  which  was  widely  read  and  was  afterward  re- 
produced by  General  Chittenden  in  his  "History  of  Yellowstone  National  Park." 
In  this  history  General  Chittenden  gives  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  national  park  idea : 

"The  members  of  the  party  were  sitting  around  the  campfire  after  supper 
(September  19,  1870),  conversing  about  what  they  had  seen  and  picturing  to 
themselves  the  important  pleasure  resort  which  so  wonderful  a  region  must  soon 
become.  The  natural  impulse  to  turn  the  fruits  of  discovery  to  their  personal 
profit  made  its  appearance,  and  it  was  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  'profitable 
speculation'  to  take  up  lands  around  the  various  objects  of  interest.  The  con- 
versation had  not  gone  far  in  that  direction,  when  one  of  the  party — Cornelius 
Hedges — interposed   and    said    that   private   ownership   of   that    region,    or   any 


54  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

part  of  it,  ought  never  to  be  sold  by  the  government,  but  that  it  should  be  set 
apart  and  forever  held  to  the  unrestricted  use  of  the  people.  This  higher  view 
of  the  subject  found  immediate  acceptance  with  the  other  members  of  the 
party.  It  was  agreed  that  the  project  should  be  at  once  set  on  foot  and  pushed 
vigorously  to  a  finish." 

In  1871  the  United  States  sent  two  expeditions  to  the  Upper  Yellowstone — 
one  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden  and  the  other  under  Captains 
Heap  and  Barlow  of  the  engineer  corps.  The  reports  of  this  joint  expedition 
aided  materially  the  project  brought  before  Congress  set  on  foot  by  the  VVash- 
burn-Doane  expedition.  In  the  Helena  Herald  of  November  9,  1870,  appeared 
an  article  from  the  pen  of  Cornelius  Hedges,  giving  reasons  why  the  country 
about  the  Yellowstone  Lake  should  be  set  apart  as  a  national  reservation.  A 
little  later  Nathaniel  P.  Langford  addressed  a  meeting  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
presided  over  by  James  G.  Blaine,  then  speaker  of  the  national  house  of  repre- 
sentatives.    In  this  way  the  subject  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Congress. 

ACT   OF   DEDICATION 

Mr.  Langford  and  William  H.  Clagett,  member  of  Congress  from  Mon- 
tana, drew  up  a  bill  providing  for  the  establishment  of  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park.  This  bill  was  introduced  in  the  house  on  December  18,  1871.  by  Mr. 
Clagett,  and  Senator  Pomeroy  of  Kansas  introduced  it  in  the  senate.  After 
receiving  the  approval  of  the  secretary  of  the  interior  and  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  it 
passed  both  houses  and  was  approved  by  President  Grant  on  March  i,  1872. 
The  boundaries  of  the  park,  as  defined  by  this  act,  are  as  follows: 

"Commencing  at  the  junction  of  Gardiner's  River  with  the  Yellowstone 
River  and  running  east  to  the  meridian  passing  ten  miles  to  the  eastward  of 
the  most  eastern  point  of  the  Yellowstone  Lake;  then  south  along  said  meridian 
to  the  parallel  of  latitude  passing  ten  miles  south  of  the  most  southern  point  of 
the  Yellowstone  Lake ;  thence  west  along  said  parallel  to  the  meridian  passing 
fifteen  miles  west  of  the  most  western  point  of  Madison  Lake;  thence  north 
along  said  meridian  to  the  latitude  of  the  junction  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Gardi- 
ner's rivers ;  thence  east  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

Under  the  boundaries  as  thus  established,  the  park  extends  two  miles  north 
of  the  northern  boundary  of  Wyoming,  and  two  miles  west  of  the  western 
boundary,  being  sixty-two  miles  long  and  fifty-four  miles  wide.  The  act  placed 
the  park  under  the  control  of  the  secretary  of  the  interior,  who  was  given  the 
authority  to  grant  leases,  at  his  discretion,  for  periods  not  exceeding  ten  years, 
and  all  buildings  erected  by  the  lessees  to  be  located  and  erected  under  his 
direction,  the  proceeds  of  such  leases  to  be  expended  by  his  authority  in  the 
construction  of   roads,  etc. 

MAN.\GEMEXT    OF    THE    PARK 

The  report  of  the  park  supervisor,  Chester  A.  Lindsley,  for  the  year  191 7 
says:  "The  park  was  governed  by  civilian  superintendents,  assisted  by  a  few 
scouts,  from  the  time  it  was  set  aside  until  August  10,  1886,  when  troops  of 
United  States  Cavalry  were  detailed  to  police  it,  the  commanding  officer  acting 


CASCADE    GEYSER,    YELLOWSlTOXE   PARK 


YEI.LOWSTONE  FALLS 


56  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

as  superintendent  under  direct  orders  of  the  secretary  of  the  interior.  On  Oc- 
tober i6,  1916,  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  park  and  a  civihan  super- 
visor, with  a  corps  of  twenty-five  rangers,  for  patrol  and  protection  work,  and 
a  few  civilian  employees  for  other  duties,  were  appointed  by  the  secretary  of 
the  interior  to  replace  them.  Under  recent  legislation  by  Congress,  troops  were 
returned  to  the  park  on  June  26,  191 7.  This  action  was  necessary  on  account 
of  a  clause  contained  in  the  sundry  civil  appropriation  act  of  June  12,  1917, 
making  appropriations  for  the  park  for  the  fiscal  year  1918.  By  virtue  of  this 
law,  the  park  supervisor  was  relieved  of  so  much  of  the  park  duties  as  pertain 
to  'protection'." 

Park  headquarters  are  located  at  the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs,  five  miles  in- 
side the  park  line  at  the  northern  entrance.  Here  are  located  the  water  and 
electric  light  systems,  the  telephone  exchange,  etc.  The  maintenance  and  con- 
struction of  roads,  bridges  and  general  improvements  in  the  park  are  carried 
on  by  special  appropriation  under  the  war  department,  an  officer  of  the  engineer- 
ing department  being  in  charge  of  the  work.  Automobiles  were  first  admitted 
on  August  I,  191 5,  but  did  not  come  into  general  use  as  a  method  of  transpor- 
tation until  191 7,  when  practically  all  of  the  transportation  of  tourists 
was  consolidated  under  one  company — "The  Yellowstone  Park  Transportation 
Company."  During  the  season  from  June  20  to  September  15,  1917,  a  total 
of  13,283  tourists  were  taken  through  the  park  by  this  company,  and  21,915  per- 
sons visited  the  park  with  their  own  transportation  and  camping  outfits. 

The  Yellowstone  Park  Hotel  Company  operates  all  of  the  hotels  in  the 
park.  There  are  four  hotels — the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs,  the  Upper  Basin,  the 
Lake  House  and  the  Canyon  Hotel.  At  all  of  these  hotels  garages  and  supply 
houses  are  maintained  and  there  are  four  free  automobile  camps  and  shelter 
houses  in  the  park,  placed  on  the  main  lines  of  travel,  besides  there  are  six 
other  camping  places,  where  oils  and  gasoline  may  be  obtained  by  tourists. 

There  are  four  main  entrances  to  the  park — north,  east,  south  and  west. 
The  northern  entrance  may  be  reached  by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  the 
west  entrance  by  the  Union  Pacific,  the  east  entrance  by  stage  from  Cody, 
where  it  connects  with  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  and  the 
south  entrance  can  be  reached  only  by  automobile  or  other  means  of  private 
conveyance.  Each  year  witnesses  improvements  for  the  accommodation  and 
comfort  of  tourists,  the  number  of  which  is  constantly  increasing. 

AN   .\NIMAL   SANCTUARY 

Howard  M.  Albright,  acting  director  of  the  National  Park  Service,  in  his 
report  to  the  secretary  of  the  interior  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30.  1917, 
says :  "The  killing  of  wild  animals,  except  predatory  animals  when  absolutely 
necessary,  is  strictly  forbidden  in  Yellowstone  Park  by  law.  The  park  is  there- 
fore the  greatest  wild  animal  sanctuary  in  the  world.  We  endeavor  to  refrain 
from  calling  it  a  game  sanctuary,  because  park  animals  are  not  game  in  the 
popular  sense  of  the  term.  The  park  is,  however,  the  great  source  of  game 
supply  for  the  surrounding  territory,  and  the  states  of  Wyoming  and  Montana 
have  widely  sought  to  assist  in  the  protection  and  control  of  this  supply." 

Elk,  antelope  and  both  mule  and  white-tailed  deer  are  numerous  in  the  park. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  57 

During  the  winter  of  1916-17  more  than  two  hundred  tons  of  alfalfa  were  fed 
to  these  animals  by  the  employees  of  the  park  service.  Heavy  snows  drove  large 
numbers  of  elk  and  antelope  out  of  the  park,  in  search  of  a  lower  altitude.  They 
found  shelter  from  the  severe  weather  in  the  Jackson's  Hole  country  in  Wyo- 
ming and  near  Electric,  Mont.  It  is  in  such  cases  that  the  protective  laws  of 
those  states,  mentioned  by  Mr.  Albright,  come  into  play.  The  animals  were  pro- 
tected by  the  state  game  wardens  from  the  thoughtless  sportsman  and  when  the 
weather  conditions  improved  they  returned  to  the  park  of  their  own  accord. 
Since  191 1  the  total  number  of  elk  shipped  from  the  park  to  other  states  or  mu- 
nicipalities, "where  their  future  protection  is  assured,"  was  2,263,  and  on  June  9, 
1917,  there  were  nearly  twenty  thousand  in  the  park.  A  few  moose  are  fre- 
quently seen,  the  tame  herd  of  buffalo  numbered  330  in  June,  191 7,  black  and 
cinnamon  bears  are  numerous,  and  there  are  194  known  varieties  of  birds  to  be 
found  in  the  park.  The  United  States  Fish  Commission  maintains  a  branch  fish 
hatchery  in  the  park.  It  is  located  on  the  shore  of  Yellowstone  Lake,  near 
the  Lake  House.  During  the  season  of  1917  a  total  of  1,773,000  young  fish  were 
planted  in  the  lakes  and  streams  of  the  park.  Fishing  by  visitors  is  permitted, 
and  Mr.  Lindsley  says  in  his  report  for  1917:  "The  confining  of  fishing  to  the 
strict  letter  of  the  regulations  has  not  been  disappointing  in  its  results,  as  its 
effects  have  already  been  noticed  in  the  additional  interest  in  fishing  manifested 
by  travelers ;  and  it  has  not  proven  as  much  of  a  disappointment  to  the  hotels  and 
camps  as  was  expected,  for  the  reason  that  tourists  have  taken  an  unusual  inter- 
est in  fishing  and  have  caught  many  fish  that  have  found  their  way  to  the  tables." 
The  object  in  planting  fish  in  the  waters,  for  tourists  to  catch,  is  "to  make 
the  national  parks  more  popular  as  playgrounds  of  the  people,  where  amusements 
can  be  found  in  addition  to  the  scenery."  The  lover  of  rod  and  line  should  there- 
fore be  attracted  to  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  where  he  can  "cast  flies" 
to  his  heart's  content,  while  at  the  same  time  enjoying  the  picturesque  scenery 
and  natural  wonders  of  the  park. 


From  the  Herbert  l.i.n«-ii  CuUc 


TWO  MOONS 

A  Cheyeime  Chief  who  led   his   tril>e   in   the  fight   with   General   Custe 


CHAPTER  I\' 
INDIAN  HISTORY 

EVIDENCES    OF    AN    ANCIENT    CIVILIZATION THE    INDIAN    RACE TRIBAL    DISTRIBU- 
TION   AT    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    FIFTEENTH     CENTURY WYOMING    TRIBES THE 

ARAPAHO TRADITION      OF      THE      FLOOD THE      CHEYENNE THE      CROW THE 

SHOSHONE CHIEF    WASHAKIE — OTHER    TRIBES FOREIGN    POLICY    TOWARD   THE 

INDIANS THE    UNITED    STATES    POLICY ADOPTION    OF    THE    TREATY    SYSTEM 

TREATY    OF    FORT    LARAMIE BOUNDARIES    OF    TRIBAL    DOMAINS TREATY    WITH 

THE    SIOUX THE    CROW    TREATY CHEYENNE    AND    ARAPAHO    TREATY TREATY 

OF   FORT   BRIDGER WIND  RIVER   RESERVATION. 

Before  the  white  man  the  Indian;  before  the  Indian,  who?  The  question  is 
more  easily  asked  than  answered.  Archaeologists  have  found  in  Wyoming  evi- 
dences of  the  existence  of  an  ancient  race,  which  some  writers  on  the  subject 
think  was  contemporary  with  the  cliff  dwellers  of  Colorado.  Along  the  Big 
Horn  and  Wind  rivers,  and  about  the  sources  of  the  Yellowstone,  have  been 
found  steatite  vessels,  lance  and  arrow  heads,  stone  knives,  celts  and  other 
weapons  and  utensils  different  from  any  found  in  the  mounds  in  other  sections 
of  the  country.  Many  of  these  utensils  are  of  a  green  marble,  marked  by  veins, 
or  stones  of  volcanic  origin,  and  no  one  has  been  able  to  determine  from  whence 
they  came.  Similar  relics,  as  well  as  cotton  and  a  coarse  thread,  have  been 
found  in  the  Santa  Lucia  \'alley  in  New  Mexico,  from  which  it  is  inferred  that 
the  aborigines  of  that  section  and  those  of  Wyoming  were  closely  related.  Says 
Bancroft :  "Heaps  of  bones,  tools,  ornaments,  weapons,  burial  cairns  and  mining 
sliafts  are  among  the  proofs  of  their  presence.  At  what  period  they  disappeared 
and  recent  tribes  took  their  place  is  among  the  secrets  which  the  past  refuses  to 
disclose." 

Since  the  first  investigations  of  Scjuier  and  Davis  among  the  mounds  of  the 
Mississippi  \'alley,  about  1845  to  1850,  a  great  deal  has  been  written  regarding 
the  first  inhabitants  of  the  American  continent.  The  early  writers  on  the  sub- 
ject were  almost  a  unit  in  attributing  to  the  aborigines  a  great  antiquity,  and  in 
advocating  the  theory  that  they  were  of  a  separate  race.  Morfe  recent  explorations 
among  the  mounds  and  relics  have  disclosed  the  fact  that  their  civilization — ■ 
if  such  it  can  be  called — resembled  in  many  particulars  that  of  some  of  the  Indian 
tribes  encountered  by  the  first  white  men  who  came  to  what  now  constitutes  the 
United  States.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  tribes  inhabiting  the  Lower  Missis- 
sippi Valley  and  the  country  along  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  who  the 
first  explorers  in  that  region  found  using  knives  and  other  utensils  of  obsidian, 
very  similar  in  appearance  to  those  found  in  Wyoming  and  New  Mexico.  In 
59 


60  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  early  part  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  the  Natchez  and  other  southern 
tribes  of  Indians  were  accustomed  to  the  erection  of  burial  mounds  and  cairns. 
These  and  kindred  facts  have  been  brought  to  light  by  the  research  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Ethnologv',  and  the  general  theory  now  is  that  the  so- 
called  Mound  Builders  and  other  aboriginal  peoples  were  nothing  more  than  the 
ancestors  of  the  tribes  that  inhabited  the  country  at  the  time  it  was  first  visited 
by  white  men. 

THE   INDI.\N    RACE 

Probably  more  pages  have  been  written  relating  to  the  Indian  tribes  of  North 
America  than  on  any  other  subject  pertaining  to  American  history.  To  the 
student  of  history  there  is  a  peculiar  fascination  in  the  story  of  these  savage 
tribes — their  legends,  traditions  and  customs — that  makes  the  topic  always  one 
of  surpassing  interest,  and  no  history  of  Wyoming  would  be  complete  without 
some  account  of  the  tribes  that  inhabited  the  country  before  the  advent  of  the 
white  man. 

When  Christopher  Columbus  made  his  first  voyage  to  the  New  World  in  1492, 
he  believed  that  he  had  at  last  reached  the  goal  of  his  long  cherished  ambitions, 
and  that  the  country  where  he  landed  was  the  eastern  shore  of  Asia.  Early 
European  explorers  in  America,  entertaining  a  similar  belief,  thought  the  country 
was  India  and  gave  to  the  race  of  copper  colored  people  they  found  here  the 
name  of  "Indians."  Later  explorations  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  land  discov- 
ered by  Columbus  was  really  a  continent  hitherto  unknown  to  the  civilized 
nations  of  the  world.  The  error  in  geography  was  thus  corrected,  but  the 
name  given  by  the  first  adventurers  to  the  natives  still  remains. 

TRIBAL  DISTRIBUTION 

The  North  American  Indians  are  divided  into  several  groups  or  families,  each 
of  -which  is  distinguished  by  certain  physical  and  linguistic  characteristics,  and 
each  group  is  subdivided  into  a  number  of  tribes,  each  of  which  is  ruled  over 
by  a  chief.  At  the  close  of  the  Fifteenth  Century,  when  the  first  Europeans  began 
their  explorations  in  America,  they  found  the  various  leading  Indian  families 
distributed  over  the  continent  as  follows : 

In  the  far  north  were  the  Eskimo,  a  people  that  have  never  played  any  con- 
spicuous part  in  history.  These  Indians  still  inhabit  the  country  about  the  Arctic 
Circle,  where  some  of  them  have  been  occasionally  employed  as  guides  to  polar 
expeditions,  which  has  been  about  their  only  association  with  the  white  man. 

The  Algonquian  family,  the  most  numerous  and  powerful  of  all  the  Indian 
nations,  occupied  a  great  triangle,  roughly  bounded  by  the  Atlantic  coast  from 
Labrador  to  Cape  Hatteras  and  by  lines  drawn  from  those  two  points  to  the 
western  end  of  Lake  Superior.  Within  this  triangle  lived  the  Delaware,  Shaw- 
nee, Miami,  Pottawatomi,  Sac  and  Fox  and  other  powerful  tribes,  which  yielded 
slowly  to  the  advance  of  the  superior  race.  Almost  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
Algonquian  triangle — along  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario  and  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  River — lived  the  Iroquoian  group,  which  was  composed 
of  the  Oneida,  Mohawk,  Onondaga,  Cayuga  and  Seneca  tribes.     To  the  early 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  61 

settlers  of  New  York  these  tribes  were  known  as  the  "Five  Nations."  Some 
years  afterward  the  Tuscarora  tribe  was  added  to  the  confederacy,  which  then 
took  the  name  of  the  "Six  Nations." 

South  of  tlie  Algonquian  country,  extending  from  the  Mississippi  River  to 
the  Atlantic  coast,  was  the  region  inhabited  by  the  Muskhogean  family,  the  lead- 
ing tribes  of  which  were  the  Creek,  Chickasaw,  Cherokee  and  Choctaw.  The 
Indians  of  this  group  were  among  the  most  intelligent  as  well  as  the  most  aggres- 
sive and  warlike  of  all  the  North  American  tribes. 

In  the  great  Northwest,  about  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  ex- 
tending westward  to  the  Missouri,  lay  the  domain  of  the  Siouan  family,  which 
was  composed  of  a  number  of  tribes  closely  resembling  each  other  in  physical 
appearance  and  dialect,  and  noted  for  their  warlike  tendencies  and  military 
prowess. 

South  and  west  of  the  .Siouan  country  lived  the  "Plains  Indians,"  com- 
posed of  tribes  of  mixed  stock.  Their  domain  extended  westward  to  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Among  these  tribes  were  the  Arapaho  and  Qiey- 
enne  in  the  northern  part  and  the  Apache,  Comanche  and  Kiowa  farther  to 
the  south.  All  these  tribes  were  bold  and  vindictive  in  disposition  and  skilful 
hunters. 

West  of  the  Plains  Indians  dwelt  the  Shoshonean  group,  the  principal  tribes 
of  which  were  the  Shoshone,  Bannock  and  Comanche.  This  group  was  one  of 
the  smallest  on  the  continent.  Farther  south,  in  what  are  now  the  states  of 
Arkansas  and  Louisiana  was  the  Caddoan  group,  and  scattered  over  other 
parts  of  the  country  were  numerous  minor  tribes  which  in  all  probability  had 
separated  from  some  of  the  great  families,  but  who,  at  the  time  they  first  came 
in  contact  with  the  white  men  claimed  kinship  with  none.  These  tribes  were 
generally  inferior  in  numbers,  often  nomadic  in  their  habits,  and  consequently 
are  of  little  importance  historically. 

In  a  history  of  such  as  this,  it  is  not  the  design  to  give  an  extended  account  of 
the  Indian  race  as  a  whole,  but  to  notice  only  those  tribes  whose  history  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  territory  now  comprising  the  State  of  Wyoming. 
Foremost  among  these  tribes  are  the  Arapaho,  Bannock,  Blackfeet,  Cheyenne, 
Crow,  Shoshone,  and  certain  minor  tribes  of  the  Siouan  stock. 

THE  .^RAP.XHO 

Some  ethnologists  place  the  Arapaho  among  the  tribes  of  the  Siouan  family, 
but  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Ethnology  classifies  them  as  one  of  the  Algon- 
quian tribes,  which  separated  from  the  main  body  of  that  group  long  before  the 
first  white  men  came  to  America.  One  of  their  traditions  says  that  many  hun- 
dred years  ago  the  tribe  lived  in  Western  Minnesota,  from  which  region  they 
were  driven  by  the  Sioux.  In  their  migrations  they  became  divided  into  three 
tribes — the  Gros  Ventres  of  the  prairie  and  the  Northern  and  Southern  Arapaho. 
This  division  took  place  when  the  tribe  reached  the  Missouri  River,  early  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century.  The  Gros  Ventres  then  went  north  and  joined  the  Black- 
feet,  .seldom  afterward  visiting  their  brethren. 

Dorsey  says  the  word  Arapaho  means  the  "tattooed  people,"  and  says  a 
tribal  tradition  claims  that  these  Indians  once  inhabited  all  the  country  between 


62  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  sources  of  the  Platte  River  and  the  Arkansas  River.  The  Northern  Arapaho 
call  themselves  "A-no-nai,"  which  in  their  dialect  means  "the  parent  of  na- 
tions," though  the  Southern  Arapaho  say  that  it  means  only  "the  men,"  or  "the 
people."  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  tribal  name  are 
matters  of  uncertainty.  The  men  of  the  tribe  are  brave  and  intelligent,  and 
both  men  and  women  resemble  the  Sioux  Indians,  which  is  no  doubt  responsible 
for  the  belief  that  the  Arapaho  are  of  that  stock. 

In  religion  the  Arapaho  are  monotheistic.  They  believe  in  a  Great  Spirit  who 
is  good  and  omnipotent,  and  an  evil  spirit  which  is  constantly  working  for  the 
downfall  of  humanity.  They  have  a  standard  of  right  and  wrong  and  believe 
that  the  good  and  bad  deeds  done  on  earth  will  be  rewarded  or  punished  after 
death.  Ghosts  and  spirits  of  departed  ancestors,  especially  their  great  chiefs, 
form  a  part  of  their  superstitious  belief,  and  fairy  stories  or  folk  lore  was 
common  among  them  when  they  were  first  met  by  the  whites.  The  white  buffalo 
they  have  always  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  deity. 

TR.-\DITIOX  OF  THE  FLOOD 

Sherman  Coolidge,  an  educated  Arapaho,  some  years  ago  wrote  an  account 
of  the  Arapaho  tradition  of  the  flood,  from  which  the  following  has  been 
adapted:  Long  ago.  before  there  was  any  animal  life  on  the  earth,  the  entire 
surface  of  the  planet  was  covered  with  water,  except  the  top  of  one  high  moun- 
tain. Upon  this  mountain  sat  a  lone  Arapaho,  poor,  weeping  and  in  great  dis- 
tress. The  Great  Spirit  saw  him  and  felt  sorry  for  him,  and  in  his  pity  sent 
three  ducks  to  the  poor  Indian.  The  Arapaho  ordered  the  ducks  to  dive  down 
into  the  waters  and  bring  up  some  dirt.  The  first  and  second  tried,  but  after 
remaining  under  water  for  a  long  time  each  returned  without  any  dirt.  Then  the 
third  went  down  and  was  gone  so  long  that  the  surface  of  the  water  where  he 
disappeared  had  become  still  and  quiet.  The  Arapaho  believed  this  duck  to  be 
dead  when  she  returned  to  the  surface  with  some  dirt  in  her  bill.  As  soon  as 
the  Arapaho  received  this  bit  of  earth  the  waters  began  to  subside. 

In  a  short  time  the  waters  had  receded  so  far  that  they  could  not  be  seen  from 
the  top  of  the  highest  mountain,  but  this  Arapaho,  who  was  endowed  with  super- 
natural wisdom  and  power,  knew  that  they  surrounded  the  earth,  even  as  they 
do  to  this  day.  The  Arapaho,  who  had  been  saved  by  the  ducks,  then  became 
the  sole  possessor  of  the  land.  He  made  the  rivers  and  made  the  trees  to  grow 
along  them,  the  buffaloes,  elks,  deer  and  other  animals,  all  the  birds  of  the  air  and 
the  fishes  in  the  waters,  and  all  the  trees  and  bushes  and  all  other  things  that 
can  be  grown  by  planting  seeds  in  the  ground. 

Then  all  the  other  tribes — the  Sioux,  the  Cheyenne,  the  Shoshone,  etc. — 
cnme  to  this  Arapaho,  poor  and  on  foot,  and  he  gave  them  ponies.  He  also 
taught  them  to  make  bows  and  arrows  and  how  to  start  a  fire  by  rubbing  two 
sticks  together.  This  Arapaho  god  also  had  a  peace  pipe,  which  he  gave  to  the 
people  and  told  them  to  live  at  peace  with  each  other,  but  especially  with  the 
Arapaho.  The  Cheyenne  was  the  first  of  the  tribes  to  come  and  receive  gifts 
and  knowledge  of  the  Arapaho  god.  Among  the  gifts  they  received  were  ponies, 
in  the  use  of  which  they  became  expert.     The  Shoshone  had  no  lodges  and  the 


MEDICINE  CEOW 

Chief  of  the  Crow  tribe. 


64  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Arapaho  taught  them  to  construct  skin  tepees.     Then  all  the  tribes  loved  the 
Arapaho. 

THE  CHEYENNE 

Like  the  Arapaho,  the  Cheyenne  Indians  belong  to  the  Algonquian  family. 
A  tribal  tradition  says  these  Indians  once  inhabited  the  valley  of  the  Red 
River  of  the  North,  where  they  were  friendly  with  both  the  Sioux  and  Ojibway 
while  those  tribes  were  at  war  with  each  other.  In  time  the  Ojibway  became 
suspicious  that  the  Cheyenne  were  aiding  the  Sioux  and  drove  them  westward 
into  what  is  now  North  Dakota.  From  there  they  were  driven  by  the  hostile 
Sioux  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Platte  River.  After  they  became  established 
there  all  the  tribes  of  the  plains  acknowledged  their  superiority  in  their  impetuous 
valor  and  as  fierce,  skilful  warriors. 

When  Bent's  Fort  was  built  on  the  Upper  Arkansas  River,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  a  portion  of  the  tribe  moved  to  that  section  of  the 
country  and  became  known  as  the  "Southern  Cheyenne."  Those  who  remained 
in  the  Platte  Valley  extended  their  domain  to  the  Yellowstone  and  became  known 
as  the  "Northern  Cheyenne."  Since  that  time  they  have  been  recognized  as  two 
separate  and  distinct  bands,  the  Northern  Cheyenne  becoming  affiliated  with 
the  Sioux  and  the  Southern  with  the  Kiawa.  By  treaties  with  the  United  States 
they  ceded  their  lands  in  Wyoming  and  were  given  reservations  in  Montana 
and  Oklahoma,  respectively.  In  1910  there  were  about  three  thousand  on  the 
two  reservations.  After  the  separation  of  the  tribe  there  was  very  little  com- 
munication between  them,  though  Brave  Bear,  a  chief  of  the  Southern  Cheyenne 
brought  a  number  of  his  warriors  to  assist  his  northern  brethren  in  the  Custer 


The  Indian  name  of  this  tribe  is  Ab-sa-ro-ka,  meaning  "the  hawk."  They 
belong  to  the  Siouan  group,  though  they  separated  from  the  other  Siouan  tribes 
so  far  back  in  the  past  that  their  oldest  traditions  have  failed  to  preserve  the 
date.  When  first  encountered  by  white  men  they  occupied  the  Upper  Yellow- 
stone Valley,  where  they  were  allowed  to  dwell  in  security  by  the  other  tribes, 
who  knew  too  well  their  warlike  dispostion  and  skill  with  arms.  Formerly  they 
were  frequently  at  war  with  the  adjacent  tribes,  particularly  the  Sioux,  until 
they  had  firmly  established  themselves  in  their  domain,  but  they  were  generally 
at  peace  with  the  whites,  often  furnishing  scouts  to  detachments  of  United 
States  troops  against  the  hostile  tribes. 

When  the  first  trappers  and  agents  of  the  fur  companies  came  into  the  Crow 
country,  the  Indians  stole  their  traps  and  occasionally  ran  ofT  their  horses. 
Concerning  this,  the  artist  Catlin  says:  "While  these  people  have  sometimes 
been  called  rascals  and  thieves,  and  rogues  of  the  first  order,  yet  they  do  not 
consider  themselves  such,  for  thieving  in  their  estimation  is^  a  high  crime,  and  in 
their  eyes  a  disgraceful  act;  that  while  they  sometimes  capture  and  run  off  a 
trader's  horse  and  make  their  boasts  of  it,  they  consider  it  a  kind  of  retaliation 
or  summary  justice,   which  they  think  right  and  honorable  for  the  unlicensed 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  65 

trespass  through  their  country  from  one  end  to  the  other  by  the  mercenary 
white  men,  who  destroy  the  game,  catch  the  beaver  and  drive  other  valuable 
furs  off  their  country  without  paying  them  an  equivalent,  or  in  fact  anything 
at  all  for  it,  and  this,  too,  when  they  have  been  warned  time  and  again  of  the 
danger  they  would  be  in  if  they  longer  persisted  in  such  practices." 

The  same  writer  pronounces  the  Crow  Indians  "the  most  honest  and  hon- 
orable race  of  people  among  whom  I  have  ever  lived."  Catlin  may  have  found 
them  so  in  his  relations  with  them,  but  the  early  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Crow  country  could  no  doubt  tell  a  dift'erent  story  of  depredations  committed, 
live  stock  stolen,  etc. 

Among  the  Crow  Indians  there  were  a  number  of  military  societies.  To  be 
a  member  of  one  of  these  societies  was  a  privilege  accorded  only  to  those  who 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  warfare.  They  also  had  many  feasts  and  cere- 
moni;,ls,  one  of  which  was  the  planting  of  the  sacred  tobacco  plant.  After  the 
tribe  ceded  its  lands  to  the  United  States  its  members  were  given  a  reserva- 
tion in  Southern  Montana. 

THE  SHOSHONE 

The  Shoshone  (or  Shoshoni)  is  the  leading  tribe  of  the  Shoshonean  family. 
Some  authorities  say  this  name  was  given  to  the  tribe  by  the  Cheyenne,  but  this 
is  probably  a  mistake.  The  name  signifies  "People  of  the  high  land,"  and  no 
doubt  originated  in  the  fact  that  these  Indians  inhabited  the  country  along  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  They  were  sometimes  called  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Indians  by  the  first  explorers  and  travelers  through  the  West.  They 
were  also  called  the  Snake  Indians.  Says  Haines :  "It  is  uncertain  why  the 
term  'Snake'  was  given  to  this  tribe  by  the  whites,  but  probably  because  of  their 
tact  in  leading  pursuits  by  crawling  off  in  the  long  grass  or  diving  in  the  water." 

The  first  white  men  to  give  any  account  of  the  Shoshone  were  Lewis  and 
Clark,  who  came  upon  a  band  of  them  in  Western  Montana  in  1804,  while  on 
their  way  to  the  Pacific  coast.  The  explorers  called  them  Snakes,  and  in  the 
journal  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  mention  is  made  of  Sac-a-ja-we-a 
(the  bird  woman),  a  member  of  the  band,  who  acted  as  guide  to  the  expedition 
to  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  River.  From  this  woman  and  her  husband, 
Lewis  and  Clark  learned  that  the  tribe  inhabited  the  country  now  included  in 
Western  Wyoming  and  Montana,  Southern  Idaho,  Northern  Utah,  Northeastern 
Nevada  and  Eastern  Oregon.  Those  living  along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  had  ponies  and  hunted  the  buffalo,  but  they  never  ventured  very  far 
from  their  mountain  homes  for  fear  of  the  warlike  tribes  of  the  plains. 

A  Shoshone  tradition  says  that  many  years  ago  they  dwelt  in  a  country  far  to 
the  southward,  where  the  rivers  were  filled  with  alligators.  Consequently,  when 
a  Shoshone  crosses  a  strange  river  he  always  offers  a  brief  prayer  to  the  alliga- 
tors that  may  be  in  it  to  spare  his  life.  After  leaving  that  country  they  came 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  they  had  lived  for  nearly  fifty  years  before 
the  first  trappers  and  traders  came  into  their  country.  During  that  period  they 
had  frequently  been  compelled  to  resort  to  arms  to  repel  invasions  by  the  Sioux, 
Crow,  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  tribes. 

They  were   superstitious,   with  a  firm  belief  in  ghosts,   fairies,   little  devils. 


66  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

water  babies,  etc.  They  also  believed  in  a  demon  of  bad  luck,  who  resembled 
a  short,  stocky  human  being  dressed  in  goatskin  clothing,  and  who  carried  a 
quiver  filled  with  invisible  arrows.  Any  person  shot  with  one  of  these  arrows 
did  not  die,  but  was  certain  to  suffer  some  reverse  of  fortune  or  health.  If  a 
member  of  the  family  fell  ill,  or  a  horse  went  lame,  it  was  considered  proof 
positive  that  one  of  the  invisible  arrows  had  done  its  work,  and  the  only  relief 
was  removal  to  another  part  of  the  country.  To  hear  a  coyote  howl  at  full 
moon  was  an  omen  of  good  luck,  and  if  a  family,  removing  at  such  a  time  to 
another  place  to  get  rid  of  the  evil  influence  of  the  invisible  arrow  should  hear 
the  howl  of  a  coyote,  the  head  of  the  family  would  give  the  order  to  return  to  the 
old  home,  satisfied  that  the  spell  was  broken. 

Kindred  tribes  of  the  Shoshonean  group  are  the  Comanche,  Bannock,  Piute, 
Flathead  and  a  few  minor  mountain  bands  bearing  different  names,  but  all  off- 
shoots from  the  parent  stock.  The  Bannock  Indians  at  one  time  inhabited 
Eastern  Oregon  and  Southern  Idaho,  though  some  of  this  tribe  lived  with  the 
Shoshone  in  Western  Wyoming,  and  after  the  treaty  of  1868  occupied  for  a 
time  a  portion  of  the  Wind  River  reservation.  In  1871  they  quarreled  with  the 
Shoshone  and  were  removed  to  Fort  Hall,  Idaho.  Four  years  later  the  Shoshone 
agreed  to  allow  the  Arapaho  to  occupy  part  of  the  reservation.  The  arrangement 
was  made,  and,  although  the  two  tribes  had  long  been  enemies,  they  have  since 
dwelt  together  in  peace. 

CHIEF    W.ASHAKIE 

Washakie,  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  \\'yoming  Indians,  became  the  head 
chief  of  the  Shoshone  in  1857,  being  at  that  time  about  forty  years  of  age. 
He  was  a  real  friend  of  the  white  men  and  it  was  through  his  influence  that 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  state  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1868,  when 
the  Wind  River  reservation  was  established.  In  1876  Washakie,  with  213  of  his 
warriors,  joined  General  Crook  in  the  campaign 'against  hostile  tribes.  On  this 
campaign  General  Crook  consulted  Washakie  daily  as  to  the  habits  of  the  Indi- 
ans of  whom  they  were  in  pursuit,  and  in  nearly  every  instance  the  information 
imparted  was  found  to  be  correct.  His  men  also  performed  valuable  services 
as  scouts. 

After  the  campaign.  President  Grant  sent  to  the  old  chief  a  fine  horse  and 
saddle,  through  Doctor  Irwin,  the  Indian  agent.  When  presented  with  the 
horse  Washakie  said  nothing.  The  agent  suggested  that  he  ought  to  send  his 
thanks  to  General  Grant,  whereupon  the  old  chief  replied :  "Do  a  favor  to  a 
white  man,  he  feels  it  in  his  head  and  the  tongue  speaks.  Do  a  kindness  to  an 
Indian,  he  feels  it  in  his  heart ;  the  heart  has  no  tongue." 

Washakie  ruled  his  people  with  an  iron  hand,  though  he  was  always  earnest 
in  his  efforts  to  improve  their  condition.  On  one  occasion  the  agent  complained 
that  one  man  of  the  tribe  was  making  trouble  by  getting  drvmk  and  fighting. 
Washakie  called  the  man  before  him  and  admonished  him  to  improve  his  con- 
duct. A  little  later  the  agent  again  complained  of  the  Indian's  drunkenness  and 
disorderly  behavior.  The  old  chief  said  nothing  at  the  time,  but  the  following 
day  assured  the  agent  that  the  fellow  would  give  him  no  further  trouble.  Then 
the  agent  learned  that  the  chief  had  taken  the  Indian  out  and  shot  him.   Another 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  67 

time,  when  he  was  going  to  be  away  for  a  few  days,  he  left  orders  with  his  wife 
to  remove  the  tepee  to  another  location  while  he  was  gone.  Upon  his  return 
he  found  the  lodge  in  the  same  place  and  inquired  why  his  Dvders  had  not  Ix'cn 
obeyed.  His  wife  said  it  was  because  her  mother  objecteil.  W  ashakie  then  asked 
his  mother-in-law  why  she  opposed  his  wishes.  The  old  squaw  promptly  in- 
formed him  that  it  was  because  she  wanted  the  tepee  to  remain  where  it  was. 
Washakie  then  killed  her  and  ordered  his  wife  to  remove  the  tepee.  This  time 
his  order  was  obeyed. 

He  was  a  polygamist,  with  several  wives  and  numerous  children.  In  this 
respect  he  merely  followed  the  custom  of  the  Shoshone  chiefs  for  generations 
and  saw  nothing  wrong  in  his  having  a  number  of  wives,  although  he  was  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  Shoshone  Indians.  Washakie  died  about  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century. 

OTHER   TRIBES 

In  addition  to  the  tribes  above  mentioned,  the  Blackfeet,  Arikara,  Assiniboine, 
Gros  \'entre,  Mandan  and  certain  bands  of  the  Siou.x  Indians  either  claimed 
land  within  the  present  limits  of  Wyoming  or  hunted  therein.  These  tribes  joined 
with  the  Cheyenne,  Arapaho,  etc.,  in  making  treaties  with  the  representatives  of 
the  United  States. 

The  Blackfeet  were  originally  allied  with  the  Algonquian  family,  but  left 
that  group  and  wandered  up  the  Missouri  River,  where  they  became  affiliated 
with  the  Siouan  tribes,  especially  the  Teton,  Unkpapa  and  Brule  (or  Bois  Brule) 
bands,  and  in  time  came  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  Siouan  tribes.  It  is 
said  that  they  received  the  name  of  Blackfeet  because  when  they  came  up  the 
Missouri  River  their  leggings  were  black  from  marching  over  the  burned  prairie. 
At  one  time  the  Blackfeet  were  estimated  at  forty  thousand.  In  1910  there 
were  2,100  on  the  reservation  in  Montana  and  3,000  in  the  British  Possessions. 

No  Indian  tribe  of  the  Northwest  was  more  uncertain  in  temper  and  con- 
duct than  the  Arikara.  Some  ethnologists  place  these  Indians  as  an  offshoot  of 
the  Fox,  but  they  belonged  to  the  Caddoan  group.  One  of  their  traditions 
states  that  they  lived  in  Western  Missouri  about  1780,  where  they  were  driven 
out  by  hostile  tribes  and  ascended  the  Missouri.  They  were  friendly  to  Lewis 
and  Clark  in  1804  and  1806,  but  were  hostile  to  Ensign  Pryor's  party  in  1807 
when  escorting  the  Alandan  chief  to  his  home  after  visiting  Washington.  They 
traded  with  the  Missouri  Fur  Company  in  181 1;  robbed  two  trading  houses  of 
the  company  near  Great  Bend  in  1820 ;  were  friendly  to  Joshua  Pilcher  in  1822, 
and  the  next  year  attacked  the  trading  house  of  the  Missouri  Fur  Company  in 
the  Sioux  country  and  were  hostile  to  W.  H.  Ashley's  first  expedition  up  the 
Missouri,  after  first  making  a  show  of  friendship. 

FOREIGN    POLICY    TOWARD    THE    INDI.ANS 

When  Cortez  was  commissioned  captain-general  of  New  Spain  in  1529,  he 
was  directed  to  "give  special  attention  to  the  conversion  of  the  Indians ;  to  see 
that  no  Indians  be  given  to  the  Spaniards  as  servants ;  that  they  pay  such 
tribute  to  His  Majesty  as  they  can  easily  afford;  that  there  shall  be  a  good  cor- 


68  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

respondence   maintained   between   the   Spaniards   and   the   natives,   and   that   no 
wrong  shall  be  offered  the  latter  either  in  their  goods,  families  or  persons.'' 

Such  were  the  instructions  of  the  Spanish  Government,  but  notwithstanding 
this,  during  the  conquest  of  Mexico  and  Central  America  the  treatment  of  the 
nati\es  was  cruel  in  the  extreme,  many  of  them  being  captured  and  forced  to 
work  in  the  mines.  Don  Sebastian  Ramirez,  bishop  and  acting  governor  after 
Cortez,  tried  to  carry  out  the  humane  orders  of  the  commission.  Antonio  de 
Herrera  says  that  under  his  administration  "the  country  was  much  improved  and 
all  things  carried  on  with  equity,  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  all  good  men." 

The  Spanish  authorities  never  accepted  the  idea  that  the  Indians  owned  all 
the  land,  but  only  that  part  actually  occupied,  or  that  might  be  necessary  to 
supply  their  wants.  All  the  rest  of  the  land  belonged  to  Spain  by  right  of  dis- 
covery, and  the  policy  of  dealing  with  the  natives  was  based  upon  this  theory. 

The  French  had  no  settled  policy  regarding  the  title  to  lands.  In  the  letters 
patent  given  by  Louis  XV  to  the  Western  Company  in  August,  1717,  was  the  fol- 
lowing provision : 

"Section  IV — The  said  company  shall  be  free,  in  the  said  granted  lands  to 
negotiate  and  make  alliance  with  all  the  nations  of  the  land,  except  those  which 
are  dependent  on  the  other  powers  of  Europe;  she  may  agree  with  them  on 
such  conditions  as  she  may  think  fit,  to  settle  among  them,  and  trade  freely 
with  them,  and  in  case  they  insult  her  she  may  declare  war  against  them,  attack 
them  or  defend  herself  by  means  of  arms,  and  negotiate  with  them  for  peace 
or  a  truce." 

In  this  section  it  will  be  noticed  there  is  nothing  said  about  the  acquisition 
of  lands.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  French  cared  but  little  for  the  lands,  the 
principal  object  being  to  control  the  fur  trade.  The  trading  post  did  not  require 
a  large  tract  of  land,  and  outside  of  the  site  of  the  trading  house  and  a  small 
garden,  the  Indians  were  left  in  full  possession.  Xor  did  the  French  become 
the  absolute  owners  of  the  small  tracts  at  the  trading  posts.  In  case  the  post 
was  abandoned  the  site  reverted  to  its  Indian  owners.  Under  such  a  liberal 
policy  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  French  traders  were  almost  always  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  natives. 

The  English  policy  treated  the  Indian  as  a  barbarian  and  in  making  land 
grants  ignored  any  claim  he  might  make  to  the  soil.  The  so-called  "Great  Patent 
of  New  England,"  which  was  issued  to  the  Plymouth  Company  and  embracing 
the  land  from  40°  to  48°  north  latitude,  made  not  the  slightest  allusion  to  the 
Indian  title.  The  settlers  bought  the  land  from  the  tribal  chiefs,  and  in  numer- 
ous instances  failure  to  quit  the  Indian  title  by  purchase  resulted  in 
disastrous  wars.  In  the  charter  granted  by  Charles  I  to  Lord  Baltimore,  the 
grantee  was  given  the  authority  "to  collect  troops,  wage  war  on  the  'barbarians' 
and  other  enemies  who  may  make  incursions  into  the  settlements,  and  to  pur- 
sue them  even  beyond  the  limits  of  their  province,  and  if  God  shall  grant  it,  to 
vanquish  and  captivate  them ;  and  the  captives  to  put  to  death,  or,  according  to 
their  discretion,  to  save." 

All  the  nations  of  Europe  which  acquired  territory  in  America,  asserted  in 
themselves  and  recognized  in  others  the  exclusive  right  of  the  discoverer  to 
claim    and    appropriate    the    lands    occupied    by    the    Indians.      Parkman    says: 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  60 

■'Spanish  civilization  crushed  the   Indian;  Enghsh  civihzation   scorned  and   neg- 
lected him ;  French  civilization  emhraced  and  cherished  him." 

THE    UNITED    STATES    POLICY 

The  early  colonies  in  this  country .  adhered  to  the  policy  of  the  country  to 
which  they  belonged.  By  the  treaty  of  September  3,  1783,  which  ended  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  all  the  rights  and  powers  of  Great  Britain  descended  to  the 
United  States.  The  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  first  organic  law  adopted  by 
the  American  Republic,  provided  that: 

"The  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  shall  have  the  sole  and  exclusive 
right  and  power  of  regulating  the  trade  and  managing  all  affairs  with  the  Indi- 
ans not  members  of  any  of  the/states,  provided  that  the  legislative  right  of  any 
state  within  its  own  limits  be  not  infringed  or  violated." 

On  March  i,  1793,  President  Washington  approved  an  act  to  regulate  trade 
and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes,  in  which  it  was  expressly  stipulated  "That 
no  purchase  or  grant  of  lands,  or  any  title  or  claim  thereto,  from  any  Indians, 
or  nation  or  tribe  of  Indians,  within  the  bounds  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
of  any  validity,  in  law  or  equity,  unless  the  same  be  made  by  a  treaty  or  conven- 
tion entered  into  pursuant  to  the  constitution." 

The  penalty  for  each  violation  of  this  act  was  a  fine  of  $1,000  and  impris- 
onment not  exceeding  twelve  months.  With  amendments  this  law  remained  the 
basis  of  all  relations  with  the  Indians  of  the  country  until  the  passage  of  the 
act  of  JNIarch  3,  1871.  Cyrus  Thomas,  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
says:  "By  the  act  of  March  3,  1871,  the  legal  fiction  of  recognizing  the  tribes 
as  independent  nations,  with  which  the  United  States  could  enter  into  solemn 
treaty,  was,  after  it  had  continued  nearly  one  hundred  years,  finally  done  away 
with.  The  effect  of  this  act  was  to  bring  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
Congress  the  transactions  with  the  Indians  and  reduce  to  simple  agreements  what 
had  before  been  accomplished  by  solemn  treaties." 

The  first  treaties  made  by  the  United  .States  with  the  Indian  tribes  were  mere- 
ly treaties  of  peace  and  friendship.  On  .August  3,  1795,  a  great  council  was  held 
at  Greenville,  Ohio,  at  which  time  the  Miami,  Pottawatomi  and  associated  tribes 
ceded  to  the  United  States  certain  lands  in  Indiana  and  Ohio  for  military  posts 
and  roads.  This  was  the  first  cession  of  lands  made  to  the  United  States  by 
Indians  after  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  A  little  later  the  Del- 
aware Indians  ceded  a  portion  of  their  domain  for  settlement  by  the  white 
people.  From  that  time  treaty  after  treaty  followed,  each  extending  the  white 
man's  territory  farther  to  the  westward  until  aliout  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
when  his  progress  reached  the  present  State  of  \\'yoming. 

TRE.\TV  OF  FORT  LAR.VMIE 

For  about  twenty-fi\e  years  after  the  opening  of  the  Oregon  Trail,  it  was 
used  freely  by  the  fur  traders.  The  Indian  tribes  living  within  reach  of  the 
trail  found  it  easier  to  meet  the  traders  at  some  point  along  its  course  than 
to  go  to  the  trading  posts  on  the  Missouri  River  to  dispose  of  their  furs.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  in   1849  brought  a  different  class  of  white  men 


70  HISTORY  OF  WYUMIXG 

into  the  Indian  country.  The  gold  seekers  brought  no  goods  to  trade  and  had  no 
desire  for  furs.  Almost  every  day  brought  a  train  of  ox  teams  on  the  way  to 
the  new  gold  fields.  The  emigrants  killed  the  buffaloes  indiscriminately,  and 
what  they  did  not  kill  they  scared  away,  leaving  the  Indians  without  their  cus- 
tomary means  of  subsistence.  This  naturally  drove  the  savages  to  adopt  a  policy 
of  retaliation.  It  was  not  long  'until  hunters  and  outriders  were  killed,  stock 
stampeded  and  emigrant  trains  attacked. 

On  October  13,  1849,  Col.  D.  D.  Mitchell,  superintendent  of  Indian  aft'airs, 
wrote  to  the  department  advising  a  grand  council  at  Fort  Laramie,  which 
should  be  attended  by  a  military  force  sufficient  to  awe  the  Indians  into  making 
a  treaty  of  peace,  and  at  the  same  time  fix  the  boundaries  of  each  tribe.  The 
council  assembled  about  the  first  of  September,  185 1,  and  remained  in  session 
for  twenty-three  days.  Ten  thousand  Sioux,  Cheyenne,  Arapaho,  Assiniboine, 
Crow,  Arikara  and  other  Indians  gathered  at  the  Fort.  The  wagon  train  of  sup- 
plies sent  by  the  Government  was  delayed  and  the  vast  assemblage  was  actually 
in  need  of  provisions.  On  the  17th  Colonel  Mitchell  succeeded  in  concluding 
a  treaty,  thus  giving  the  Indians  an  opportunity  to  go  out  and  hunt  buffalo  for 
food,  but  very  few  of  them  left  the  council.  On  the  20th  the  provision  train 
arrived,  when  the  whites  and  Indians  joined  in  a  grand  feast.  By  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  the  several  tribes  the  sum  of 
$50,000  annually  for  ten  years  for  the  right  of  way  for  the  trail  through  their 
lands,  and  each  tribe  accepted  certain  boundaries,  beyond  which  they  were  not 
to  stray  without  the  consent  of  the  Government. 

The  bounds  of  the  Sioux  nation  were  set  forth  in  the  treaty  as  follows: 
"Commencing  at  the  mouth  of  the  White  Earth  River,  on  the  Missouri  River; 
thence  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  the  forks  of  the  Platte  River;  thence  up 
the  north  fork  of  the  Platte  River  to  a  point  known  as  Red  Bute,  or  where  the 
road  leaves  the  river;  thence  along  the  range  of  mountains  known  as  the  Black 
Hills  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Heart  River;  thence  down  the  Heart  River  to  its 
mouth ;  thence  down  the  ]\Iissouri  River  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

This  tract  included  only  a  part  of  what  was  afterward  recognized  as  Sioux 
territory.  The  domain  included  in  the  above  described  boundaries  lay  chiefly 
in  South  Dakota  and  Nebraska,  but  some  years  later  the  Sioux  became  joint 
claimants  with  the  Northern  Arapaho  and  Cheyenne  to  that  portion  of  Wyoming 
lying  north  of  the  Platte  and  east  of  the  Powder  River  and  Rattlesnake  Moun- 
tains. 

The  Arikara,  Gros  \'entre  and  ]Mandan  tribes  were  assigned  a  tract  with 
the  following  boundaries :  "Commencing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Heart  River ; 
thence  up  the  Missouri  River  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  River;  thence  up 
the  Yellowstone  to  the  mouth  of  the  Powder  River;  thence  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Missouri  River;  thence  along  the 
Black  Hills  to  the  head  of  the  Heart  Ri\er ;  and  thence  down  the  Heart  River  to 
the  place  of  beginning." 

Only  a  small  portion  of  this  territory  ( between  the  Little  Powder  and 
Little  Missouri  rivers)  lies  in  Wyoming.  These  tribes  afterward  claimed  to 
own  a  large  tract  of  country  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri  River,  which  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  treaty  of  July  27,  1866.  but  the  treaty  was 
never  ratified.     Relations  between  them  and  the  Government  remained  unsettled 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  71 

until  the  executive  order  of  April  12,  1870,  when  a  reservation  was  assigned 
them  on  land  recognized  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Laramie,  the  remainder  of  said 
territory  becoming  the  property  of  the  United  States. 

The  Assiniboine  country,  as  fixed  by  the  treaty,  is  all  within  the  present 
State  of  Montana,  the  boundaries  being  described  as  follows :  "Commencing  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  Ri\er;  thence  up  the  Missouri  Ri\'er  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Musselshell  Ri\-er ;  thence  from  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  River  in 
a  southeasterly  direction  to  the  headwaters  of  Big  Dry  Creek ;  thence  down  that 
creek  to  where  it  empties  into  the  Yellowstone  River,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Powder  River;  and  thence  down  the  Yellowstone  River  to  the  place  of 
beginning." 

The  blackfoot  country  boundaries  began  "at  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell 
River;  thence  up  the  ^Missouri  River  to  its  source:  thence  along  the  main  range 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  a  southerly  direction  to  the  headwaters  of  the  north- 
ern source  of  the  Yellowstone  River;  thence  down  the  Yellowstone  River  to  the 
mouth  of  Twenty-five  Yard  Creek ;  thence  across  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Mus- 
selshell River;  and  thence  down  the  Musselshell  River  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

This  tract  is  all  in  ^lontana  except  a  small  triangular  piece  of  land  in  Yel- 
lowstone National  Park,  extending  southeastward  into  Lincoln  County,  Wyo- 
ming. By  the  treaty  of  October  17.  1855,  which  was  concluded  on  the  Upper 
Missouri,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Judith  River,  the  Blackfoot  domain  was  made 
a  common  hunting  ground  for  that  tribe,  the  Flathead  and  the  Nez  Perce  In- 
dians. ' 

In  the  treaty  the  boundaries  of  the  Crow  country  were  described  as  "Com- 
mencing at  the  mouth  of  the  Powder  River,  on  the  Yellowstone ;  thence  up  the 
Powder  River  to  its  source ;  thence  along  the  main  range  of  the  Black  Hills 
and  the  ^\'ind  River  ^Mountains  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Yellowstone  River; 
thence  down  the  Yellowstone  River  to  the  mouth  of  Twenty-five  Yard  Creek ; 
thence  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Musselshell  River;  thence  down  the  ^Musselshell 
River  to  its  mouth ;  thence  to  the  headwaters  of  Big  Dry  Creek ;  and  thence 
to  its  mouth." 

More  than  half  of  this  tract  is  situated  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State 
of  Wyoming.  It  concludes  all  that  part  of  the  state  lying  between  the  Powder 
and  Yellowstone  rivers  and  extending  sou.thward  to  the  \\'ind  River  and  Rattle- 
snake Mountains.  The  counties  of  Bighorn,  Washakie,  Park  and  Hot  Springs, 
and  the  greater  part  of  Sheridan,  Johnson  and  Natrona,  the  northern  part  of 
Fremont  and  the  eastern  part  of  Yellowstone  National  Park  are  all  situated  in 
what  was  once  Crow  territory.  A  portion  of  the  tract  was  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Laramie  (May  7,  1868),  and  a  reser\ation  for  the 
tribe  was  established  in  Montana. 

The  boundaries  of  the  territory  assigned  to  the  Southern  Arapaho  and  Chey- 
enne were  established  and  described  as  follows :  "Commencing  at  the  Red  Butte, 
or  the  place  where  the  road  leaves  the  north  fork  of  the  Platte  River ;  thence 
up  the  said  north  fork  of  the  Platte  River  to  its  source ;  thence  along  the  main 
range  of  the  Rocky  ^fountains  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas  River ;  thence 
down  the  Arkansas  River  to  the  crossing  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail;  thence  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  to  the  forks  of  the  Platte  River;  and  thence  up  the 
Platte  River  to  the  place  of  beginning." 


72  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

All  that  part  of  Wyoming  situated  south  and  east  of  the  North  Platte  River, 
Southwestern  Nebraska,  a  strip  about  forty  miles  wide  across  the  western  part 
of  Kansas  to  the  Arkansas  River,  and  about  one-third  of  the  present  State  of 
Colorado  were  included  in  the  domain  of  the  Arapaho  and  Cheyenne.  In  Wyo- 
ming the  counties  of  Albany  and  Laramie,  all  that  portion  of  Carbon  east  of  the 
Platte  River,  the  southeast  corner  of  Natrona,  the  southwest  corner  of  Con- 
verse, the  southern  half  of  Goshen  and  nearly  all  of  Platte  have  been  erected 
out  of  this  territory,  which  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  treaty  of 
Fort  Wise,  Kansas,  which  was  concluded  on  February  i8,  1861. 

The  Northern  Arapaho  and  Cheyenne  were  allotted  the  country  between  the 
Platte  and  Powder  rivers,  in  what  is  now  Northeastern  Wyoming.  Their 
domain  included  the  present  counties  of  Crook,  Campbell,  Weston,  Niobrara,  the 
northern  half  of  Goshen,  the  northeast  comer  of  Platte,  nearly  all  of  Converse, 
and  a  narrow  strip  along  the  eastern  border  of  Sheridan  and  Johnson — that 
part  of  those  counties  east  of  the  Powder  River.  A  portion  of  Natrona  County 
was  also  embraced  in  the  domain  of  the  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho.  Some  time 
after  the  treaty  of  Fort  Laramie,  the  Sioux  were  permitted  by  the  Cheyenne  and 
Arapaho  to  hunt  in  their  country,  and  that  tribe  united  with  the  other  two  in 
the  cession  of  the  region  to  the  United  States  by  agreement  on  September  26,  1876. 

Gen.  William  S.  Harney  called  Colonel  Mitchell's  agreement  with  the  Indi- 
ans a  "bread  and  molasses"  treaty,  as  it  promised  a  great  deal  to  the  Indians  and 
received  practically  nothing  in  return.  The  tribes  failed  to  keep  within  their 
respective  jurisdictions,  nor  did  they  refrain  from  making  attacks  upon  emi- 
grant trains  and  stealing  their  horses  and  cattle.  Hence  it  was  not  long  until 
other  treaties  became  necessary,  especially  as  a  few  white  people  had  already 
settled  in  the  West  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  and  others  were  looking 
with  longing  eyes  at  the  broad  prairies  of  that  section,  where  they  were  anxious 
to  obtain  homes. 

TREATY    WITH    THE    SIOUX 

During  the  Civil  war  the  Sioux  Indians  gave  the  United  States  authorities 
considerable  trouble  by  their  uprising  in  ^linnesota,  and  after  the  war  was  over 
they  showed  signs  of  dissatisfaction  and  at  times  threatened  to  break  into  open 
hostilities.  In  the  spring  of  1868  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  Gen.  William  S.  Hamey, 
Gen.  Alfred  H.  Terry,  Gen.  C.  C.  Augur,  John  B.  Sanborn,  Samuel  F.  Tappan, 
Nathaniel  G.  Taylor  and  J.  B.  Henderson  were  appointed  commissioners  to 
hold  a  council  and  negotiate  a  treaty  that  would  insure  peace  on  the  part  of  the 
tribe. 

The  council  was  held  at  Fort  Laramie  and  on  April  29.  1868,  the  treaty 
was  concluded,  ceding  to  the  United  States  all  the  Sioux  lands  within  the  present 
limits  of  South  Dakota  that  had  been  allotted  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  Sep- 
tember 17,  1 85 1,  and  a  reservation  was  set  apart  for  the  tribe  in  South  Dakota. 
The  country  north  of  the  Platte  and  east  of  the  summit  of  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains was  considered  to  be  unceded  and  was  retained  by  the  Indians  as  part  of 
their  hunting  grounds.  The  treaty  was  signed  by  the  chiefs  Red  Cloud,  Medicine 
Eagle,  Black  Tiger,  Man  Afraid  of  his  Horses,  and  a  number  of  minor  chiefs. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  73 

THE    CROW    TREATV 

On  May  7,  1868,  Generals  Sherman,  Harney,  Terry  and  Augur  concluded  a 
treaty  with  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Crow  tribe  at  Fort  Laramie,  by  which 
these  Indians  ceded  the  greater  part  of  their  lands  in  Wyoming,  allotted  to  them 
by  the  treaty  of  September  17,  1851,  and  accepted  a  reservation  in  :Montana, 
lying  between  the  northern  boundary  line  of  Wyoming  and  the  Yellowstone 
River.  The  remainder  of  the  Crow  territory  in  ^^'yoming  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States  by  the  agreement  of  June   12,   1880. 

CHEVEXXE   AND   ARAPAHO   TREATY 

Three  days  after  the  above  treaty  with  the  Crow  Indians  was  concluded, 
the  same  commissioners  met  the  chiefs  of  the  Xorthern  Cheyenne  and  Xorthern 
Arapaho  and  concluded  a  treaty  by  which  those  tribes  relinquished  all  claims 
to  their  lands  in  \\'yoming  and  agreed  to  accept  a  home  either  with  the  Southern 
Arapaho  and  Cheyenne,  on  their  reservation  in  Colorado,  or  on  the  Big  Sioux 
reservation  in  Dakota.  They  were  established  on  the  latter.  In  1875  the 
Arapaho,  with  the  consent  of  the  Shoshone,  were  given  a  home  on  the  Wind 
River  reservation.  That  portion  of  Wyoming  included  in  the  cession  made  by 
this  treaty,  embraces  the  district  between  the  Platte  and  Powder  rivers,  extend- 
ing southwest  to  the  Rattlesnake  ]\Iountains.  After  the  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho 
were  quartered  on  the  Sioux  reservation  they  learned  that  the  territory  had  been 
reserved  by  that  tribe  as  hunting  ground  in  the  treaty  of  April  29,  1868.  Some  of 
the  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  then  tried  to  renew  their  claims,  and  the  tract  was 
finally  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  all  the  tribes  through  the  agreement  of 
September  26,  1876. 

TREATY   OF   FORT    BRIDGER 

After  negotiating  the  treaties  with  the  Crow,  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  at  Fort 
Laramie  in  May,  1868,  Generals  Sherman,  Terry,  Augur  and  Harney  went  to 
Fort  Eridger  and  called  a  council  of  the  Shoshone  and  Bannock  chiefs.  On 
July  3,  1868,  the  chiefs  of  the  eastern  bands  of  those  tribes  entered  into  a 
treaty,  in  which  they  agreed  to  relinquish  all  claims  to  their  lands  in  Wyoming 
and  accept  a  reservation  bounded  as  follows:  "Commencing  at  the  mouth  of 
Owl  Creek  and  running  due  south  to  the  crest  of  the  divide  between  the  Sweet- 
water and  Popo-Agie  rivers;  thence  in  a  westerly  direction  along  the  crest  of 
said  divide  and  the  summit  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains  to  a  point  due  south  of 
the  mouth  of  the  north  fork  of  the  Wind  River;  thence  due  north  to  the  mouth 
of  said  north  fork  and  up  its  channel  to  a  point  twenty  miles  above  its  mouth ; 
thence  in  a  straight  line  to  the  headwaters  of  Owl  Creek,  and  along  the  middle 
channel  of  Owl  Creek  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

The  reservation  thus  established  is  known  as  the  "Wind  River  Reservation." 
The  territory  ceded  included  all  that  part  of  Wyoming  west  of  the  North  Platte 
River  and  south  of  the  Wind  River  Mountains,  extending  northward  to  the 
old  Blackfoot  boundary  in  Yellowstone  National  Park.  This  cession  now  em- 
braces  the   counties   of   Uinta   and    Sweetwater,   all    of   Lincoln    except    a    little 


74  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  the  northeast  corner,  that  part  of  Carbon  west  of  the  North  Platte  River,  the 
southern  part  of  Fremont  and  a  Httle  of  the  southwest  corner  of  Natrona. 

The  treaty  was  ratified  on  February  i6,  1869,  and  on  the  loth  of  the 
following  December,  Governor  Campbell  approved  a  memorial  adopted  by  the 
first  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wyoming,  setting  forth  that  "the  reservation  had 
been  occupied  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  mining  and  agricultural  pur- 
poses ;  that  the  mining  community  known  as  Hamilton  City  or  'Miners'  Delight,' 
and  numerous  other  gold  producing  creeks  and  gulches  are  within  the  limits  of 
said  reservation;  that  while  the  occupants  were  bona  fide  settlers  for  a  year 
before  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  their  interests  had  not  been  consulted  in  es- 
tablishing the  reservation;  that  the  Shoshone  and  Bannock  Indians  cannot  live 
in  peace  there,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Sioux; 
that  no  game  can  be  found  on  or  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  reservation," 
etc.  The  memorial  asked  Congress  to  abrogate  that  provision  of  the  treaty  and 
establish  a  reservation  elsewhere,  to  the  end  that  the  lands  might  be  reopened  for 
preemption  and  settlement. 

Congress  declined  to  grant  the  request  and  the  Indians  remained  in  possession 
of  the  reservation.  On  March  3,  1871,  President  Grant  approved  the  act  which 
did  away  with  the  custom  of  making  treaties  with  the  Indians,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 26,  1872,  an  agreement  was  made  with  the  Shoshone  by  which  they  ceded  to 
the  United  States  that  part  of  their  reservation  "south  of  a  line  beginning  at  a 
point  on  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  reservation  due  east  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Little  Popo-Agie  at  its  junction  with  the  Popo-Agie  and  running  from  said 
point  west  to  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Popo-Agie ;  thence  up  the  Popo-Agie  to  the 
north  fork  and  up  the  north  fork  to  the  mouth  of  the  canyon;  thence  west  to 
the  western  boundary  of  the  reservation." 

The  Bannock  Indians  had  no  part  in  this  agreement,  having  previously 
quarreled  with  the  Shoshone  and  been  removed  to  the  Fort  Hall  reservation  in 
Idaho.  Subsequent  agreements  have  reduced  the  Wind  River  reservation  to  the 
territory  bounded  by  the  \Mnd  River  on  the  north ;  the  lines  established  by  the 
agreement  of  September  26,  1872,  on  the  south,  and  the  original  western  bound- 
ary between  those  two  lines  on  the  west.  On  May  21.  1887,  President  Cleve- 
land set  apart  a  tract  of  1,405  acres  "more  or  less"  at  the  forks  of  the  Little 
Wind  River,  in  tlie  Wind  River  reservation,  as  a  military  reserve  for  Fort 
\A'ashakie. 

The  treaty  of  Fort  Bridger  was  the  last  important  treaty  made  with  the 
Indians  of  Wyoming.  Several  agreements  were  made  after  that  time  to  perfect 
the  title  of  the  whites  to  the  land  ceded,  but  possession  came  with  the  treaty 
of  July  3,  1868.  During  the  half  century  since  that  treaty  was  concluded  a 
dififerent  Wyoming  has  come  upon  the  map  of  the  nation.  Railroads  have  taken 
the  places  of  Indian  trails ;  the  school  house  has  supplanted  the  council  wigwam 
of  the  savage;  the  howl  of  the  wolf  and  the  war-whoop  are  no  longer  heard,  but 
in  their  stead  have  come  the  herds  of  the  husbandman  and  the  hum  of  peaceful 
industry.  And  all  these  changes  have  been  made  within  the  memory  of  persons 
yet  living.  To  tell  the  story  of  this  development  is  the  province  of  the  subsequent 
chapters  of  this  history. 


CHAPTER  \' 
WYOMING  UXDER  \'ARIOUS  JURISDICTIONS 

FIRST   CLAIMED    FA'    SPAIN — DE    SOTO's    EXPEl5lTI0X FREXCH    EXPLORATIONS — MAR- 
QUETTE    AND     JOLIET LA      SALLe's      EXPEDITIONS — THE      MEXICAN      CESSION 

ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS OREGON    BOUNDARY"    DISPUTE — NEBRASKA — TERRITORY 

OF  DAKOTA — IDAHO RECAPITULATION. 

The  first  civilized  nation  to  lay  claim  to  the  territory  now  comprising  the 
State  of  Wyoming  was  Spain.  In  1493,  the  year  following  the  first  voyage  of 
Columbus  to  the  Western  Hemisphere,  the  pope  granted  to  the  King  and  Queen 
of  Spain  "all  countries  inhabited  by  infidels."  As  the  x\merican  aborigines 
were  not  Christians  in  the  accepted  meaning  of  the  term,  they  were  regarded  as 
infidels  and  the  country  was  made  subject  to  exploitation  by  the  Spanish  mon- 
archs.  At  that  time  the  extent  of  the  continent  discovered  by  Columbus  was 
not  known,  but  in  a  vague  way  this  papal  grant  included  the  present  State  of 
\Vyoming. 

DE   SOTo's   EXPEDITION 

The  uncertain  grant  of  the  pope  to  "infidel  countries"  was  strengthened  in 
1541-42  by  the  expedition  of  Hernando  de  Soto  into  the  interior  of  what  is 
now  the  United  States.  De  Soto  was  born  in  Spain  about  four  years  after 
Columbus  made  his  first  voyage  of  discovery  and  had  been  connected  with 
some  of  the  early  expeditions  to  Peru,  in  which  service  he  demonstrated  his 
qualifications  to  command  and  won  the  favor  of  his  royal  master.  In  the  spring 
of  1538  Charles  I,  then  King  of  Spain,  appointed  him  governor  of  Florida  and 
Cuba.  Acting  under  orders  from  King  Charles,  he  left  Cuba  on  May  12.  1339. 
with  about  one  thousand  men,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  interior  of 
Florida,  the  extent  of  which  was  at  that  time  very  indefinite. 

Early  in  June  he  left  the  coast  and  marched  in  a  northwesterly  direction.  At 
a  place  called  Tascaluza  by  the  survivors  of  the  ill-fated  expedition,  he  met  a 
large  body  of  hostile  Indians  and  gave  them  battle.  The  fight  lasted  for  several 
hours,  when  the  savages  fled,  leaving  a  large  number  of  their  warriors  dead 
upon  the  field.  The  Spanish  loss  was  seventy  killed  and  a  number  wounded, 
De  Soto  himself  being  among  the  latter.  Uike  nearly  all  the  early  Spanish 
explorers,  De  Soto's  chief  object  was  to  discover  rich  mines  of  the  precious 
metals.  After  wandering  about  in  the  wilderness  for  several  months  he  came 
to  the  Mississippi  River  in  the  spring  of  1541,  not  far  from  the  present  City 
of  Memphis,  Tennessee.     He  then  made  an  effort  to  reach  the  Spanish  settle- 


76  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ments  in  Mexico,  but  was  stricken  with  fever,  died  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkan- 
sas River,  and  was  buried  in  the  great  stream  he  had  discovered.  The  remnant 
of  the  expedition,  after  many  hardships,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Gulf  coast 
and  made  a  report  of  their  adventures.  Upon  this  report  Spain  claimed  "all  the 
territory  bordering  on  the  Grande  River  and  the  Gulf  of  Alexico." 

FRENCH    EXPLOR.VTIONS 

As  early  as  1611  Jesuit  missionaries  from  the  French  settlements  in  Canada 
were  among  the  Indians  living  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  and  Lake 
Superior.  A  few  years  later  the  King  of  France  granted  a  charter  of  the 
"Company  of  One  Hundred"  to  engage  in  the  fur  trade.  In  1634  the  company 
sent  Jean  Nicollet  as  an  agent  to  open  up  a  trade  with  the  Indians.  He  explored 
the  country  about  the  Green  Bay,  and  went  as  far  west  as  the  Fox  River,  in 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  Nicollet  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
man  to  make  a  report  upon  the  region  west  of  the  Great  Lakes; 

In  the  fall  of  1665  Claude  Allouez,  one  of  the  most  zealous  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers,  held  a  council  with  representatives  of  several  of  the  western  tribes  of  In- 
dians at  the  Chippewa  Village  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior.  Allouez 
promised  the  chiefs  of  the  Chippewa,  Sioux,  Sac,  Fox,  Pottawatomi  and  Illini — the 
tribes  represented  at  the  council — the  protection  of  the  great  French  father  and 
opened  the  way  for  a  profitable  trade.  At  this  council  some  of  the  Illini  and 
Sioux  chiefs  told  the  missionary  of  a  great  river  farther  to  the  westward,  "called 
by  them  the  Me-sa-sip-pi,  which  they  said  no  white  man  had  yet  seen  (these 
Indians  knew  nothing  of  De  Soto's  expedition  of  more  than  a  century  before), 
and  along  which  fur-bearing  animals  abounded."  This  was  the  first  definite 
information  the  French  received  regarding  the  great  Father  of  Waters. 

In  1668  Father  Allouez  and  Father  Claude  Dablon  founded  the  mission  of 
St.  Mary's,  the  oldest  white  settlement  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State 
of  Michigan.  The  French  authorities  in  Canada,  influenced  by  the  reports 
Nicollet  and  the  missionaries,  sent  Nicholas  Perrot  as  the  accredited  agent  of 
the  French  Government  to  arrange  for  a  grand  council  with  the  Indians.  The 
council  was  held  at  St.  Mary's  in  May,  1671,  and  friendly  relations  with  the 
tribes  inhabiting  the  country  about  the  Strait  of  Mackinac  were  thus  established. 
Before  the  close  of  that  year  Jacques  ]\Iarquette,  another  Jesuit  missionary, 
founded  the  mission  at  Point  St.  Ignace  for  the  benefit  of  the  Huron  Indians. 
For  many  years  this  mission  was  regarded  as  the  key  to  the  great  unexplored 
West.  Thus  little  by  little  the  French  pushed  their  way  westward  toward  the 
great  ^^lississippi  \'alley. 

MARQUETTE  .\XD  JOLIET 

Father  Marquette  had  heard  the  reports  of  the  great  river  to  the  westward, 
soon  after  the  council  at  the  Chippewa  \'illage  in  1665.  and  was  filled  with  a 
desire  to  discover  it,  but  was  deterred  from  the  undertaking  until  after  Perrot's 
council  in  I\Iay,  1671.  Although  that  council  resulted  in  the  establishment  of 
friendly  relations  with  the  Indians,  which  would  have  made  an  expedition  to 
the  river  possible,  other  circumstances  intervened  to  delay  him  for  almost  two 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  77 

vears.  In  the  spring  of  1673,  having  received  the  necessary  authority  from  the 
Canadian  otificials,  he  began  his  preparations  at  Michilimackinac  for  the  voyage. 
It  is  related  that  the  friendly  Indians  there  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  the 
project  by  telling  him  that  the  tribes  living  along  the  river  were  cruel  and  blood- 
thirsty, and  that  the  stream  was  the  abode  of  terrible  monsters  that  could  easily 
swallow  a  canoe  loaded  with  men. 

These  stories  had  no  effect  upon  the  intrepid  priest,  unless  it  was  to  make 
him  more  determined,  and  on  May  13,  1673,  accompanied  by  Louis  Joliet,  an 
explorer  and  trader,  with  five  voyageurs  or  boatmen  and  two  large  canoes,  the 
little  expedition  left  Michilimackinac.  Passing  up  the  Green  Bay  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Fox  River,  they  ascended  that  stream  to  the  portage,  crossed  over  to  the 
Wisconsin  River,  down  which  they  floated  until  June  17,  1673,  when  their  canoes 
shot  out  upon  the  broad  bosom  of  the  Mississippi.  Turning  their  canoes  south- 
ward, they  descended  the  Mississippi,  carefully  noting  the  landmarks  as  they 
went  along,  until  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  There  they  met 
with  a  tribe  of  Indians  whose  language  they  could  not  understand  and  decided 
to  proceed  no  further.  Retracing  their  steps,  they  arrived  at  the  French  settle- 
ments about  Michilimackinac  after  an  absence  of  four  months,  during  which 
time  they  had  traveled  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles. 

Joliet  was  a  good  topographer  and  he  prepared  a  map  of  the  region  through 
which  he  and  Marquette  had  passed.  The  map  and  the  reports  of  the  voyage,  when 
presented  to  the  Canadian  authorities,  convinced  them  that  the  Mississippi  River 
was  not  a  myth,  and  it  was  not  long  until  steps  were  taken  to  claim  the  country 
drained  by  it  for  France, 

LA   S.KLLE's   expeditions 

The  year  following  the  voyage  of  Marquette  and  Joliet,  Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur 
de  La  Salle,  was  granted  the  seigneury  of  Fort  Frontenac,  where  the  City  of 
Kingston,  Canada,  is  now  situated,  and  on  May  12,  1678,  he  received  from 
Louis  XIV,  then  King  of  France,  a  permit  to  continue  the  explorations  of 
Marquette  and  Joliet,  "find  a  port  for  the  king's  ships  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
discover  the  western  parts  of  New  France,  and  find  a  way  to  penetrate  Mexico." 

Late  in  the  year  1678  La  Salle  made  his  first  attempt  to  reach  and  descend 
the  Mississippi,  but  it  ended  in  failure,  mainly  for  the  reason  that  his  prepara- 
tions had  not  been  made  with  sufficient  care.  Affairs  at  his  seigneury  then 
claimed  his  attention  for  about  three  years,  though  he  did  not  relinquish  the  idea 
of  finding  and  exploring  the  great  river.  In  December,  1681,  he  started  upon 
his  second,  and  what  proved  to  be  his  successful  expedition.  This  time  he  was 
accompanied  by  his  lieutenant,  Henri  de  Tonti ;  Jacques  de  la  Metarie,  a  notary : 
Jean  Michel,  surgeon  of  the  expedition ;  Father  Zenobe  Membre,  a  Recollet  mis- 
sionary; and  "a  number  of  Frenchmen  bearing  arms." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  this  little  band  of  explorers  through  all  its 
vicissitudes  and  hardships  in  the  dead  of  winter  and  a  wild,  unexplored  coun- 
try. Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  river  was  reached,  and  was  descended  to  its  mouth. 
On  April  8,  1682,  La  Salle  and  Tonti  passed  through  two  of  the  channels  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  leading  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  next  day  they 
came  together  again  and  La  Salle  formally  took  possession  of  "all  the  countn,' 


78  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

drained  by  the  great  river  and  its  tributaries,  in  the  name  of  France,  and  con- 
ferred upon  the  territory  thus  claimed  the  name  of  Louisiana,  in  honor  of  the 
French  King." 

To  the  casual  reader  it  may  seem  that  the  early  French  explorations  have 
little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  State  of  Wyoming.  But  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  voyage  of  Marquette  and  Joliet  opened  the  way  for 
the  later  voyage  of  La  Salle  and  his  claim  to  the  country  'drained  by  the  Missis- 
sippi, under  which  all  that  portion  of  Wyoming  whose  waters  reach  the  Mis- 
sissippi became  a  dependency  of  France.  Spain  had  made  no  effort  to  enforce 
her  claim,  based  upon  the  discovery  of  the  river  by  De  Soto,  and  the  European 
powers  recognized  the  claim  of  France,  based  upon  the  work  of  La  Salle.  In 
1762  France  ceded  the  Province  of  Louisiana  to  Spain,  which  nation  retained 
possession  until  1800,  when  it  was  ceded  back  to  France,  and  in  1803  it  was  sold 
by  France  to  the  United  States,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  the  next  chapter. 
By  this  sale  the  greater  part  of  Wyoming  became  territory  of  the  United  States 
and  the  way  was  opened  for  its  present  status. 

THE   MEXICAN   CESSION 

Alexico  once  owned  the  territory  comprising  the  present  states  of  California, 
Nevada,  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  the  western  part  of  Colorado  and  the 
southwest  corner  of  Wyoming.  When  James  K.  Polk  was  inaugurated  President 
on  March  4,  1845,  it  soon  became  the  dream  of  his  administration  to  acquire 
California,  though  the  means  by  which  the  dream  was  to  be  realized  were  vincer- 
tain.  The  territory  might  be  acquired  by  conquest ;  it  might  be  secured  by  filling 
it  with  emigrants  from  the  United  States,  who  would  bring  it  into  the  Union 
as  Texas  had  been  annexed ;  or  it  might  be  possible  to  win  the  good  will  of  the 
citizens,  who  were  already  chafing  under  jMexican  rule.  Early  in  1846  John 
C.  Fremont's  expedition  entered  the  Sacramento  Valley  and  introduced  a  fourth 
plan  for  the  acquisition  of  the  country.  Fremont  established  an  independent 
government,  known  as  the  "Bear  Flag  Republic,"  under  the  control  of  the  Ameri- 
can settlers  in  the  valley.  When  war  was  declared  against  Mexico  by  Congress 
on  May  13,  1846,  the  "Bear  Flag"  was  replaced  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

The  Town  of  Santa  Fe  was  captured  by  Col.  Stephen  W.  Kearney,  and  New 
Mexico  was  acquired  almost  without  loss  of  life.  By  the  end  of  1846  prac- 
tically all  the  territory  desired  by  the  administration  was  held  by  the  United 
States  military  forces,  though  Mexico  still  remained  unconquered.  In  the  spring 
of  1847  President  Polk  sent  Nicholas  P.  Trist,  a  Mrginian  and  chief  clerk  in 
the  department  of  state,  to  Gen.  Winfield  Scott's  headquarters  for  the  purpose 
of  entering  into  negotiations  with  the  Alexican  Government  for  the  restoration 
of  peace.  He  was  instructed,  among  other  things,  to  demand  the  cession  of  Cali- 
fornia and  New  Mexico  and  the  recognition  of  the  Rio  Grande  as  the  interna- 
tional boundary.  On  February  2,  1848,  Trist  succeeded  in  negotiating  the  Treaty 
of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  (a  small  place  on  the  outskirts  of  the  City  of  ]\Iexico), 
which  embodied  these  features.  All  the  territory  held  by  Mexico  north  of  the 
Rio  Grande  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  Mexico  receiving  therefor  the 
sum  of  $15,000,000,  and  the  United  States  further  agreed  to  assume  the  pay- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  79 

ment  of  claims  held  by  her  citizens  against  the  IMexican  Government,  provided 
the  total  amount  of  such  claims  did  not  exceed  $3,250,000. 

That  part  of  Wyoming  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo  lies  south  of  the  forty-second  parallel  of  north  latitude  and  west  of  the 
line  of  107°  30'  west  longitude.  It  embraces  all  of  Sweetwater  County  except 
a  strip  about  eighteen  miles  wide  across  the  northern  part ;  the  southwest  corner 
of  Carbon  County  (that  part  lying  west  of  107°  30')  ;  aU  of  Uinta  County,  and 
a  tract  thirty-six  miles  wide  across  the  south  end  of  Lincoln  County. 

AXNEX.-VTION    OF   TEXAS 

The  greater  part  of  Texas  was  originally  included  in  the  Province  of  Louisi- 
ana. In  1819  Spain  ceded  Florida  to  the  United  States  and  received  in  return 
all  that  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  included  within  the  limits  of  Texas, 
which  then  extended  northward  to  the  forty-second  parallel.  Two  years  later 
Moses  Austin  obtained  from  the  Spanish  authorities  the  privilege  of  establishing 
an  American  colony  in  Texas.  Mexico,  by  the  revolution  which  separated  her 
from  Spain,  became  independent  and  succeeded  to  all  the  rights  of  the  mother 
country  over  Texas.  On  October  4,  1824,  the  people  of  Mexico  adopted  a 
Federal  Constitution,  under  which  the  Mexican  Republic  was  formed,  composed 
of  separate  states.  Texas  and  Coahuila  were  united  as  one  of  those  states  and 
adopted  a  constitution,  after  the  manner  of  the  states  of  the  American  Union. 

In  1835  'I  military  revolution  broke  out  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  which  was 
powerful  enough  to  subvert  the  federal  and  state  constitutions  of  the  republic 
and  establish  Gen.  ]\Iiguel  Barragan  as  military  dictator.  At  his  order  the 
Mexican  Congress  issued  a  decree  converting  the  states  into  mere  departments 
of  a  central  government  The  Austin  colony  soon  became  a  "thorn  in  the  side'' 
of  the  military  dictator.  Texas  revolted,  and  on  ]\  larch  2,  1836,  issued  a  declara- 
tion of  independence,  to  the  efifect  that  all  political  connection  with  Mexico  was 
forever  ended,  and  that  "the  people  of  Texas  do  now  constitute  a  free,  sovereign 
and  independent  republic."  General  Santa  Anna,  who  had  succeeded  to  the 
dictatorship,  collected  a  force  and  marched  into  Texas  for  the  purpose  of  forcing 
the  people  back  to  their  allegiance.  He  was  defeated  at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto, 
April  21,  1836,  and  in  May,  while  held  as  a  prisoner  by  the  Texans,  was  forced 
to  enter  into  a  treaty  acknowledging  the  independence  of  the  Texas  Republic, 
with  the  Rio  Grande  as  the  western  boundary. 

Previous  to  this  time  the  United  States  had  made  repeated  offers  to  purchase 
the  territory  forming  the  Republic  of  Texas,  but  they  had  all  been  rejected. 
The  Constitution  of  Texas  was  ratified  by  the  people  in  September.  1836.  and 
Gen.  Sam  Houston  was  chosen  as  president.  In  the  last  days  of  President 
Tyler's  administration  the  people  of  Texas  made  overtures  for  annexation  to 
the  United  States  and  Congress  passed  an  act  giving  the  assent  of  the  Government 
to  the  annexation,  under  certain  conditions.  On  March  10,  1845,  the  people  of 
Texas  voted  to  accept  the  provisions  of  the  act  and  Texas  became  a  part  of  the 
United  States.    It  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  state  on  December  20,  1845. 

By  the  annexation  of  Texas,  all  that  part  of  Carbon  County,  Wyoming,  lying 
east  of  107°  30'  west  longitude  and  south  of  the  forty-second  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  and  that  part  of  Albany  County  south  of  the  forty-second  parallel  and 


80  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

west  of  105°  30'  west  longitude,  were  annexed  to  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  Originally  the  dividing  line  between  the  territory  of  Texas  and  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  was  supposed  to  be  the  summit  of  the  Laramie  Alountains, 
but  in  the  cession  to  Spain,  by  the  treaty  of  1819,  it  was  fixed  at  the  line  of. 
105°  30'  west  longitude,  with  which  boundary  it  came  back  into  the  United 
States  in  1845. 


The  British  flag  was  first  carried  to  the  coast  of  Oregon  in  1579,  by  Sir 
Francis  Drake.  Captain  Cook,  another  English  adventurer  and  explorer,  landed 
at  and  named  Nootka  Sound  (Vancouver  Island)  in  1778.  Upon  the  voyages 
of  Drake  and  Cook,  Great  Britain  claimed  the  country  along  the  coast.  This 
claim  was  disputed  by  the  Spaniards  in  1789,  on  the  grounds  of  previous  dis- 
covery, but  in  the  end  Spain  was  compelled  to  yield.  In  1793  another  expedition 
under  Vancouver  explored  the  coast  on  behalf  of  England,  adding  further 
strength  to  her  claim. 

The  American  claim  to  the  region  began  in  the  winter  of  1788-89,  when 
Capt.  Robert  Gray  and  a  man  named  Kendrick  passed  the  winter  on  the  Nootka 
Sound.  They  had  been  sent  out  by  some  merchants  of  Boston  to  investigate 
the  possibilities  of  the  fur  trade  in  the  Northwest.  Captain  Gray  made  a  second 
trip  to  the  Pacific  coast  in  1792,  when  he  ascended  the  Columbia  River  for 
several  miles.  Based  upon  the  discoveries  of  Gray  and  Kendrick  and  the  Louisi- 
ana Purchase  (the  old  Spanish  claim),  the  United  States  laid  claim  to  the 
country.  After  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804-06,  this  claim  was 
extended  to  "all  the  country  drained  by  the  Columbia  River  and  its  branches." 
In  181 1  the  claim  of  the  United  States  received  substantial  support  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  Astoria,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  by  the  Pacific  Fur  Company. 

In  1818  a  convention  of  commissioners  appointed  by  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  to  fix  the  international  boundary,  reported  in  favor  of  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  of  latitude  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  summit  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  thence  southward  along vthe  crest  of  the  divide  to  the  old 
Mexican  boundary',  and  along  that  boundary  to  the^'coast.  It  was  also  agreed 
that  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  ^fountains  should  be  open  to  both  the 
United  States  and  Canada  for  ten  years,  "without  prejudice  to  the  claims  of 
either."  At  the  end  of  the  ten  years  this  privilege  of  joint  occupation  was 
extended  indefinitely  by  agreement,  by  a  convention  held  in  London  on  August 
6,  1827.  Either  government  was  given  the  power  to  abrogate  the  agreement 
by  giving  the  other  twelve  months  notice. 

In  the  meantime,  by  the  treaty  of  1819,  Spain  quitclaimed  her  title  to  all  land 
north  of  the  forty-second  parallel  to  the  United  States.  In  the  negotiations  with 
Russia  in  1824-25,  that  nation  agreed  to  establish  no  settlements  on  the  Pacific 
coast  south  of  the  line  of  54°  40'  north  latitude.  During  President  Tyler's 
administration  the  controversy  over  the  boundary  was  reopened  when  citizens 
of  the  LTnited  States  began  moving  into  the  disputed  territory  and  establishing 
homesteads.  John  C.  Calhoun,  then  secretary  of  state,  proposed  that  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  should  be  the  boundary  line  all  the  way  to  the  Pacific  coast,  but  to 
this  the  English  minister  (Pakenham)   would  not  consent.     The  latter  suggested 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  81 

the  forty-ninth  parallel  to  the  Columbia  River,  and  then  that  river  to  the  coast. 
The  agreement  with  Russia  had  created  the  impression  in  the  minds  of  many 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  that  the  line  of  54"  40'  should  be  the  inter- 
national boundary,  and  in  the  political  campaign  of  1S44  th*?  democratic  party 
adopted  as  its  slogan  "Fifty-four  forty  or  fight." 

In  April,  1846,  Congress  authorized  the  President,  "at  his  discretion,"  to 
give  England  notice  of  the  abrogation  of  the  agreement  for  joint  occupation. 
This  was  done  and  it  led  to  another  convention  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
an  international  boundary.  On  August  5,  1846,  President  Polk  sent  a  special 
message  to  Congress,  in  which  he  said:  "Herewith  I  submit  a  copy  of  a  conven- 
tion for  the  settlement  and  adjustment  of  the  Oregon  cjuestion,  which  was  con- 
cluded in  this  city  (Washington)  on  the  15th  of  June  last  between  the  United 
States  and  Her  Britannic  Majesty.  This  convention  has  since  been  duly  ratified 
by  the  respective  parties  and  the  ratifications  were  exchanged  at  London  on  the 
17th  day  of  July,  1846." 

By  this  convention  the  boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and  the 
British  possessions  was  established  as  follows:  "The  forty-ninth  parallel  from 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  which  separates  A'ancouver 
Island  from  the  continent,  and  thence  southerly  through  the  said  channel  and 
the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  both  nations  to  have  at  all  times 
free  navigation  of  the  said  channel  and  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca." 

Thus  a  controversy  of  long  standing  was  finally  settled  and  the  United  States 
came  into  the  undisputed  possession  of  a  large  tract  of  country  west  of  the  Con- 
tinental Di\ide  and  north  of  the  old  Mexican  boundary.  Included  in  this  tract 
is  that  part  of  Wyoming  constituting  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  northern 
part  of  Lincoln  county;  the  southwestern  part  of  Fremont  County  (all  west  of 
the  divide)  :  that  portion  of  Sweetwater  County  lying  north  of  the  forty-second 
parallel  and  west  of  the  divide ;  and  the  southwestern  part  of  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park. 

NEBRASKA 

On  May  30,  1854,  that  historic  piece  of  legislation  known  as  the  "Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill,"  creating  the  territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  was  signed 
by  President  Franklin  Pierce.  In  section  i  of  the  bill  the  boundaries  of  Ne- 
braska are  thus  described:  "Beginning  at  a  point  on  the  Missouri  River  where 
the  fortieth  parallel  of  north  latitude  crosses  the  same;  thence  west  on  said 
parallel  to  the  east  boundary  of  Utah,  on  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ; 
thence  on  said  summit  northward  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude ; 
thence  east  on  said  parallel  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota ;  thence  southward  on  said  boundary  to  the  Missouri  River ;  thence  down 
the  main  channel  of  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

These  boundaries  included  all  that  part  of  Wyoming  acquired  by  the  Louisi- 
ana Purchase,  while  that  portion  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  remained  attached 
to  the  territories  of  Utah  and  Oregon.  No  further  changes  in  boundary  lines 
or  conditions  affecting  the  territory  occurred  until  1861,  when  Congress  estab- 
lished the 


82  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

TERRITORY  OF  DAKOTA 

When  first  created,  this  territory  extended  from  the  forty-ninth  parallel — the 
international  boundary — on  the  north  to  the  Missouri  and  Running  Water  rivers 
on  the  south,  and  from  the  western  boundary  of  the  states  of  Iowa  and  Minne- 
sota on  the  east  to  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west.  It  embraced 
all  the  present  states  of  North  and  South  Dakota,  nearly  all  of  Montana,  and 
all  that  part  of  Wyoming  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  except  a  small  tract  in 
the  southeast  corner,  which  still  belonged  to  Nebraska.  In  the  country  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  no  change  was  made.  This  arrangement  lasted  but  two 
years,  however,  when  another  redistricting  of  the  United  States  domain  in  the 
Northwest  was  made  by  Congress. 


On  March  3,  1863,  President  Abraham  Lincoln  approved  an  act  establishing 
the  Territory  of  Idaho.  As  originally  erected,  the  Territory  of  Idaho  was 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  forty-sixth  parallel  of  north  latitude;  on  the  east 
by  the  twenty-seventh  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Washington  (the  present 
eastern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Wyoming)  ;  on  the  south  by  the  forty-second 
parallel  of  north  latitude ;  and  on  the  west  by  the  Territory  of  Oregon.  It  there- 
fore included  all  that  portion  of  Wyoming  lying  north  of  the  old  Mexican  and 
Texas  boundary.  South  of  that  line  a  tract  about  seventy  miles  wide  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty-five  miles  long  still  belonged  to  Utah,  and  the  southeast 
corner  (the  present  County  of  Laramie  and  the  greater  part  of  the  counties 
of  Albany.  Carbon,  Goshen  and  Platte)  was  attached  to  the  Territory  of  Dakota. 
Five  years  later  another  change  was  made.  The  Territory  of  Wyoming  was 
established  by  the  act  of  July  25,  1868,  with  its  present  boundaries,  and  in  1890 
it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  with  all  the  rights  of  statehood.  (See  chapters 
XI  and  XII.) 

RECAPITULATION 

The  territory  now  consituting  the  State  of  Wyoming  was  first  claimed  by 
Spain  under  the  grant  of  the  pope  in  1493,  as  part  of  the  "countries  inhabited 
by  infidels."  That  claim  was  given  greater  force  by  the  discovery  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  by  De  Soto  in  1541,  but  the  wisest  of  Spain's  statesmen  and  geog- 
raphers knew  iiot  the  vast  extent  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Hence,  while 
nominally  included  in  the  Spanish  possessions  in  America,  Wyoming  remained 
untenanted,  save  for  the  wild  beast  and  the  roving  Indian.  The  Spanish  claim 
to  the  country  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  superseded  in  April,  1682,  by 
that  of  France,  based  on  the  expedition  of  La  Salle,  who  gave  the  territory  the 
name  of  Louisiana.  This  province  was  ceded  by  France  to  Spain  in  1762; 
ceded  back  to  France  in  1800;  and  sold  to  the  United  States  in  1803.  The 
greater  portion  of  Albany  and  Carbon  counties  came  to  the  United  States  through 
the  annexation  of  Texas  in  1845.  The  triangular  shaped  tract  west  of  the 
Continental  Divide  and  north  of  the  line  of  forty-two  degrees  north  latitude  was 
acquired  by  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question  in  1846,  and  the  southwestern 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  83 

part  of  the  state  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Mexico  at  the  close  of  the 
Mexican  war  in  1848.  During  the  next  twenty  years  Wyoming  was,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Nebraska,  Utah,  Oregon,  Dakota  and  Idaho. 
In  1868  it  was  made  an  organized  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1890 
a  new  star  was  added  to  the  national  constellation  representing  the  sovereign 
State  of  Wyoming. 

Of  all  the  states  of  the  American  Union,  none  presents  as  varied  a  history 
in  the  matter  of  jurisdiction  as  Wyoming.  It  is  the  only  state  composed  of  terri- 
tory acquired  from  all  four  of  the  principal  western  annexations.  Portions  of  the 
state  were  claimed  at  times  by  Spain,  France  and  Great  Britain,  and  from  the 
earliest  record  the  land  has  been  one  of  adventure.  The  mountain  ranges  afforded 
fruitful  fields  for  the  hunter,  trapper  and  Indian  trader  and  invited  such  men  as 
Kit  Carson,  Jim  Bridger,  Ashley,  Campbell,  Sublette,  Jim  Baker  and  others, 
whose  names  are  almost  as  familiar  to  the  student  of  pioneer  history  as  the  names 
of  Daniel  Boone,  Davy  Crockett  and  Gen.  Sam  Houston. 


CHAPTER  \l 
THE  LOLTSIAXA  PURCHASE 

LA  SALLe's  claim  TO  THE  COUNTRY  DRAINED  1!V  THE  MISSISSIPPI — CONTROVERSY 
0\'ER  THE  NAVIGATION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  RU'ER — TREATY  OF  MADRID NAPO- 
LEON  AND  TALLEYRAND — SECRET  TREATY  OF  SAN    ILDEFONSO RETROCESSION    OF 

LOUISIANA    TO     FRANCE SENTIMENT     IN     THE     UNITED     STATES JEFFERSON's 

DIPLOMACY LIVINGSTON   AND   MONROE PL'RCHASE  OF   LOUISIANA FULL  TEXT 

OF  THE  TREATY  OF   PARIS CEREMONY   OF  TRANSFER — THE   TE.MPORARY   GO\ERN- 

JIENT — DIVISION  OF  THE   PROVINCE. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  has  been  given  some  account  of  W'voming  under 
different  jurisdictions,  and  the  reader  may  want  to  understand  more  fully  how 
the  territory  now  comprising  the  state  came  to  be  the  property  of  the  United 
States.  To  make  this  plain,  it  is  necessary  to  give  an  account  of  one  of  the 
greatest  diplomatic  transactions  in  modern  history.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
under  the  claim  of  La  Salle,  in  1682,  all  the  region  drained  by  the  Mississippi 
River  and  its  numerous  tributaries,  which  included  practically  all  of  Wyoming, 
became  a  French  possession  and  remained  so  for  eighty  years.  At  the  close 
of  the  French  and  Indian  war  in  1762'  France  lost  every  foot  of  land  she  pos- 
sessed in  the  New  World,  Canada  and  that  part  of  Louisiana  lying  east  of  the 
Mississippi  passing  into  the  hands  of  England,  and  all  her  territory  west  of 
the  Mississippi  going  to  Spain.  ^ 

By  the  Treaty  of  September  3,  1783,  which  ended  the  Revolutionary  war,  the 
western  boundary  of  the  United  States  was  fixed  at  the  ^Mississippi  River,  though 
the  mouth  of  that  great  stream  was  wholly  within  Spanish  territory.  It  was 
not  long  until  the  new  American  Republic  became  involved  in  a  controversy  with 
the  Spanish  officials  of  Louisiana  over  the  right  to  free  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  final  settlement  of  this  question  wnelded  an  unmistakable  influence 
upon  the  present  State  of  Wyoming.  The  river  constituted  the  natural  outlet 
for  the  products  of  a  large  part  of  the  United  States — a  section  which  was  rapidly 
increasing  in  wealth,  population  and  political  importance — but  the  Spanish  author- 
ities established  posts  along  the  river  and  every  boat  descending  the  stream  was 
compelled  to  land  at  these  posts  and  submit  to  arbitrary  revenue  duties.  This 
policy  was  kept  up  for  several  years,  to  the  humiliation  of  the  United  States 
trader  and  a  diminution  of  his  profits.  Through  the  influence  of  Don  :Manuel 
Godoy,  one  of  the  wisest  of  the  Spanish  statesmen  of  that  day.  the  Treaty  of 
Madrid  was  concluded  on  October  27,  1795,  one  article  of  which  stipulated 
"That  the  Mississippi  River,  from  its  source  to  the  gulf,  for  its  entire  width, 
shall  be  free  to  American  trade  and  commerce,  and  the  people  of  the  United 
84 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  85 

States  shall  be  permitted,  for  three  years,  to  use  the  Port  of  Xew  Orleans  as  a 
port  of  deposit,  without  payment  of  duty." 

About  that  time  the  French  Revolution  brought  into  prominence  two  of  the 
most  noted  characters  in  European  history — Xapoleon  and  Talleyrand.  These  two 
celebrated  French  diplomats  and  statesmen,  feeling  deeply  the  loss  of  their 
country's  possessions  in  America,  began  to  dream  of  rebuilding  a  colonial  empire 
for  France,  one  feature  of  which  was  to  regain  Louisiana.  To  that  end  nego- 
tiations were  opened  with  the  Spanish  Government.  Don  Carlos  I\'  was  then 
king  of  Spain,  but  Channing  says :  "The  actual  rulers  of  Spain  were  Dona  Alaria 
Luisa  de  Parma,  his  queen,  and  Don  Manuel  Godoy,  el  Principe  de  la  Paz.  which 
title  writers  of  English  habitually  translate  "Prince  of  Peace.'  '' 

Godoy  well  knew  he  was  not  liked  by  Napoleon  and  Talleyrand,  and  when 
they  began  their  overtures  for  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  back  to  France  he  re- 
signed from  the  Spanish  ministry,  leaving  the  king  withovit  his  most  efficient 
adviser.  Godoy  and  his  objections  being  thus  removed.  Napoleon  and  Talleyrand 
offered  in  exchange  for  Louisiana  "an  Italian  kingdom  of  at  least  one  million  in- 
habitants for  the  Duke  of  Parma,  jjrince  presumptive,  who  was  at  once  son-in-law 
and  nephew  of  the  ruling  monarchs."  The  offer  was  accepted,  the  State  of 
Tuscany  was  chosen,  and  on  October  i,  1800,  thq  secret  Treaty  of  San  Ildefonso 
was  concluded.  So  well  was  the  secret  guarded  that  the  exchange  was  not  known 
in  the  United  States  until  nearly  eight  months  later. 

The  Treaty  of  San  Ildefonso  was  confirmed  by  the  Treaty  of  3iladrid,  which 
was  concluded  on  March  21,  1801,  and  a  copy  of  which  was  sent  to  President 
Jefferson  by  Rufus  King,  then  the  United  States  minister  to  England.  It  reached 
Air.  Jefferson  on  May  26,  1801.  L^pon  the  receipt  of  the  copy  of  the  treaty,  Presi- 
dent Jeft'erson  wrote  to  James  Alonroe :  "There  is  considerable  reason  to  ap- 
prehend that  Spain  cedes  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  to  France.  To  my  mind  this 
policy  is  very  unwise  for  both  France  and  Spain,  and  very  ominous  to  us." 

In  August  following  Robert  R.  Livingston  went  to  France  as  the  United 
States  minister  to  that  country.  Immediately  upon  his  arrival  in  Paris  he  asked 
Talleyrand,  then  the  French  prime  minister,  if  the  Province  of  Louisiana  had 
been  retroceded  to  France.  Talleyrand  denied  that  such  was  the  case,  and  in  one 
sense  he  was  justified  in  making  the  denial,  as  the  Treaty  of  Madrid  was  not 
signed  by  the  Spanish  king  until  in  October,  1802. 

For  more  than  twelve  months  after  President  Jefferson  received  the  copy 
of  the  Treaty  of  Aladrid  sent  by  Mr.  King,  his  administration  was  kept  in  a 
state  of  uncertainty  regarding  the  status  of  Louisiana  and  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  On  April  18,  1802,  the  President  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Mr. 
Livingston,  in  Paris,  in  which  he  said  the  American  people  w^ere  anxiously  watch- 
ing France's  movements  with  regard  to  Louisiana,  and  set  forth  the  situation  as 
follows:  I.  The  natural  feeling  of  the  American  people  for  the  French  nation 
was  one  of  friendship.  2.  Whatever  nation  held  New  Orleans  and  controlled  the 
lower  course  of  the  Mississippi  became  the  natural  and  habitual  enemy  of  Ameri- 
can progress,  and  therefore  the  enemy  of  the  American  people.  3.  Spain  had 
shown  that  she  was  well  disposed  toward  the  United  States  and  as  long  as  she 
remained  in  possession  of  those  advantages  the  citizens  of  this  country  would  be 
satisfied  with  conditions.     4.  On  the  other  hand,   France  possessed  an  energy 


86  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

and  restlessness  of  character  which  would  be  the  cause  of  constant  friction 
between  that  country  and  the  United  States.    He  closed  his  letter  by  saying : 

"The  day  that  France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans  fixes  the  sentence 
which  is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her  low  water  mark.  It  seals  the  union 
of  two  nations  who  in  conjunction  can  maintain  exclusive  possession  of  the 
ocean.  From  that  moment  we  must  marry  oursehes  to  the  British  fleet  and 
nation.  *  *  *  The  first  cannon  which  shall  be  fired  in  Europe  will  be  the 
signal  for  tearing  up  any  settlement  she  may  have  made,  and  for  holding  the 
two  continents  of  America  in  sequestration  for  the  common  purpose  of  the  united 
British  and  American  nations." 

I\Ir.  Jefiferson  did  not  desire  an  alliance  with  England,  but  greatly  feared 
that  the  possession  of  Louisiana  by  France  might  drive  the  United  States  to  adopt 
such  a  course.  In  November,  1S02,  news  reached  Washington  that  the  Spanish 
authorities  at  New  Orleans  had  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  withdrawn  the  right 
of  deposit  at  that  port,  as  originally  conceded  by  the  treaty  of  Madrid.  Imme- 
diately the  country — particularly  the  new  settlements  in  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  valleys — was  ablaze  with  indignation.  The  federalists,  Jefferson's  politi- 
cal opponents,  used  all  possible  means  to  force  the  administration  into  a  policy 
that  would  give  them  a  political  advantage,  but  their  ettorts  in  this  direction 
proved  futile.  Says  Channing:  "Never  in  all  his  long  and  varied  career  did 
Jefferson's  foxlike  discretion  stand  him  in  better  stead.  Instead  of  following 
public  clamor,  he  calmly  formulated  a  policy  and  carried  it  through  to  a  most 
successful  termination." 

In  his  message  to  the  Congress  which  assembled  in  December,  1802,  the  Pres- 
ident said  that  the  change  in  the  ownership  of  Louisiana  would  necessarily 
make  a  change  in  our  foreign  relations,  but  did  not  intimate  what  the  nature 
of  the  change  was  to  be.  On  January  13,  1803,  he  wrote  to  Monroe  that  the 
federalists  were  trying  to  force  the  United  States  into  war,  in  order  to  get  into 
power.  About  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Livingston  that  if  France  con- 
sidered Louisiana  indispensable  to  her  interests,  she  might  still  be  willing  to  cede 
to  the  United  States  the  Island  of  Orleans,  upon  which  stands  the  City  of  New 
Orleans,  and  the  Floridas.  Or,  if  unwilling  to  cede  the  island,  she  might  be  in- 
duced to  grant  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans  and  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi,  as  it  had  been  under  the  Spanish  regime,  and  instructed  him  to 
open  negotiations  to  that  end. 

A  few  days  later,  believing  that  the  cession  could  probably  be  best  accom- 
pHshed  by  sending  a  man  direct  from  the  United  States  for  that  purpose,  the 
President  selected  James  Monroe  to  act  as  minister  plenipotentiary,  to  co- 
operate with  Mr.  Livingston.  The  Senate  promptly  confirmed  ^h.  Monroe's 
nomination  and  placed  the  sum  of  $2,000,000  at  the  disposal  of  him  and  Mr. 
Livingston  to  pay  for  the  island.  It  may  be  well  to  note,  in  this  connection, 
that  the  success  of  Livingston  and  Monroe  in  their  negotiations  was  doubtless 
aided  in  a  great  measure  by  a  letter  written  by  M.  Pichon,  the  French  minister 
to  the  L'nited  States,  to  Talleyrand.  In  this  letter  Pichon  advised  the  French 
prime  minister  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  thoroughly  aroused 
over  the  suspension  of  the  right  of  deposit,  and  that  the  President  might  be 
forced  by  public  opinion  to  yield  to  a  British  alliance. 

W'rt  between  France  and  England  had  just  been  renewed,  and  Napoleon,  re- 


HISTORY  OF  ^^■YOMING  87 

alizing  the  superior  strength  of  the  British  navy,  saw  that  it  would  be  a  diffi- 
cult matter  to  hold  Louisiana  in  the  face  of  an  alliance  between  that  nation 
and  the 'United  States.  A  force  under  General  \'ictor  was  ready  to  start  for 
New  Orleans,  but  when  Xapoleon  learned  that  an  English  fleet  was  lying  in 
wait  for  its  departure  he  countermanded  the  order  for  General  Victor  to  sail. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Livingston  had  been  trying  to  hasten  the  negotiations 
that  would  bring  about  the  cession  of  the  Island  of  Orleans  and  West  Florida, 
believing  that  the  Floridas  were  included  in  the  Treaty  of  San  Ildefonso.  On  April 
II,  1803,  Napoleon  placed  the  entire  matter  of  the  cession  of  the  island  in  the 
hands  of  the  [Marquis  de  Marbois,  minister  of  the  French  treasury,  and  the  same 
day  Talleyrand  startled  JMr.  Livingston  by  asking  if  the  United  States  would  not 
like  to  own  the  entire  province  of  Louisiana.  Livingston  replied  in  the  nega- 
tive, but  Talleyrand  explained  that  Louisiana  would  be  worth  nothing  to  France 
without  the  City  and  Island  of  New  Orleans,  and  insisted  that  Livingston 
should  make  an  offer  for  the  entire  province.  Another  conference  was  held  on 
the  morning  of  the  12th,  and  that  afternoon  Monroe  arrived  in  Paris.  That 
evening  a  long  consultation  was  held  by  the  two  American  envoys,  Mr.  Living- 
ston informing  Mr.  Monroe  of  all  that  had  been  done,  and  the  result  was  it  was 
decided  that  Mr.  Livingston  should  conduct  all  further  negotiations. 

Several  days  were  then  spent  in  discussing  terms  for  the  purchase  of  the 
whole  territory  of  Louisiana,  Marbois  at  first  asking  125,000,000  francs  for 
the  province,  though  it  was  afterward  learned  that  Napoleon  had  instructed  him 
to  accept  50,000,000  rather  than  to  permit  the  deal  to  fail.  The  price  finally 
agreed  upon  was  80,000,000  francs,  of  which  60,000,000  were  to  go  directly  to  the 
French  treasury  and  the  remainder  was  to  be  used  in  settling  the  claims  of 
American  citizens  against  the  French  Government.  The  terms  having  been 
agreed  upon,  the  next  step  was  to  embody  them  in  a  formal  treaty.  As  this 
agreement  gave  to  the  United  States  a  territory  of  nearly  nine  hundred  thousand 
square  miles,  in  which  was  included  the  greater  part  of  the  State  of  A\'yoming, 
it  is  here  given  in  full.     It  is  known  as 

THE   TREATY    OF    PARIS 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  First  Consul  of  the 
French  Republic,  in  the  name  of  the  French  people,  desiring  to  remove  all  sources 
of  misunderstanding  relative  to  objects  of  discussion  mentioned  in  the  second 
and  fifth  articles  of  the  convention  of  the  8th  Vendemaire,  an  9  (30  September, 
1800),  relative  to  the  rights  claimed  by  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the  treaty 
concluded  at  Madrid,  the  27th  of  October,  1795,  between  his  Catholic  majesty 
and  the  said  United  States,  and  willing  to  strengthen  the  union  and  friendship 
which  at  the  time  of  said  convention  was  happily  reestablished  between  two 
nations,  have  respectfully  named  their  plenipotentiaries,  to  wit :  The  President 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Sen- 
ate of  said  states,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States,  and  James  Monroe,  minister  plenipotentiary  and  envoy  extraordinary'  of 
the  said  states,  near  the  Government  of  the  French  Republic;  and  the  First 
Consul,  in  the  name  of  the  French  people,  the  French  citizen,  Barbe  Marbois, 


88  HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG 

minister  of  the  public  treasury,  who,  after  having  respectfully  exchanged  their 
full  powers,  have  agreed  to  the  following  articles: 

"Article  I — Whereas,  by  the  article  the  third  of  the  treaty  concluded  at  St. 
Ildefonso,  the  9th  Vendemaire  an  9  (October  i,  1800),  between  the  First  Consul 
of  the  French  Republic  and  his  Catholic  majesty,  it  was  agreed  as  follows:  His 
Catholic  majesty  promises  and  engages  on  his  part  to  retrocede  to  the  French 
Republic,  six  months  after  the  full  and  entire  execution  of  the  conditions  and 
stipulations  herein  realtive  to  his  royal  highness,  the  duke  of  Parma,  the  colony 
or  province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  extent  that  it  now  has  in  the  hands  of 
Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France  possessed  it;  and  such  as  it  should  be  after 
the  treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and  other  states,  and 

"\Miereas,  in  pursuance  of  the  treaty,  particularly  of  the  third  article,  the 
French  Republic  has  an  incontestible  title  to  the  domain  and  possession  of  said 
territory;  the  First  Consul  of  the  French  Republic,  desiring  to  give  to  the  United 
States  a  strong  proof  of  his  friendship,  doth  hereby  cede  to  the  United  States, 
in  the  name  of  the  French  Republic,  forever,  in  full  sovereignty,  the  said  terri- 
tory, with  all  its  rights  and  appurtenances,  as  fully  and  in  the  same  manner  as 
they  have  been  acquired  by  the  French  Republic  in  virtue  of  the  above  mentioned 
treaty,  concluded  with  his  Catholic  majesty. 

"Article  H — In  the  cession  made  by  the  preceding  article,  are  included  the 
adjacent  islands  belonging  to  Louisiana,  all  public  lots  and  squares,  vacant  lands, 
and  all  public  buildings,  fortifications,  barracks,  and  other  edifices  which  are  not 
private  property.  The  archives,  papers  and  documents  relative  to  the  domain 
and  sovereignty  of  Louisiana  and  its  dependencies  will  be  left  in  the  possession 
of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States,  and  copies  will  be  afterward  given 
in  due  form  to  the  magistrates  and  municipal  officers  of  such  of  said  papers 
and  documents  as  may  be  necessary  to  them. 

"Article  III — The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory  shall  be  incorporated  in 
the  Union  of  the  United  States  and  admitted  as  soon  as  possible,  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  ad- 
vantages and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  and  in  the  meantime 
they  shall  be  maintained  and  protected  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty, 
property  and  the  religion  which  they  profess. 

"Article  IV — There  shall  be  sent  by  the  Government  of  France  a  commissary 
to  Louisiana,  to  the  end  that  he  do  every  act  necessary,  as  well  to  receive  from 
the  officers  of  his  Catholic  majesty  the  said  country  and  its  dependencies  in  the 
name  of  the  French  Republic,  if  it  has  not  already  been  done,  as  to  transmit  it  in 
the  name  of  the  French  Republic  to  the  commissary  or  agent  of  the  United  States. 
"Article  ^' — Immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  case  that  of  the  First  Consul  shall 
have  been  previously  obtained,  the  commissary  of  the  French  Republic  shall 
remit  all  the  military  posts  of  New  Orleans  and  other  posts  of  the  ceded  territory, 
to  the  commissar}'  or  commissaries  named  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  take  possession :  the  troops,  whether  of  France  or  Spain,  who  may  be  there, 
shall  cease  to  occupy  any  military  posts  from  the  time  of  taking  possession,  and 
shall  be  embarked  as  soon  as  possible,  in  the  course  of  three  months  after  the 
ratification  of  this  treaty. 

"Article  VI — The  United  States  promises  to  execute  such  treaties  and  articles 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  8Li 

as  may  have  been  agreed  between  Spain  and  the  tribes  and  nations  of  Indians, 
until  Jjy  mutual  consent  of  the  United  States  and  the  said  tribes  or  nations,  other 
suitable  articles  shall  have  been  agreed  upon. 

"Article  VII — As  it  is  reciprocally  advantageous  to  the  commerce  of  France 
and  the  United  States  to  encourage  the  communication  of  both  nations,  for  a 
limited  tin>e,  in  the  country  ceded  by  the  present  treaty,  until  general  arrangements 
relative  to  the  commerce  of  both  nations  may  be  agreed  upon,  it  has  been  agreed 
between  the  contracting  parties,  that  the  French  ships  coming  directly  from 
France  or  any  of  her  colonies,  loaded  only  with  the  produce  of  France  or  her  said 
colonies,  and  the  ships  of  Spain  coming  directly  from  Spain  or  any  of  her  colonies, 
loaded  only  with  the  produce  or  manufactures  of  Spain  or  her  colonies,  shall  be 
admitted  during  the  space  of  twelve  years,  in  the  ports  of  New  Orleans,  and  all 
other  ports  of  entry  within  the  ceded  territory,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  ships 
of  the  United  States  coming  directly  from  France  or  Spain,  or  any  of  their  colonies, 
without  being  subject  to  any  other  or  greater  duty  on  merchandise,  or  other  or 
greater  tonnage  than  those  paid  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

"During  the  space  of  time  above  mentioned,  no  other  nation  shall  have  a 
right  to  the  same  privileges  in  the  ports  of  the  ceded  territory ;  the  twelve  years 
shall  commence  three  months  after  the  exchange  of  ratifications,  if  it  shall  take 
place  in  France,  or  three  months  after  it  shall  have  been  notified  at  Paris  to  the 
French  Government,  if  it  shall  take  place  in  the  United  States ;  it  is,  however, 
well  understood,  that  the  object  of  this  article  is  to  favor  the  manufacturers,  com- 
merce, freight  and  navigation  of  France  and  Spain,  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
importations  that  the  French  and  Spanish  shall  make  into  the  ports  of  the  United 
States,  without  in  any  sort  affecting  the  regulations  that  the  United  States  may 
make  concerning  the  exportation  of  the  produce  and  merchandise  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  right  they  may  have  to  make  such  regulations. 

"Article  A'lII — In  future,  and  forever  after  the  expiration  of  the  twelve 
years,  the  ships  of  France  shall  be  treated  upon  the  footing  of  the  most  favored 
nations  in  the  ports  above  mentioned. 

"Article  IX — The  particular  convention  signed  this  day  by  the  respective 
ministers,  having  for  its  objects  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  debts  due  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  by  the  French  Republic  prior  to  the  30th  day  of 
September,  1800  (8th  Vendemaire  9).  is  approved  and  to  have  its  execution  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  it  had  been  inserted  in  the  present  treaty,  and  it  shall  be 
ratified  in  the  same  form  and  at  the  same  time,  so  that  the  one  shall  not  be  ratified 
distinct  from  the  other. 

"Another  particular  convention  signed  at  the  same  date  as  the  present  treaty, 
relative  to  a  definite  rule  between  the  contracting  parties,  is  in  like  manner  ap- 
proved and  will  be  ratified  in  the  same  form  and  at  the  same  time,  and  jointly. 

"Article  X — The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  in  good  and  due  form,  and  the 
ratification  shall  be  exchanged  in  the  space  of  six  months  after  the  date  of  the 
signatures  of  the  ministers  plenipotentiary,  or  sooner  if  possible.  In  faith  whereof, 
the  respective  plenipotentiaries  have  signed  these  articles  in  the  French  and 
Engli-h  languages,  declaring  nevertheless  that  the  present  treaty  was  originally 
agreed  to  in  the  French  language ;  and  have  thereunto  set  their  seals. 


90  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

"Done  at  Paris,  the  tenth  day  of  Floreal,  in  the  eleventh  year  of  the  French 
Repubhc,  and  the  30th  April,   1803. 

"Robert  R.  Li\'ingston  (L.S.) 
"James  Monroe  (L.S.) 
"Barre   Marp.ois    (L.S.)" 

The  "particular  conventions''  referred  to  in  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty 
related  to  the  manner  in  which  the  debts  due  the  citizens  of  this  country  should 
be  discharged,  and  the  creation  of  a  stock  by  the  United  States  Government  of 
i?i  1,250,000,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent  per  annum,  payable  semi- 
annually in  I'aris,  London  or  Amsterdam.  The  original  cost  of  the  entire  territory 
ceded  by  the  treaty  was  about  three  cents  an  acre,  but  McMaster  says:  "L'p 
to  June  20,  1880,  the  total  cost  of  Louisiana  was  $27,267,621." 

Livingston  and  Monroe's  original  instructions  were  to  obtain  by  purchase  or 
otiierwise  the  Island  of  Orleans  and  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  In 
concluding  a  treaty  involving  the  purchase  of  the  entire  province,  there  is  no 
question  that  they  exceeded  their  authority,  and  for  a  time  President  Jei¥erson 
took  the  view  that  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  (an  "act  of  in- 
demnity'' he  called  it )  would  be  necessary  in  order  to  legalize  the  transaction,  but 
when  he  saw  the  acquiescence  of  the  American  people  was  so  nearly  universal 
he  abandoned  the  idea.  On  October  17,  1803,  he  sent  to  Congress  a  message  re- 
lating to  the  purchase,  in  which  he  said : 

"The  enlightened  Government  of  France  saw,  with  just  discernment,  the  im- 
portance to  both  nations  of  such  liberal  arrangement  as  might  best  and  permanently 
promote  the  peace,  interests  and  friendship  of  both ;  and  the  property  and 
sovereignty  of  all  Louisiana,  which  had  been  restored  to  them,  have,  on  certain 
conditions,  been  transferred  to  the  United  States  by  instruments  bearing  date  the 
5Cth  of  April  last.  "VMien  these  shall  have  received  the  constitutional  sanction  of 
the  Senate,  they  will  be  communicated  to  the  representatives  for  the  exercise  of 
their  functions,  as  to  those  conditions  which  are  within  the  powers  vested  by  the 
Constitution  in  Congress." 

Congress  lost  no  time  in  ratifying  the  treaty.  On  October  20th,  three  days 
after  the  President's  message  on  the  subject  was  delivered,  the  Senate  gave  its 
sanction  to  the  treaty,  with  all  the  conditions  it  imposed,  and  five  days  later  it  was 
ratified  by  the  House.  On  the  last  day  of  the  month  the  President  approved 
measures  providing  for  the  creation  of  the  stock  of  $11,250,000  for  the  payment  of 
the  province,  and  authorizing  him  to  "take  possession  of  Louisiana  and  form 
a  temporary  government  therein."  In  accordance  with  the  latter  act  and  Article 
I\^  of  the  treaty,  President  Jefferson  appointed  Gen.  James  Wilkinson  and 
William  C.  C.  Claiborne,  governor  of  Mississippi,  commissioners  to  receive  the 
transfer  of  Louisiana  from  Pierre  Laussat,  the  French  commissary.  The  formal 
transfer  of  the  province  from  Spain  to  France  and  from  France  to  the  L^nited 
States  was  made  at  New  Orleans  on  December  20,  1803,  when  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  raised  for  the  first  time  in  token  of  sovereignty  over  the  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Thus  the  domain  of  the  United  States  was  ex- 
tended westward  to  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  eastern  three- 
fourths  of  W'yoming  became  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  American  Republic. 
Out  of  the  province  acquired  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  have  been  erected  the  fol- 


HISTORY  OF  \VY03IIXG  91 

lowing  states :  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Minnesota,  North  and  South  Dakota,  nearly  all  of  Montana,  about  one-third  of 
Colorado,  and  three-fourths  of  Wyoming. 

THE  TEMPORARY   GOVERXMENT 

Although  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States  was  made  on  De- 
cember 20,  1803,  the  actual  government  of  the  upper  or  northern  part  of  the 
province,  which  included  Wyoming,  did  not  begin  until  March  10,  1804.  On  that 
day  ^laj.  Amos  Stoddard  of  the  United  States  army  assumed  the  duties  of 
governor  of  Upper  Louisiana  at  St.  Louis.  In  his  "Historical  Sketches  of  Louisi- 
ana," JMajor  Stoddard  says : 

"The  ceremony  of  the  transfer  (from  Spain  to  France)  occurred  between  the 
hours  of  II  A.  M.  and  12  M.,  March  9,  1804.  The  Spanish  flag  was  lowered 
and  the  standard  of  France  was  run  up  in  its  place.  The  people,  although 
conscious  that  the  sovereignty  of  France  was  being  resumed  but  for  a  moment  and 
simply  as  a  necessary  formality  in  the  final  transfer,  nevertheless  could  not 
restrain  their  joy  at  seeing  float  over  them  once  more  the  standard  which  even 
forty  years  of  the  mild  sway  of  Spain  had  not  estranged  from  their  memory.  So 
deep  was  the  feeling  that,  when  the  customary  hour  came  for  lowering  the  flag, 
the  people  besought  me  to  let  it  remain  up  all  night.  The  request  was  granted 
and  the  flag  of  France  floated  until  the  next  morning  over  the  city  from  which  it 
was  about  to  be  withdrawn  forever.  At  the  appointed  time  on  the  next  day, 
"March  10,  1804,  the  ceremony  of  transfer  from  France  to  the  L'nited  States  was 
enacted.  The  flag  of  the  French  Republic  was  withdrawn  and  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  waved  for  the  first  time  in  the  future  metropolis  of  the  \'alley  of  the 
^li^sissippi.  Thus  St.  Louis  became  perhaps  the  only  city  in  history  which  has 
seen  the  flags  of  three  nations  float  over  it  in  token  of  sovereignty  within  the 
space  of  twenty-four  hours." 

DIVIDING   THE   PROVINCE 

On  March  26.  1804.  President  Jefiferson  approved  an  act  of  Congress  dividing 
Louisiana  into  two  parts,  viz :  The  Territory  of  Louisiana  and  the  District  of 
I-ouisiana.  The  former  embraced  what  is  now  the  State  of  Louisiana  and  the  latter 
included  all  the  remainder  of  the  purchase.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  act  the 
District  of  Louisiana  was  made  subject  to  the  territorial  government  of  Indiana 
of  which  Gen.  William  H.  Harrison  was  then  governor.  Some  historians  state 
that  by  this  act  all  of  Copper  Louisiana  (which  included  Wyoming)  was  made 
a  part  of  the  Territory  of  Indiana.  This  is  a  mistake.  The  act  merely  regarded 
the  District  of  Louisiana  as  unorganized  territory  and  attached  it  to  Indiana  for 
judicial  purposes,  etc. 

About  a  year  later  a  new  arrangement  was  made.  By  the  act  of  Alarch  3. 
1805.  the  name  of  the  District  of  Louisiana  was  changed  to  the  Territory  of 
Louisiana,  and  the  President  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  governor,  secretary 
and  two  judges  therefor.  Pursuant  to  this  act  President  Jefl^'erson  appointed  Gen. 
James  A\'ilkinson  as  governor;  Frederick  Bates,  secretary;  Return  J.  Meigs  and 
John  B.  C.  Lucas,  judges.     St.  Louis  was  named  as  the  seat  of  government.     No 


92  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Legislature  was  provided  for  in  the  act,  but  the  above  named  officials  were  em- 
powered to  make  such  laws  as  they  might  deem  necessary  for  the  government  of 
the  territory.  In  the  performance  of  this  duty  their  task  was  not  an  arduous  one, 
as  outside  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis  and  its  immediate  vicinity  there  were  no  white 
inhabitants  for  whom  legislation  was  necessary,  consequently  but  few  laws  were 
made  and  those  were  of  the  simplest  character. 

On  [une  4,  181 2,  President  Madison  approved  the  act  creating  the  Territory 
of  ^Missouri,  which  was  cut  out  of  the  old  District  of  Louisiana.  By  the  act  of 
March  2,  1819,  the  Territory  of  Arkansas  was  cut  off.  One  by  one  other  terri- 
tories were  erected,  and  these  were  afterward  admitted  as  states,  until  the  original 
purchase  now  embraces  twelve  of  the  largest  states  in  the  Union.  In  any  one  of 
these  states  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  far  exceeds  the  sum  paid  for  the 
Province  of  Louisiana. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  FUR  TRADI-;R.S 

EEGIXXIXG  OF  THE   FUR   TRADE — THE   FRENCH    THE    PIONEERS FREE    TRADERS    AND 

TRAPPERS INFLUENCE  OF  THE  TRADER  AND  TRAPPER  ON   THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF 

THE   WEST THE   HUDSON'S  BAY    COMPANY THE   NORTH-WEST   COMPANY THE 

AMERICAN    FUR    COMPANY THE    PACIFIC    FUR    COMPANY MANUEL    LISA — THE 

MISSOURI    FUR   COMPANY HUNt's    EXPEDITION — RETURN   OF    THE    ASTORIANS — 

ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    FUR    COMPANY SMITH.    JAC  KSi 'X     ,V     sri;|j/ni; — >KIH  lUCS 

OF    NOTED   TRAPPERS COLUMBIA    FUR    COMPANY Till-;    MAeKIXAW    ii>Mlv\N\  — 

TRADING  POSTS  IN  WYOMING. 

When  the  continent  of  North  America  was  first  discovered  by  Europeans,  that 
portion  of  it  lying  above  the  thirty-sixth  parallel  of  north  latitude  was  the  richest 
and  inost  extensive  field  in  the  world  for  collecting  fine  furs.  The  Indians  used 
the  skins  of  some  of  the  fur-bearing  animals  for  clothing,  or  in  the  construction 
of  their  wigwams,  unaware  of  the  fact  that  such  skins  were  of  almost  fabulous 
value  in  the  European  capitals.  When  the  white  man  came  he  brought  new 
^\ar.t^  to  the  savage — wants  that  could  be  more  easily  satisfied  by  exchanging  furs 
for  the  white  man's  goods  than  in  any  other  way.  The  fur  trade  therefore  became 
an  inportant  factor  in  the  conquest  and  settlement  of  Canada  and  the  great  North- 
west. Lahontan,  a  French  writer,  in  his  "New  \'oyages,"  published  in  1703,  says; 
"Canada  subsists  only  upon  the  trade  in  skins,  three-fourths  of  which  come  from 
the  people  around  the  Great  Lakes." 

The  French  were  the  pioneers  in  the  fur  trade.  Long  before  the  above  wa^ 
vv-ritten  by  Lahontan,  they  were  trading  with  the  Indians  in  the  X'alley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  River,  with  Montreal  as  the  principal  market  for  their  peltries. 
From  the  St.  Lawrence  country  they  gradually  worked  their  way  westward, 
forming  treaties  of  friendship  with  the  new  Indian  tribes  they  met,  crossed  the 
low  portages  to  the  Alississippi  \'alley  and  from  there  by  way  of  the  Missouri 
River  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  first  white  men  in  Wyoming  were  the  fur 
traders  and  trappers.  In  the  development  of  the  traffic  three  plans  were  pursued. 
First,  and  most  popular,  was  the  plan  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  giving  goods 
for  furs ;  second,  by  organizing  companies  which  sent  hunters  and  trappers  into 
the  districts  where  fur-bearing  animals  were  plentiful ;  and,  third,  by  free  hunters 
and  trappers  who  worked  on  their  own  account  and  sold  their  furs  in  the  most 
profitable  market.  The  first  plan  was  the  most  profitable,  because  the  Indians 
knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  actual  value  of  their  furs,  or  the  goods  which  they 
received  in  exchange,  and  unscrupulous  traders  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage 
of  their  ignorance.  The  plan  adopted  b)-  the  fur  companies  was  more  in  the 
93 


94  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

nature  of  a  permanent  business,  but  yielded  less  profits  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  capital  invested. 

The  language  of  the  free  traders  and  trappers  was  a  strange  medley  of 
English,  French,  Spanish  and  Indian  dialect.  Their  costume  was  fashioned  after 
that  of  the  Indian — buckskin  hunting  shirt  and  leggings — as  being  better  adapted 
to  the  rough  ways  of  the  wilderness  and  therefore  more  serviceable  than  clothing 
brought  from  the  "States."  The  trapper's  outfit  consisted  of  a  number  of  traps, 
a  short-handled  ax,  a  hunting  knife,  a  horse  and  saddle,  a  few  simple  cooking 
utensils,  a  small  stock  of  provisions  (often  only  a  sack  of  flour  and  a  little  salt) 
and  the  inevitable  rifle.  If  he  followed  the  streams,  a  canoe  took  the  place  of  the 
horse.  His  dwelling  was  a  rude  hut  on  the  bank  of  some  creek  or  river,  but  he 
often  slept  at  night  in  the  open,  with  a  bufifalo  robe  for  a  bed,  a  pack  of  peltries  for 
a  pillow,  and  the  canopy  of  heaven  as  his  only  shelter. 

The  free  trader  was  a  similar  character,  except  in  the  nature  of  his  outfit, 
which  consisted  of  a  small  stock  of  trinkets,  bright  colored  cloth,  etc.,  which  he 
exchanged  with  the  Indians  for  their  furs.  They  went  where  they  pleased,  were 
generally  well  received  by  the  Indians,  and  traded  with  all  whom  they  met  until 
their  stock  of  goods  was  exhausted.  Sometimes  the  free  trapper  and  trader 
carried  their  furs  to  St.  Louis,  which  city  was  for  many  years  the  center  of  the  fur 
trade,  or  they  were  sold  to  the  agent  of  one  of  the  great  fur  companies  at  some 
trading  post.  In  the  latter  case  they  realized  less  profit,  but  they  saved  the  time 
and  labor  of  going  all  the  way  to  St.  Louis. 

Scarcely  had  the  United  States  come  into  the  possession  of  Louisiana,  when 
a  desire  arose  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  citizens  to  know  more  of  the  new  acqui- 
sition. Hardy,  adventurous  spirits  began  to  penetrate  the  remote  interior,  im- 
patient to  learn  more  of  its  resources  and  possibilities.  The  greatest  attraction, 
and  for  many  years  the  only  one.  it  offered  in  a  commercial  way  was  its  wealth 
in  furs.  Hence  the  roving  trapper  and  trader  were  the  first  to  venture  into  the 
great,  unexplored  West,  where  the  foot  of  the  white  man  had  never  before  pressed 
the  soil,  bringing  back  with  him  the  products  of  his  traps  or  the  profits  of  his 
traffic  with  the  natives.  In  fact,  these  trappers  and  traders  were  operating  in 
Louisiana  while  it  was  still  a  Spanish  possession.  As  early  as  1795  a  Scotchman 
named  McKay  had  a  trading  post  known  as  Fort  Charles  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Omaha,  Nebraska.  In 
1804  Lewis  and  Clark  met  trappers  returning  from  the  Kansas  A'alley  with  a 
raft  loaded  with  furs,  and  on  their  return  in  September,  1806,  they  met  several 
small  parties  wending  their  way  into  the  heart  of  the  wilderness  the  explorers  had 
just  left.    Says  Chittenden  : 

'Tt  was  the  trader  and  trapper  who  first  explored  and  established  the  routes 
of  travel  which  are  now,  and  always  will  be,  the  avenues  of  commerce.  They 
were  the  'pathfinders'  of  the  \\'est  and  not  those  later  official  explorers  whom  pos- 
terity so  recognizes.  No  feature  of  western  geography  was  ever  'discovered' 
by  Government  explorers  after  1840.  Everything  was  already  known  and  had 
been  known  for  a  decade.  It  is  true  that  many  features,  like  the  Yellowstone 
wonderland,  with  which  these  restless  rovers  were  familiar,  were  afterward  for- 
gotten and  were  rediscovered  in  later  years ;  but  there  has  never  been  a  time  until 
very  recently  when  the  geography  of  the  West  was  so  thoroughly  understood  as 
it  was  by  the  trader  and  trapper  from  1830  to  1840." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  95 

Brigham  Young's  selection  of  the  Salt  Lake  \'alley  as  a  home  for  the  Mormons 
was  largely  due  to  the  information  lie  received  from  trappers  and  traders  who  had 
visited  that  region.  Emigration  to  the  Pacific  coast  passed  over  trails  that  were 
first  tra\ersed  by  the  trappers  and  traders.  They  acted  as  guides  to  Government 
expeditions,  and  the  influence  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  and  trade  made  an  easy  con- 
quest of  the  Southwest  at  the  time  of  the  [Mexican  war.  True,  they  carried 
corrupting  vices  and  certain  infectious  diseases  to  the  Indian,  but  they  also  carried 
to  him  his  first  lessons  in  the  life  he  was  to  lead  in  his  contact  with  the  white  man. 
;\Iany  of  the  trappers  married  Indian  women,  learned  the  Indian  language,  lived 
according  to  Indian  customs,  and  treated  the  red  man  as  a  brother  except  when 
business  rivalry  compelled  them  to  adopt  a  different  course.  Says  A.  F.  Chamber- 
lain, of  Clark  University :  "The  method  of  the  great  fur  companies,  which  had  no 
dreams  of  empire  over  a  solid  white  population,  rather  favored  amalgamation  with 
the  Indians  as  the  best  means  of  exploiting  the  country  in  a  material  way.  Mani- 
toba. Minnesota  and  Wisconsin  owe  much  of  their  early  development  to  the 
trader  and  the  mixed-blood." 

\\'hat  is  true  of  ^lanitoba,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin  is  also  true  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree  of  every  northwestern  state.  The  fur  trade  as  carried  on  by  the 
French  was  conducted  by  individuals  or  firms,  some  of  whom  were  operating  in 
the  country  about  the  Great  Lakes  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century.  The  English  were  not  far  behind  the  French,  and  they  were  the  first 
to  organize  and  equip  one  of  the  great  fur  companies  mentioned  by  Professor 
Chamberlain. 

XHii  Hudson's  u.w  cgmp.anv 

On  Alay  2,  1670,  this  company  was  granted  a  charter  by  the  English  authorities 
and  it  was  the  first  of  the  great  trading  associations.  It  was  given  absolute 
proprietorship  over  a  region  of  indefinite  extent,  with  greater  privileges  than  any 
English  corporation  had  ever  received  up  to  that  time.  Its  agents  or  factors  were 
mostly  English  and  Scotch,  though  a  few  Frenchmen  entered  its  employ.  As  the 
name  of  the  company  indicates,  its  principal  field  of  operation  was  in  the  country 
about  Hudson's  Bay,  though  it  gradually  extended  its  trade  farther  to  the  westward 
and  for  many  years  it  was  the  leading  power  in  the  trade  with  the  Indians.  This 
great  monopoly  was  opposed  by  the  French  traders  and  the  Canadian  authorities, 
who  claimed  much  of  the  territory  included  in  the  company's  charter.  There 
is  no  positive  proof  that  the  agents  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ever  traded 
in  what  is  now  the  State  of  \^^•oming,  though  some  writers  state  that  its  trappers 
were  at  one  time  operating  in  the  valley  about  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

THE    NORTH-WEST    COMPANY 

The  Treaty  of  Paris  in  1763,  which  ended  the  French  and  Indian  war,  left  the 
English  in  undisputed  possession  of  North  America,  except  that  portion  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River  and  extending  to  the  Pacific  coast.  During  that  war  the 
French  fur  trade  suffered  greatly  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  the  greater  portion 
of  the  trade  in  the  country  about  Lake  Superior  and  farther  to  the  west  was  con- 
trolled by  some  Scotch  merchants  of  ^Montreal.     These  merchants  took  steps  to 


96  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

revive  the  trade  and  by  1780  it  had  reached  a  considerable  volume.  In  their 
competition  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  they  had  learned  the  advantages  of 
cooperation,  which  induced  them  to  organize  the  Xorth-West  Company  in  the 
winter  of  1783-84.  Alexander  McKenzie,  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
company,  made  extensive  explorations  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  in  1793  reached 
the  Columbia  \'alley  on  the  Pacific  slope. 

In  1801  this  McKenzie,  Simon  McTavish  and  a  few  others  seceded  from  the 
company  and  organized  the  new  North-West  Company  (widely  known  as  the 
"XY  Company"),  which  in  a  short  time  became  a  formidable  rival  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  This  rivalry  was  made  still  more  formidable  in  1804,  when 
McTavish  died  and  a  coalition  was  formed  between  the  old  and  new  North-West 
companies.  In  October,  1814,  the  company  bought  the  trading  posts  of  the 
American  Fur  Company  at  Astoria.  About  this  time  the  relations  between  the 
Xorth-West  and  Hudson's  Bay  companies  grew  more  strained  than  ever  before, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  in  181 1  the  former  had  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk 
a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  Red  River  Valley,  between  the  United  States  boundary 
and  Lake  Winnipeg,  one  of  the  most  profitable  trapping  fields  of  the  Xorth-^^'est 
Company.  In  181 6  actual  war  broke  out  between  the  trappers  and  the  Selkirk 
colonists,  in  v/hich  li\-es  were  lost  on  both  sides,  though  the  latter  were  the 
greatest  sufiferers.  Three  years  of  litigation  then  followed,  in  which  over  half 
a  million  dollars  were  expended,  and  in  1819  the  question  of  the  rights  of  the 
two  companies  came  before  the  British  Parliament.  While  it  was  pending  the 
matter  was  settled  by  the  consolidation  of  the  two  companies,  a  remedy  that 
had  been  proposed  by  Ale.xander  McKenzie  twenty  years  before. 

THE  .\MERICAN   FUR  COMPANY 

On  April  6,  1808,  John  Jacob  Astor  was  granted  a  charter  by  the  State  of 
Now  York  under  the  name  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  with  liberal  powers  to 
engage  in  the  fur  trade  with  the  Indians.  Astor  began  business  as  a  fur  dealer  in 
Montreal  in  1784.  After  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  by  the  United  States,  he  was 
quick  to  see  the  advantages  offered  for  engagin'g  in  the  fur  trade  in  the  new 
purchase  and  removed  to  X'ew  York.  The  charter  has  been  called  a  "pleasing 
fiction,"  as  Mr.  Astor  was  in  reality  the  company,  the  charter  merely  giving  him 
the  power  to  conduct  his  business  along  lines  similar  to  those  of  the  other  great 
fur  companies.  It  was  not  long,  however,  until  the  American  Fur  Company  con- 
trolled by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  fur  trade  of  the  Upper  Missouri  Valley  and 
the  Northwest.  When  a  free  trader  could  not  be  driven  from  the  country  by  open 
competition,  Mr.  Astor  would  buy  him  out  and  then  give  him  a  lucrative  position 
as  agent  or  factor.  By  this  method  he  associated  with  him  such  experienced  traders 
as  Ramsay  Crooks,  Robert  McLellan,  Duncan  McDougall,  Alexander  McKay, 
Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  Kenneth  McKenzie,  \Mlliam  Laidlaw,  Alexander  Culbert- 
son,  David  Mitchell,  John  P.  Cabanne,  Daniel  Lamont,  Lucien  Fontenelle,  Andrew 
Drips.  Joseph  Robidoux,  Thomas  L.  and  Peter  A.  Sarpy,  and  a  number  of  others, 
all  of  whom  were  well  known  to  the  Indians  in  the  region  where  the  company 
operated. 

For  the  Northwest  trade  Mr.  Astor  adopted  the  name  of  the  Pacific  Fur 
Company,  which  Chittenden  says  was  "in  reality  only  the  American  Fur  Company 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  97 

with  a  specific  name  applied  to  a  specific  locality."  Articles  of  agreement  for 
this  company  were  entered  into  on  June  2^,  18 10,  though  active  work  was  not 
commenced  until  the  following  spring.  Besides  Mr.  Astor,  the  active  members 
of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  were :  Wilson  P.  Hunt,  Donald  McKenzie,  Joseph 
A'liller,  David  and  Robert  Stuart,  and  John  Clarke,  all  experienced  in  the  fur 
trade.  Ramsay  Crooks  and  Robert  McLellan  had  been  free  traders  before  becom- 
ing associated  with  the  Astor  interests,  having  established  a  post  on  the  Missouri 
River,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Platte,  as  early  as  1807. 

Next  to  Mr.  Astor  himself,  Ramsay  Crooks  was  the  strongest  man  in  the 
American  Fur  Company.  He  was  born  in  Greenock,  Scotland.  January  2,  1787, 
and  came  to  America  when  about  sixteen  years  of  age.  For  several  years  he  was 
employed  by  Alontreal  fur  traders.  Next  he  was  a  plerk  in  the  trading  house  of 
Robert  Dickson  at  Mackinaw,  and  from  there  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 
met  Robert  McLellan  and  in  1807  formed  the  partnership  with  him,  which  lasted 
until  both  joined  the  American  Fur  Company.  When  the  company  established  its 
western  department,  with  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  in  1822.  Mr.  Crooks  was 
the  virtual  head  of  that  department  for  twelve  years.  In  1834  he  purchased  the 
northern  department  and  became  president.  He  continued  in  the  fur  trade  until 
the  profits  grew  so  small  that  there  was  no  inducement  to  remain  in  it  longer. 

M.\NUEL  LIS.\ 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  better  understand  the  history  of  the  American 
Fur  Company,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  a  few  years  and  note  the  conditions  of 
the  fur  trade  about  St.  Louis  and  along  the  Missouri  River.  One  of  the  first 
to  engage  in  the  trade  in  this  section,  after  Louisiana  became  the  property  of 
the  United  States,  was  Manuel  Lisa,  who  was  born  in  Cuba  in  September,  1772, 
but  came  with  his  Spanish  parents  to  New  Orleans  in  his  childhood.  About  1790 
he  went  up  the  Mississippi  River  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  entered  the  employ  of  some 
fur  traders,  learning  the  business  in  all  its  details.  Ten  years  later  he  obtained 
from  the  Spanish  authorities  of  Louisiana  the  exclusive  right  to  trade  with  the 
Osage  Indians  living  along  the  Osage  River.  For  some  twenty  years  this  trade  had 
been  controlled  by  the  Chouteaus.  but  Lisa  understood  the  Indian  character  and 
quickly  won  the  Osage  to  his  side.  In  i8c2  he  organized  a  company  to  trade  in 
competition  with  the  Chouteaus  in  other  sections  of  the  country,  but  the  members 
could  not  agree  and  it  was  soon  disbanded.  Lisa  then  formed  the  firm  of  Lisa, 
Menard  &  Morrison,  composed  of  himself,  Pierre  Menard  and  William  Morrison, 
for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians  on  the  Upper  Missouri  River.  In 
1807  he  ascended  the  Missouri  to  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  River,  where  he 
established  a  trading  post.  The  next  year  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  was  the 
moving  spirit  in  the  formation  of  the  Missouri  Fur  Company.  He  continued  in 
the  fur  trade  until  a  short  time  before  his  death  on  August  12,  1820. 

THE   MISSOURI    FUR   COMPAXV 

In  the  spring  of  1808  Manuel  Lisa  and  th^ other  fur  traders  of  St.  Louis  ^aw 
that  if  they  were  to  compete  successfully  with  the  British  traders  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  the  French  and  Scotch  representatives  of  the  North-West  Com- 


98  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

pany,  and  the  newly  organized  America  Fur  Company,  some  system  of  cooperation 
was  necessary.  The  resuh  was  the  formation  of  the  St.  Louis  Missouri  Fur 
Company  in  August,  1808,  though  the  "St.  Louis"  part  of  the  name  was  dropped 
soon  after  the  company  commenced  business.  The  original  members  of  the  com- 
pany were  Manuel  Lisa,  Benjamin  Wilkinson,  Pierre  and  Auguste  Chouteau, 
Reuben  Lewis,  William  Clark  and  Sylvester  Labadie,  of  St.  Louis ;  Pierre  Menard 
and  William  Morrison,  of  Kaskaskia ;  Andrew  Henry,  of  Louisiana,  Mo. ;  and 
Dennis  Fitz  Hugh,  of  Louisville,  Ky. 

The  original  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  only  $17,000,  a  sum  entirely 
insufficient  for  successful  competition  with  the  larger  companies,  a  fact  that  the 
projectors  were  to  learn  at  some  cost  a  few  years  later.  The  company  succeeded 
to  the  business  of  Lisa,  Menard  &  Morrison  and  began  trading  with  the  Indians 
of  the  Upper  Missouri  country,  with  Lisa's  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  as 
the  center  of  operations.  It  did  not  take  Lisa  long  to  ascertain  that  the  trade 
in  this  section  was  not  likely  to  be  as  profitable  as  had  been  anticipated  and  at 
his  suggestion  the  company  withdrew  the  posts  on  the  upper  river  and  concen- 
trated the  trade  at  Fort  Lisa.  This  post  was  established  in  181 1.  It  was  located 
a  few  miles  above  the  present  City  of  Omaha  and  commanded  the  trade  of  the 
Omaha,  Otoe,  Pawnee  and  other  Indian  tribes.  From  the  time  of  its  establishment 
until  about  1823  it  was  the  most  important  trading  post  on  the  Missouri  River. 

On  January  24,  1812,  the  company  was  reorganized  and  the  capital  stock  was 
•increased  to  $40,000.  A  few  weeks  later  another  increase  was  made  in  the  capital 
stock  to  $50,000.  At  that  time  Mr.  Astor  tried  to  purchase  an  interest,  but  was 
denied  the  privilege.  Another  reorganization  was  effected  in  1819,  with  Manuel 
Lisa  as  president  and  the  following  stockholders :  Joshua  Pilcher,  Andrew  Drips, 
Robert  Jones,  John  B.  Zenoni,  Andrew  Woods,  Joseph  Perkins  and  Moses  Carson. 
With  the  exception  of  Lisa  not  one  of  the  original  founders  remained  in  the 
company,  and  Lisa,  Pilcher  and  Drips  were  the  only  ones  who  had  any  experience 
in  the  Indian  trade.  When  Lisa  died  in  1820,  Pilcher  became  the  head  of  the 
company,  which  continued  in  business  until  1830,  when  it  was  disbanded. 

hunt's  expedition 

Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  in  June,  1810, 
Mr.  Astor  planned  two  expeditions  to  the  Pacific  coast.  One  of  these,  under 
the  leadership  of  David  and  Robert  Stuart,  Alexander  McKay  and  Donald  Mc- 
Kenzie,  was  to  go  on  the  ship  Tonquin  around  Cape  Horn  with  men  and  materials 
for  establishing  a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River.  As  this  expe- 
dition has  nothing  to  do  with  the  history  of  Wyoming,  it  is  not  deemed  necessary 
to  follow  its  movements. 

The  other  expedition,  under  Wilson  Price  Hunt,  was  to  go  by  land  up  the 
Missouri  River,  following  the  route  of  Lewis  and  Clark  over  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains until  it  reached  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  River.  One  of  the  principal 
objects  of  this  expedition  was  to  select  sites  for  trading  posts.  Hunt  reached 
St.  Louis  on  September  3,  1810,  and  began  his  preparations.  Later  in  the 
autumn  he  left  that  city  with  three  boats,  but  upon  reaching  the  mouth  of  the 
Nodaway  River,  near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  the  season 
being  far  advanced,  he  decided  to  go  into  winter  quarters.     Here  another  boat 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  99 

was  added  during  the  winter  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1811  the  expedition,  con- 
sisting of  sixty  men,  started  up  the  Missouri. 

In  the  meantime  the  Missouri  Fur  Company  was  watching  Hunt's  movements 
and  nineteen  days  after  he  broke  camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nodaway,  Manuel 
Lisa  set  out  from  St.  Charles,  ostensibly  to  find  Andrew  Henry  and  bring  back 
the  winter's  collection  of  furs,  but  really  to  keep  an  eye  on  Hunt  and  see  that  he 
established  no  trading  posts  in  the  territory  claimed  by  the  Missouri  Fur  Com- 
pany. Lisa  had  a  long  keel  boat — one  of  the  best  on  the  Missouri  River — twenty- 
six  picked  men,  well  armed,  and  a  swivel  gun  in  the  bow  of  his  boat.  He  gained 
steadily  on  Hunt  and  upon  reaching  Council  Blufi:'s  was  near  enough  to  send  a 
messenger  to  the  latter  asking  him  to  wait,  as  it  would  be  safer  for  the  two  expe- 
ditions to  pass  through  the  Indian  country  together.  Hunt  sent  back  word  that 
he  would  wait,  but  instead  of  doing  so  pushed  forward  with  all  possible  speed. 
Lisa  also  redoubled  his  efforts  and  overtook  Hunt  on  June  2,  181 1,  a  short  distance 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara  River.  In  this  race  Lisa  broke  all  previous 
records  for  keel  boat  navigation  on  the  Missouri  River,  having  averaged  over 
eighteen  miles  a  day  for  sixty  days.  After  overtaking  Hunt,  the  two  traveled  to- 
gether through  the  Sioux  country,  arriving  at  the  Ankara  villages,  not  far  from 
the  present  City  of  Pierre,  S.  D.,  on  the  12th  of  June,  where  they  parted  company. 

Hunt's  original  plan  was  to  ascend  the  Yellowstone  River,  but  upon  leaving 
the  Arikara  villages  on  June  18,  181 1,  he  altered  his  course  to  avoid  the  Blackfeet 
Indians  and  traveled  in  a  southwesterly  direction.  About  the  first  of  August 
he  struck  the  Little  Powder  River  and  crossed  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
present  State  of  Wyoming.  From  this  point  it  is  difficult  to  trace  his  course,  but 
from  the  best  authorities  available  it  is  believed  he  moved  westward  through 
what  are  now  Campbell  and  Johnson  counties  and  arrived  at  the  Big  Horn 
Mountains  almost  due  west  of  the  City  of  Buffalo.  Here  he  turned  southward, 
seeking  a  pass  through  the  mountains,  until  he  reached  the  middle  fork  of  the 
Powder  River.  Ascending  this  stream  to  its  source,  he  found  a  way  through  the 
range  and  struck  the  headwaters  of  the  No  Wood  Creek.  Following  this  creek 
to  its  junction  with  the  Big  Horn  River,  he  ascended  the  latter  until  he  came  to 
the  Wind  River,  near  the  present  Village  of  Riverton  in  Fremont  County. 

Considerable  speculation  has  been  indulged  in  regarding  the  movements  of  the 
expedition.  It  is  reasonable  to  believe,  however,  that  Hunt  knew  the  general 
direction  he  wanted  to  pursue  to  reach  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  River,  and, 
finding  the  Wind  River  coming  from  the  northwest,  decided  to  ascend  that 
stream.  There  are  abundant  evidences  that  the  party  encamped  for  a  short  time 
near  the  present  Village  of  Dubois,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Fremont  County. 
Then  passing  through  the  Wind  River  Range  he  struck  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
Green  River,  where  he  halted  for  several  days  to  take  advantage  of  the  excellent 
pasturage  for  his  horses  and  procure  a  supply  of  dried  buffalo  meat.  Crossing 
over  to  the  Snake  River  he  followed  down  that  stream  for  some  distance,  then 
turned  northward  and  finally  reached  the  post  known  as  Fort  Henry,  which  had 
been  established  by  Andrew  Henry,  on  Henry's  Fork  of  the  Snake  River  the  year 
before.  At  this  point  Hunt  made  the  mistake  of  abandoning  his  horses  and  under- 
taking the  remainder  of  his  journey  in  canoes.  After  struggling  with  the  difficul- 
ties of  mountain  river  navigation,  dodging  rocks  and  shooting  rapids,  for  a 
distance  of  340  miles,  the  canoes  were  discarded  and  the  journey  was  continued  on 


100  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

foot.  Un  the  last  day  of  January,  1812,  the  party  arrived  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Columbia  and  on  the  15th  of  February  reached  Astoria,  having  spent  six  months 
in  a  wilderness  never  before  explored  by  white  men. 

RETURN  OF  THE  ASTORIANS 

On  June  29,  1812,  a  party  of  about  sixty  men  left  Astoria  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  trading  posts  in  the  Indian  country.  On  the  28th  of  July  Robert 
Stuart,  Ramsay  Crooks,  Robert  McLellan,  Benjamin  Jones,  Andri  Vallar  and 
Francis  Le  Clerc  separated  from  the  main  party  in  the  Walla  Walla  Valley  and 
set  out  for  St.  Louis,  from  which  place  they  intended  to  go  to  New  York.  They 
followed  in  the  main  the  course  of  Hunt's  expedition.  While  passing  up  the 
Snake  River  they  met  John  Hoback,  Joseph  Miller,  Jacob  Rezner  and  a  man  named 
Robinson,  who  had  been  dropped  from  Hunt's  party  the  year  before  and  had  been 
engaged  in  trapping  along  the  Beaver  River.  These  four  men  reported  that  they 
had  taken  a  large  quantity  of  furs,  but  that  they  had  been  robbed  only  a  short 
time  before  by  a  party  of  Arapaho  Indians,  losing  not  only  the  furs  they  had 
accumulated,  but  also  their  stock  of  provisions.  They  were  provided  with  food 
and  a  new  outfit  and  remained  in  the  wilderness,  where  they  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives.  Whether  they  were  killed  by  Indians  or  died  natural  deaths  is  not 
known,  but  they  were  never  again  seen  by  white  men. 

On  the  first  of  October,  Stuart  and  his  party  arrived  at  the  tlrand  Tetons, 
which  they  called  the  "Pilot  Knobs,"  this  name  having  been  given  to  them  by  Hunt 
the  preceding  year.  Here  Robert  McLellan  left  the  others  and  went  on  alone. 
On  October  nth  the  party  came  upon  his  trail  and  the  next  day  found  him  on  a 
tributary  of  the  Green  River,  sick,  exhausted  and  without  food.  About  this 
time  Ramsay  Crooks  also  fell  ill.  The  condition  of  McLellan  and  Crooks  necessi- 
tated a  delay  of  several  days,  during  which  time  the  supply  of  provisions  ran 
out.  Le  Clerc  suggested  that  they  cast  lots  to  see  which  one  should  be 
killed  to  provide  food  for  the  others,  but  Robert  Stuart  threatened  "to  blow  his 
brains  out"  if  he  persisted  in  advocating  such  a  course.  Not  long  after  this  one 
of  the  men  killed  a  buffalo  and  the  starving  men  had  a  feast.  A  few  days  later 
they  came  upon  a  camp  of  friendly  Snake  Indians,  who  furnished  them  with  a 
supply  of  provisions  sufficient  for  five  days,  and  also  sold  them  an  old  horse  to 
carry  their  food  and  camp  outfit. 

From  the  Snake  Indians  Stuart  learned  something  of  the  direction  he  was  to 
pursue  and  on  the  26th  the  party  reached  the  Sweetwater  River.  Here  Ben  Jones 
was  fortunate  enough  to  trap  a  beaver  and  kill  two  Inifl'alo  bulls,  which  provided 
an  addition  to  their  food  supplv.  Passing  on  down  the  Sweetwater,  three  more 
buffaloes  were  killed,  and  on  the  30th  they  came  to  the  North  Platte  River,  but 
as  the  streatn  at  this  point  flows  in  a  northeasterly  direction  they  failed  to  recognize 
it.  They  thought  it  was  the  Cheyenne,  the  Niobrara,  or  some  other  stream,  and 
after  following  it  for  a  day  or  two  decided  they  had  lost  their  way.  This  un- 
certainty as  to  their  whereabouts,  and  the  fact  that  winter  was  approaching, 
decided  them  to  go  into  winter  quarters.  On  November  2,  18 1 2,  they  began  the 
construction  of  a  cabin  "upon  a  fine  bend  of  the  river  with  a  beautiful  wooded 
bottom,  which  afforded  protection  against  storms,  with  abundant  promise  of 
game." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  101 

This  cabin,  which  stood  opposite  the  mouth  of  Poison  Spider  Creek,  about 
twelve  miles  above  the  City  of  Casper,  is  believed  to  have  been  the  tirst  house 
built  by  white  men  in  the  present  State  of  Wyoming.  As  soon  as  it  was  finished 
the  men  turned  their  attention  to  providing  a  supply  of  meat  to  last  them  through 
the  winter,  and  within  a  few  days  over  thirty  but^aloes  were  killed.  About  a 
month  later  a  party  of  Arapaho  Indians  on  a  war  expedition  against  the  Crow 
tribe  visited  the  cabin.  They  made  no  hostile  demonstrations,  but  lingered  in  the 
neighborhood  for  two  days,  during  which  time  they  managed  to  get  the  greater 
portion  of  the  buffalo  meat.  As  soon  as  they  were  gone,  Ramsay  and  Crooks 
advised  moving  on  to  some  place  farther  away  from  the  Arapaho  country.  The 
advice  was  accepted  and  on  December  13th  the  partv  left  the  cabin  and  proceeded 
on  down  the  Platte. 

Two  weeks  later,  after  having  traveled  a  distance  they  estimated  at  over 
three  hundred  miles,  they  encountered  a  severe  snow  storm  which  made  walking 
laborious.  They  were  now  out  of  the  timber  and  knew  they  were  on  the  Platte 
River,  but  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  them  to  reach  St.  Louis.  They 
therefore  retraced  their  steps  for  about  seventy-five  miles  and  established  a  second 
winter  camp.  This  cam])  was  not  far  from  the  present  Town  of  Haig,  Xeb. 
While  located  here  they  occu])ied  their  time  in  hunting  and  making  canoes,  in- 
tending to  continue  their  journey  by  water  as  soon  as  the  ice  was  out  of  the 
ri\er. 

On  March  <S,  1813,  they  launched  their  canoes,  but  had  not  gone  many  miles 
until  they  found  the  sandbars  in  the  Platte  River  too  numerous  for  safe  and  easy 
navigation  and  the  canoes  were  abandoned.  When  they  reached  Grand  Island 
they  were  entertained  for  a  few  days  at  an  Otoe  Indian  village,  where  they  met  two 
traders — Dornin  and  Roi — from  St.  Louis,  from  whom  they  learned  that  the 
United  States  was  at  war  with  England.  Dornin  provided  the  Astorians  with  a 
large  boat  made  of  elk  skin  stretched  on  a  pole  frame,  with  which  they  were 
able  to  navigate  the  Platte,  and  without  further  mishap  or  adventure  they  arrived 
at  St.  Louis  on  the  last  day  of  April,  1813. 

ROCKY    MOUNT.MN    FUR   COMP.XNV 

The  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  began  with  the  following  advertisement, 
which  appeared  in  the  Missouri  Republican  of  St.  Louis  on  March  20,  1822: 

"To  ExTERPRisiNG  YouNc.  Men  : — The  subscriber  wishes  to  engage  one 
hundred  young  men  to  ascend  the  Missouri  River  to  its  source,  there  to  be  em- 
ployed for  one,  two  or  three  years.  For  particulars  enquire  of  Major  Andrew 
Henry,  near  the  lead  mines  in  the  County  of  Washington,  who  will  ascend  with 
and  command  the  party,  or  of  the  subscriber,  near  St.  Louis. 

"WiLLi.xM  H.  .Ashley." 

\\'illiam  Henry  .Ashley,  the  founder  of  the  company,  was  born  in  Powhatan 
County,  Virginia,  in  1778.  He  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1802,  but  his  early  career  in 
that  city  is  not  well  known,  further  than  that  he  was  engaged  for  some  time  in 
the  real  e.state  business  and  about  the  time  of  the  War  of  1812  was  a  manufacturer 
of  gunpowder.  He  was  next  interested  in  mining  operations,  where  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Andrew  Henry,  with  whom  he  afterward  was  associated 
in  the  fur  trade.     Mr.  .Ashley  was  active  in  the  organization  and  development  of 


102  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  Missouri  militia.  In  1813  he  was  commissioned  a  captain;  was  promoted  to 
colonel  in  1819,  and  in  1822  was  made  major-general.  He  was  the  first  lieutenant- 
governor  of  Missouri,  when  the  state  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1820,  and  in 
1824  was  defeated  for  governor.  In  183 1  he  was  elected  to  Congress  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term  of  Spencer  Pettis,  who  was  killed  in  a  duel  on  August  27,  1831, 
with  Thomas  Biddle,  and  was  afterward  twice  reelected.  General  Ashley  died 
at  St.  Louis  on  March  26,  1838. 

Andrew  Henry,  the  other  active  organizer  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Com- 
pany, was  a  native  of  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  about  three  years 
older  than  General  Ashley.  He  went  west  before  the  United  States  purchased 
the  Province  of  Louisiana  and  in  1808  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Missouri 
Fur  Company.  Two  years  later  he  was  engaged  in  a  fight  with  the  Black  feet 
Indians  at  the  Three  Forks  of  the  Missouri.  He  then  crossed  the  divide  and 
built  Fort  Henry  on  the  stream  that  is  still  known  as  the  Henry  Fork  of  the 
Snake  River.  It  is  quite  probable  that  his  account  of  his  adventures  as  a  fur 
trader  influenced  General  Ashley  to  engage  in  the  trade.  Major  Henry  died  on 
January  10,  1832. 

Ashley  and  Henry  both  received  license  on  April  11,  1822,  to  trade  on  the 
Upper  Missouri.  By  that  time  the  one  hundred  young  men  advertised  for  some 
three  weeks  before  had  been  engaged,  and  on  the  15th  the  "Rocky  Mountain  Fur 
Company,"'  which  was  the  name  adopted  by  Ashley,  sent  its  first  expedition  up  the 
Missouri  River.  It  was  accompanied  by  General  Ashley  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone,  where  a  trading  post  was  established.  The  next  year  he  accompanied 
another  expedition  up  the  river  to  the  Arikara  villages,  and  that  summer  a  post 
was  established  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn. 

In  1824  Ashley  led  a  company  to  the  Green  River  Valley  and  the  next  spring  he 
made  the  first  attempt  ever  made  by  a  white  man  to  navigate  that  stream.  From 
the  beginning  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  was  prosperous  and  in  five 
years  its  founders  accumulated  a  fortune.  By  1824  the  "Ashley  Beaver"  became 
widely  known  among  fur  dealers  as  the  finest  skins  in  the  market.  During  the 
summer  of  1825  Ashley  explored  a  large  part  of  the  states  of  Colorado  and  LItah 
and  established  a  trading  post  on  LItah  Lake.  By  that  time  the  company  had  almost 
abandoned  the  Upper  Missouri  trade  and  was  operating  chiefly  in  what  are  now  the 
states  of  Wyoming,  Utah  and  Colorado. 

SMITH,  JACKSON   &  SUBLETTE 

On  July  18,  1826,  Ashley  and  Henry  sold  out  to  Jedediah  S.  Smith,  David  E. 
Jackson  and  William  L.  Sublette,  who  had  been  associated  with  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Fur  Company  from  the  beginning,  and  who  continued  the  business 
under  the  old  name.  Although  Jedediah  S.  Smith  was  really^ the  promoter  of 
the  new  firm,  William  L.  Sublette  soon  became  the  controlling  spirit.  He 
was  one  of  four  brothers — Andrew,  Solomon  P.,  Milton  G.  and  William  L. — of 
Kentucky  stock  and  all  engaged  in  the  fur  trade.  Andrew,  William  L.  and  Mil- 
ton G.  answered  Ashley's  advertisement  in  the  spring  of  1822  and  became  asso- 
ciated with  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  from  the  time  of  its  organization 
Andrew  was  killed  by  the  Black  feet  Indians  in  1828,  Milton  died  at  Fort  Laramie 
on  December  19,  1836,  after  two  amputations  of  his  leg  on  account  of  an  injury. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  103 

and  William  L.  died  at  Pittsburgh  on  July  21,,  1845,  while  on  his  way  to  Wash- 
ington, after  having  accumulated  a  fortune  in  the  fur  trade. 

On  August  22,  1826,  "Jed"  Smith,  as  he  was  commonly  called,  set  out  with 
his  rifle  and  Bible  to  explore  Southwestern  Utah  and  Colorado,  going  from  there 
to  California.  Sublette  and  Jackson  divided  their  employees  into  several  small 
companies,  led  by  Robert  Campbell,  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  Moses  Harris,  James 
Bridger  and  James  Beckwourth.  Three  of  these  men — Campbell,  Bridger  and 
Beck\!i'Ourth — are  deserving  of  more  than  pasing  mention,  on  account  of  the 
prominent  part  each  took  in  the  work  of  the  fur  companies  and  the  development 
of  the  Great  West. 

Robert  Campbell  was  born  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  in  1804  and  came  to  St. 
Louis  when  he  was  not  quite  twenty  years  of  age.  In  1825  he  experienced  some 
trouble  with  his  lungs  and  decided  to  go  to  the  mountains.  He  therefore  joined 
Ashley's  men  and  within  twelve  months  had  completely  regained  his  health.  Major 
Henry  once  remarked  that  "Bob  Campbell  takes  to  the  Indian  trade  lika  a  young 
duck  takes  to  the  water,"  which  must  have  been  true,  as  he  became  one  of  the 
lieutenants  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  before  he  had  been  with  it  two 
years.  After  returning  to  St.  Louis  he  became  one  of  the  city's  leading  busi- 
ness men  ;  was  president  of  the  old  State  Bank,  which  was  afterward  reorganized 
as  the  Merchants  National  Bank,  of  which  he  was  also  president  for  several 
years ;  was  United  States  commissioner  to  negotiate  several  treaties  with  the 
Indians,  and  was  influential  in  many  ways  in  promoting  the  industrial  interests  of 
St.  Louis.    He  died  in  that  city  on  October  16,  1879,  aged  seventy-five  years. 

James  Bridger,  who  has  been  called  the  "Daniel  Boone  of  the  West,"  was 
born  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  March  17,  1804,  and  went  to  St.  Louis  when  he 
was  eight  years  old.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  blacksmith, 
which  occupation  he  followed  until  he  joined  General  Ashley's  trappers  in 
1822.  He  quickly  developed  into  a  skilful  trapper,  learned  the  Indian  customs 
just  as  quickly,  was  a  dead  shot  with  the  rifle,  paid  more  attention  to  the 
geography  of  the  country  than  did  most  of  the  others,  all  of  which  had  a  tendency 
to  increase  General  Ashley's  confidence  in  him,  and  the  two  men  became  firm 
friends. 

Bridger  had  very  little  book  learning,  but  he  completed  the  course  of  study 
in  the  broader  school  of  Nature.  Army  ofiicers  and  Government  explorers  always 
found  him  reliable  as  a  guide  and  he  probably  knew  more  of  the  West  in  his 
day  than  any  other  living  man.  For  several  years  after  the  firm  of  Smith. 
Jackson  &  Sublette  was  dissolved  he  was  associated  with  Benito  Vasquez  in 
trapping  for  the  American  Fur  Company.  In  1843  he  built  Fort  Bridger,  in 
what  is  now  LTinta  County,  Wyoming,  and  continued  trapping  for  several  years. 
In  1856  he  bought  a  farm  near  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  expressed  his  inten- 
tion to  settle  down  and  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  quiet  pursuits.  But 
the  "call  of  the  wild"  was  too  strong,  and,  although  more  than  fifty  years  of 
age.  he  was  soon  back  at  Fort  Laramie.  He  was  then  employed  by  the  United 
States  Government  as  guide,  which  occupation  he  continued  to  follow  until  he 
grew  too  old  to  stand  the  hardships  of  plains  life,  when  he  retired  to  his  farm 
and  died  there  on  July  17,   188 1. 

James  Beckwourth,  one  of  Ashley's  first  company,  came  to  the  mountains  in 
1822.     He  was  born  in   Fredericksburg,  Va.,   in  April,    1798.     He   was  always 


104  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

fond  of  boasting  that  his  father  had  been  a  major  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
but  of  his  mother  he  said  little,  because  she  was  a  negro  slave.  When  Ashley 
sold  out  to  Smith,  Jackson  &  Sublette,  Beckwourth  went  with  the  new  company. 
Thomas  Fitzpatrick  sent  him  to  open  up  a  trade  with  the  Blackfoot  Indians,  which 
up  to  that  time  had  not  been  a  success,  but  Beckwourth  married  a  daughter  of 
the  chief  and  for  some  time  did  a  thriving  business  with  the  tribe  in  consequence. 
He  then  joined  the  Crow  nation  and  was  made  a  chief.  Some  of  tlie  trappers 
charged  him  with  instigating  the  Indians  to  steal  the  traps,  furs  and  horses  of 
the  fur  companies,  but  he  always  claimed  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  charge. 

While  living  with  the  Crow  Indians  he  had  about  a  dozen  wives.  When 
Fremont  passed  through  the  Platte  Valley  in  1842,  he  found  at  Chabonard's 
ranch  a  Spanish  woman  who  claimed  to  be  the  wife  of  Jim  Beckwourth.  After 
several  years  with  the  Crow  nation,  Beckwourth  went  to  California,  where  he 
opened  a  hotel.  His  house  was  suspected  of  being  the  headquarters  of  a  band 
of  horse  thieves  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave  California  to  save  his  life.  Return- 
ing to  Wyoming,  he  remained  there  a  short  time  and  then  went  to  Denver,  where 
he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business,  built  a  good  house  and  married  the 
daughter  of  a  negro  washerwoman.  He  never  took  the  trouble  to  contradict 
the  report  of  his  numerous  marriages.  About  1867  he  visited  the  Crow  tribe, 
where  he  was  given  a  cordial  reception  and  a  great  feast.  When  the  Indians 
learned  that  it  was  his  intention  to  go  back  to  Denver,  they  poisoned  him  rather 
than  have  him  again  desert  them.  Beckwourth  was  given  to  magnifying  his 
exploits,  and  one  of  his  biographers  speaks  of  him  as  the  "Baron  Alunchausen 
of  the  Plains."  Notwithstanding  this  and  other  faults,  he  was  a  brave  man.  a 
successful  trapper,  knew  the  country  well  and  was  a  reliable  guide,  in  which 
capacity  he  was  frequently  employed. 

In  1827  the  firm  of  Smith,  Jackson  &  Sublette,  or  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur 
Company,  had  about  four  hundred  men  engaged  in  trapping  in  Wyoming,  North- 
em  Colorado  and  Utah.  This  year  the  rendezvous  was  at  the  mouth  of  Horse 
Creek,  near  the  line  between  Lincoln  and  Fremont  counties,  in  Wyoming.  Jed 
Smith  returned  to  the  Pacific  coast,  Sublette  remained  in  the  country  until  fall, 
when  he  went  to  St.  Louis  to  dispose  of  the  season's  furs  and  obtain  a  new 
supply  of  goods,  and  Jackson  spent  the  winter  in  the  valley  south  of  Yellow- 
stone National  Park.  When  Sublette  found  him  there  in  the  spring  of  1828, 
he  named  the  valley  "Jackson's  Hole,"  and  the  lake  there  he  called  "Jackson's 
Lake,"  in  honor  of  his  partner.     These  names  still  apply  to  the  locality. 

The  rendezvous  of  1829  was  near  the  mouth  of  the  Popo-Agie  River.  This 
year  the  supplies  for  the  trappers  and  goods  for  the  Indian  trade  were  brought 
to  the  rendezvous  in  wagons  drawn  by  mules.  These  were  the  first  wagons 
ever  brought  to  Wyoming.  They  came  up  the  Platte  and  Sweetwater  valleys, 
and  returned  to  St.  Louis  loaded  with  furs. 

On  .August  4,  1830,  Smith.  Jackson  &  Sublette  sold  out  to  a  new  company 
composed  of  Milton  G.  Sublette,  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  Henry  Fraeb.  Jean  Bap- 
tiste  Gervais  and  James  Bridger,  who  continued  the  business  under  the  old  name 
of  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company.  The  old  partners  then  engaged  in  the  Santa 
Fe  trade  until  Jed  Smith  was  killed  by  the  Indians  in  Southwestern  Kansas  in 
1831.  Jackson  then  formed  a  partnership  with  David  E.  Waldo  and  went  to 
California,  and  William  L.  Sublette  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  for  some  time  he 


JIM  BAKEE,  THE  NOTED  SCOUT 


106  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

furnished  the  suppHes  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  and  marketed 
their  furs. 

The  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  came  to  an  end  in  1834.  The  next  year 
Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  Milton  G.  Sublette  and  James  Bridger  formed  a  partner- 
ship, bought  the  post  that  had  been  built  by  Sublette  &  Campbell  on  the  Laramie 
River,  and  entered  the  service  of  the  American  Fur  Company.  This  firm  was 
dissolved  by  the  death  of  Milton  G.  Sublette  in  1836.  Bridger,  Fitzpatrick,  Henry 
Fraeb  and  Benito  \'asquez  then  associated  themselves  in  the  fur  trade  and  con- 
tinued in  business  together  for  several  years.  Associated  with  them  as  an 
employee  was  the  well  known  scout,  trapper  and  guide,  James  Baker. 

Jim  Baker,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  born  at  Belleville,  111.,  Decem- 
ber 18,  1818.  When  he  was  about  twenty  years  of  age  he  joined  a  company 
of  ninety  recruits  for  the  American  Fur  Company  and  came  to  Wyoming.  The 
rendezvous  that  year  (1838)  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Popo-Agie  River.  Baker's 
first  trip  as  a  trapper  was  up  the  Big  Wind  River  to  Jackson's  Hole.  After  nine 
years  with  the  American  Fur  Company  he  entered  the  employ  of  Bridger,  Fitz- 
patrick, Vasquez  &  Fraeb,  with  whom  he  remained  until  the  firm  wound  up 
its  affairs.  He  was  in  Wyoming  during  the  cold  winter  of  1845-46,  when  many 
of  the  wild  animals  froze  to  death.  In  1857  he  was  guide  to  Colonel  Johnston's 
Utah  expedition,  and  later  was  chief  of  scouts  under  Gen.  William  S.  Harney. 
In  1859  he  built  a  home  on  Clear  Creek,  near  Denver,  where  he  lived  until  1873, 
when  he  removed  to  a  farm  near  Dixon,  Wyo.,  in  the  southwestern  part 
of  Carbon  County.  His  death  occurred  there  in  the  spring  of  1898,  he  having 
passed  sixty  years  upon  the  western  frontier. 

By  the  act  of  February  13,  1917,  the  Wyoming  Legislature  appropriated  the 
sum  of  $750  to  remove  the  "Jim  Baker  cabin"  from  section  13,  township  12, 
range  90,  in  Carbon  County,  to  a  suitable  site  at  or  near  Cheyenne,  where  it 
might  be  preserved  as  "a  relic  of  public  interest."  Later  in  the  same  year  the 
cabin  was  taken  down,  the  logs  carefully  numbered  and  moved  to  Cheyenne, 
where  the  cabin  was  rebuilt  exactly  in  its  original  form  in  the  grounds  of 
Frontier  Park,  near  the  main  entrance,  where  it  stands  as  an  interesting  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  the  brave  old  frontiersman. 

COLUMBIA  FUR  COMPANY 

When  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  North-West  companies  were  consolidated  in 
182 1,  a  number  of  employees  were  dropped  from  each  force.  One  of  these 
was  Joseph  Renville,  an  experienced  trader,  who  invited  a  number  of  the  best 
men  thus  discharged  to  join  him  in  forming  a  new  company.  Among  those 
who  accepted  the  invitation  were  Kenneth  McKenzie  and  Williarn  Laidlaw.  The 
result  was  the  organization  of  the  Columbia  Fur  Company,  with  Kenneth  Mc- 
Kenzie as  president.  This  company  established  its  headquarters  on  Lake 
Traverse,  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Minnesota,  and  in  a  short  time  became  a 
strong  competitor  of  the  older  companies.  Under  the  act  of  Congress,  approved 
on  April  29.  1816,  foreigners  were  not  permitted  to  engage  in  the  fur  trade 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  chiefly  for  the  reason  that  they  were 
accustomed  to  sell  liquor  to  the  Indians  in  exchange  for  furs.  The  Columbia 
Company,  which  was  composed  chiefly  of   foreigners,  evaded  this  law  by  per- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  107 

suading  Daniel  Lamont  and  other  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  become  stock- 
holders. These  citizens  acted  as  a  subsidiary  company  under  the  name  of  "Tilton 
&  Company.''  Their  agents  visited  the  upper  Missouri  and  Yellowstone  valleys, 
and  possibly  operated  to  some  extent  in  Wyoming.  In  July,  1827,  the  Columbia 
Company  was  merged  with  the  American  Fur  Company,  Laidlaw,  McKenzie 
and  others  going  with  the  latter. 

THE  MACKINAW  COMPANY 

This  company  was  organized  early  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  by  Fraser, 
Dickson,  Cameron  and  Roulette,  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians 
about  the  Great  Lakes.  Gradually  it  extended  its  field  of  operations  westward, 
and  at  the  time  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  North- West  companies  were  united  it 
was  firmly  established  in  the  country  west  of  the  Great  Lakes  as  far  as  the 
Mississippi  River.  Not  long  after  that  Astor  and  certain  former  members  of 
the  North-West  Company  purchased  the  interests  of  the  Mackinaw  Company 
and  changed  the  name  to  the  Southwest  Fur  Company.  The  object  in  changing 
the  name  was  to  make  it  correspond  with  the  section  to  which  it  was  intended 
to  extend  the  trade,  but  when  an  effort  was  made  to  engage  in  the  trade  in 
Wyoming,  Colorado  and  LTtah.  Ashley  and  others  were  found  to  be  so  firmly 
entrenched  that  the  project  was  given  up  and  the  Southwest  Company  was 
disbanded. 

TRADING   POSTS   IN    WYOMING 

One  of  the  earliest  (perhaps  the  first)  trading  establishments  within  the  limits 
of  the  present  State  of  Wyoming  was  located  near  the  junction  of  the  north  and 
south  forks  of  the  Powder  River,  in  the  southern  part  of  Johnson  County. 
Capt.  W.  F.  Raynolds,  who  explored  this  part  of  the  country  in  1859-60,  with 
Jim  Bridger  as  guide,  gives  the  following  account  of  this  post  in  his  report : 
"On  September  26,  1859,  after  a  ride  of  about  fifteen  miles,  we  came  to  the 
ruins  of  some  old  trading  posts  known  as  the  'Portuguese  Houses,'  from  the 
fact  that  many  years  ago  they  were  erected  by  a  Portuguese  trader  named 
Antonio  Mateo.  They  are  now  badly  dilapidated  and  only  one  side  of  the  pickets 
remains  standing.  These,  however,  are  of  hewn  logs,  and  from  their  character 
it  is  evident  that  the  structures  were  originally  very  strongly  built.  Bridger 
recounted  a  tradition  that  at  one  time  this  post  was  besieged  by  the  Sioux  for 
forty  days,  resisting  successfully  to  the  last,  alike,  the  strength  and  the  ingenuity 
of  their  assaults,  and  the  appearance  of  the  ruins  renders  the  story  not  only 
credible,  but  also  probable." 

Fort  William,  so  named  for  ^Villiam  L.  Sublette,  was  built  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Platte  and  Laramie  rivers  by  the  firm  of  Smith,  Jackson  &  Sublette  in 
1834.  The  following  year  it  was  sold  to  Fitzpatrick,  Sublette  &  Bridger,  and 
after  the  death  of  Milton  G.  Sublette  became  a  post  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany. This  was  the  first  trading  post  in  Wyoming  built  by  a  citizen  of  the  United 
Stp.tes. 

Fraeb's  Post,  established  about  1837  or  1838,  was  built  by  Henry  Fraeb  and 
James  Bridger  on  St.  Vrain's  fork  of  the  Elkhead  River,  a  short  distance  west 


108  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  the  ^ledicine  Bow  Mountains.  Fraeb  was  killed  by  Sioux  Indians  in  August, 
1841,  and  the  post  was  soon  afterward  abandoned.  At  the  time  Fraeb  was 
killed  the  post  was  attacked  by  a  large  war  party  of  Sioux.  In  the  action  the 
Indians  lost  ten  killed  and  a  number  wounded,  and  the  whites  lost  five.  The  post 
stood  almost  on  the  line  between  Wyoming  and  Colorado. 

Fort  John,  a  post  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  was  built  not  far  from  Fort 
William  in  1839  and  was  named  for  John  B.  Sarpy,  an  agent  of  the  company. 
The  name  was  subsequently  changed  to  Fort  Laramie.  The  post  was  abandoned 
and  the  buildings  demolished  about  1846. 

Fort  Platte,  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Platte  River,  on  the  tongue 
of  land  between  that  stream  and  the  Laramie  River,  was  built  about  1840.  Two 
years  later,  when  Fremont  passed  through  Wyoming  on  his  way  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  he  mentioned  this  fort  in  his  report  as  a  post  of  Sabille.  .\dams  & 
Company.  A  year  later  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Pratt,  Cabanne  &  Company 
and  a  few  years  later  was  torn  down. 

Fort  Bridger,  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  enduring  of  the  early  posts, 
was  built  by  James  Bridger  and  Benito  Vasquez  in  the  fall  of  1843.  On  Decem- 
ber 10,  1843,  Bridger  wrote  to  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr.,  at  St.  Louis,  ordering 
certain  goods  for  the  Indian  and  emigrant  trade,  and  in  the  letter  said : 

"I  have  established  a  small  fort  with  a  blacksmith  shop  and  a  supply  of 
iron  in  the  road  of  the  emigrants,  on  Black's  Fork  of  the  Green  River,  which 
promises  fairl}'.  They,  in  coming  out,  are  generally  well  supplied  with  money, 
but  by  the  time  they  get  here  are  in  want  of  all  kinds  of  suppHes.  Horses,  pro- 
visions, smith  work,  etc.,  bring  ready  cash  from  them,  and  should  I  receive  the 
goods  hereby  ordered  I  will  do  a  considerable  business  in  that  way  with  them. 
The  same  establishment  trades  with  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood,  who  have 
mostly  a  good  number  of  beaver  among  them." 

Bridger  evidently  received  the  goods,  as  he  remained  at  the  fort  for  several 
years  after  that  time,  and  the  post  became  a  landmark  to  guide  emigrants  on 
their  way  westward.  The  fort  afterward  became  a  military  post  of  the  L'nited 
States. 

Fort  Davy  Crockett  and  Fort  LTintah,  just  across  the  line  in  Colorado,  were 
posts  that  commanded  a  goodly  share  of  the  Wyoming  fur  trade,  and  Fort 
Bonneville,  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Green  River,  was  another  early  post, 
but  it  was  abandoned  almost  as  soon  as  it  was  completed.  x\n  account  of  it 
will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Explorers  and  Explorations. 


CHAPTER  Mil 
EXPLORERS  AND  EXPLORATIONS 

EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   I\   AMERICA   CHIEFLY   ALONG  THE   COAST — CORON'ADO's   EXPE- 
DITION— ON     TO    OUIVIRA — OTHER     SPANISH     EXPEDITIONS VERENDRYE — LEWIS 

AND  CLARK HANCOCK   AND  DIXON LIEUTENANT   PIKE EZEKIEL    WILLIAMS — 

long's     EXPEDITION NATHANIEL     J.     WYETH — WYETH's     SECOND     EXPEDITION 

— CAPTAIN    BONNEVILLE FATHER    DE    SMET JOHN    C.    FREMONT HIS    SECOND 

EXPEDITION — CAPTAIN       STANSIiURY — WARREN's      EXPEDITION CAPTAIN       RAY- 

NOLDS. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  of  this  work  reference  is  made  to  the  early  European 
explorations  in  America,  and  the  conflicting  claims  to  territory  that  arose,  based 
upon  the  discoveries  made  by  these  explorers.  Most  of  these  early  Europeans 
confined  their  efforts  to  the  lands  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  though  at  least  two 
Spanish  expeditions  penetrated  far  into  the  interior  about  the  middle  of  the  Six- 
teenth Century.  One  of  these  was  the  expedition  of  Hernando  de  Soto,  who 
discovered  the  Mississippi  River  in  the  spring  of  1541,  an  account  of  which  is 
given  in  the  previous  chapter  mentioned,  and  almost  contemporary  with  it  was 
an  expedition  from  Mexico,  led  by  Francisco  \'asquez  de  Coronado.  Neither 
of  these  expeditions  touched  what  is  now  the  State  of  Wyoming,  but  they  exerted 
an  influence  upon  subsequent  events,  in  that  they  gave  the  first  information  con- 
cerning the  interior  of  the  American  continent. 

CORONADO'S   EXPEpiTION 

The  leader  of  this  expedition,  a  native  of  Salamanca,  Spain,  was  appointed 
governor  of  New  Gallicia.  one  of  the  northern  provinces  of  Mexico,  about  I533 
or  1534.  He  has  been  described  as  "cold  and  cruel,  ambitious,  and  always  look- 
ing for  an  opportunity  to  distinguish  himself  and  win  favor  with  his  royal 
master."  .Such  an  opportunity  came  to  him  shortly  after  he  had  been  appointed 
governor,  when  four  men  reached  the  City  of  Mexico,  after  having  spent  some 
time  in  wandering  among  the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains  and  the  sandy  plains 
farther  to  the  northward.  One  of  these  four,  called  Estevan  or  "Stephen  the 
Moor."  gave  a  circumstantial  account  of  an  expedition  of  some  four  hundred 
men  which  left  Florida  eight  years  before,  but  had  been  reduced  by  hardships, 
toil  and  captivity  among  the  natives  to  the  four  men  who  had  at  last  escaped 
and  found  their  way  to  the  Spanish  settlements  in  ^Mexico.  This  Estevan  also 
told  of  opulent  cities,  known  as  the  "Seven  cities  of  Cibola."'  of  which  he  had 
heard  frequent  mention  while  among  the  Indians,  but  which  he  had  never  seen. 
109 


no  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  these  reports  Coronado  saw  a  chance  to  win  fame  and  establish  himself 
more  firmly  at  court.  He  sent  out  a  small  expedition  under  Father  Marcos  de 
Niza,  a  Franciscan  friar,  to  reconnoiter  the  seven  cities,  Estevan  actmg  as  guide. 
The  Moor,  with  a  few  men,  went  on  in  advance  and  afterward  claimed  to  have 
reached  the  cities  before  the  friar  and  the  main  body  had  covered  half  the  dis- 
tance. Incited  by  that  avarice  which  was  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the 
early  Spanish  explorers  in  America,  Estevan  and  his  companions  proceeded  to 
plunder  the  houses  and  killed  some  of  the  natives  who  refused  to  give  up  their 
property.  The  entire  population  then  took  up  arms  against  the  invaders,  with 
the  result  that  the  Moor  and  his  associates  were  compelled  to  abandon  their  loot 
and  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 

Upon  meeting  Father  de  Niza,  they  told  him  of  what  had  happened  and 
advised  him  to  proceed  no  farther.  From  this  point  accounts  of  the  expedition 
differ.  The  friar,  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  the  good  will  of  the 
governor,  reported  that  he  went  on  until  he  came  to  an  eminence,  from  which 
he  could  see  plainly  the  cities  of  Cibola,  the  lofty  houses,  the  abundant  evidences 
of  the  great  wealth  of  the  inhabitants,  etc.,  but  some  of  the  private  soldiers  who 
accompanied  him  reported  that  he  turned  back  in  great  fright.  In  the  light 
of  subsequent  events,  the  latter  report  seems  to  be  the  most  plausible. 

Coronado,  however,  did  not  abandon  the  idea  of  leading  an  expedition  to 
the  fabled  cities  and  appropriating  their  great  wealth.  Accordingly,  in  the 
spring  of  1540,  with  300  Spanish  soldiers  and  800  natives,  he  left  new  Gallicia 
and  took  up  his  march  for  the  seven  cities.  Three  accounts  of  the  expedition 
were  afterward  published — one  by  Coronado  himself,  one  by  his  Heutenant,  Jara- 
millo,  and  the  third  by  a  private  soldier  named  Castaneda.  While  the  reports 
do  not  harmonize  in  many  essential  particulars,  all  agree  that  they  reached  the 
cities  of  which  they  had  heard  so  much  and  found  only  seven  insignificant  native 
villages,  with  no  lofty  buildings,  no  gold  and  silver,  no  jewels.  Some  writers 
have  attempted  to  show  that  the  cities  of  Cibola  were  located  northeast  of  Zuni. 
N.  M.,  and  that  the  Zuni  ruins  are  the  remains  of  the  cities  of  which  Coronado 
was  in  search.  It  is  also  asserted  by  some  that  a  detachment  of  Coronado's 
troops  under  Lopez  de  Cardenas,  discovered  the  grand  canyon  of  the  Colorado 
in  August,  1540. 

Fearing  the  ridicule  of  his  friends  if  he  returned  to  New  Gallicia  empty- 
handed,  Coronado  asked  the  natives  of  the  villages  if  there  were  not  other  cities 
within  reach  that  it  might  be  profitable  to  visit.  Glad  of  the  opportunity  to  rid 
themselves  of  the  Spaniards,  they  told  him  of  a  rich  province  about  one  hundred 
leagues  to  the  eastward.  To  this  province  Coronado  led  his  followers,  only  to 
meet  with  another  disappointment.  True,  he  found  some  Indian  villages,  but  the 
inhabitants  were  no  more  opulent  than  those  he  had  just  left.  In  his  chagrin 
he  made  war  upon  the  natives  of  these  villages  and  practically  annihilated  their 
dwellings.  Castaneda's  account  says  they  spent  the  winter  at  this  place,  which 
he  calls  Cicuye,  and  which  archaeologists  have  located  in  the  Pecos  Valley,  not 
far  from  the  present  Town  of  Puerto  de  Luna. 

ON   TO   OUIVIRA 

While  the  expedition  was  at  Cicuye  an  Indian,  who  claimed  to  be  a  prisoner, 
came  to  Coronado  with  an  air  of  great  mystery  and  gave  a  glowing  account  of 


HISTORY  OF  WYOxMING  111 

a  country  called  Quivira,  some  three  hundred  leagues  farther  to  the  northeast, 
in  which  there  was  a  great  river,  nearly  three  leagues  wide,  with  fish  in  it  as 
large  as  horses.  He  said  the  ruler  of  this  country  was  an  old  man  named  Tar- 
tarrax,  quite  wealthy,  who  worshiped  the  image  of  a  woman  and  a  cross  of  gold, 
and  who  prayed  by  means  of  a  string  of  beads.  He  told  his  story  in  an  impres- 
sive manner  and  proposed  to  Coronado  that  if  the  Spaniards  would  connive  his 
escape  he  would  guide  them  to  this  rich  province.  The  offer  was  accepted  and 
on  May  5,  1541,  the  expedition  left  the  Pecos  Valley  for  the  realm  of  Tartarrax. 

The  Spaniards  called  their  Indian  guide  "the  Turk,"  because  of  some  real 
or  fancied  resemblance  to  that  people.  Some  of  the  more  observing  members 
of  the  expedition  noticed  that  when  they  met  some  wandering  party  of  Indians 
on  the  plains,  if  the  guide  was  the  first  to  talk  to  them,  they  confirmed  his  story 
of  Quivira,  but  if  the  white  men  were  the  first  to  question  them  they  knew 
nothing  of  such  a  province.  This  has  led  to  the  theory  that  the  Turk  was  not 
a  prisoner  at  Cicuye,  but  that  his  story  was  concocted  for  the  purpose  of  luring 
the  Spaniards  away  from  that  place,  the  guide  being  a  member  of  the  tribe 
who  was  willing  to  sacrifice  his  life,  if  need  be,  for  the  safety  and  comfort  of 
his  people.  His  life  was  sacrificed,  for  when  Coronado  reached  the  conclusion 
that  the  guide  had  deceived  him  he  ordered  the  Indian  to  be  hanged.  Just  before 
his  death  the  Turk  insisted  that  the  cities  to  which  he  was  guiding  the  expedition 
were  "just  a  little  farther  on." 

A  great  deal  of  speculation  has  been  indulged  in  regarding  the  location  of 
Quivira.  In  his  own  report,  Coronado  says  he  went  as  far  north  as  the  fortieth 
degree  of  north  latitude.  If  he  was  correct  in  his  estimate,  the  northern  limit  of 
his  travels  was  somewhere  near  the  boundary  line  between  Kansas  and  Nebraska. 
Attempts  have  been  made  to  show  that  Quivira  was  somewhere  near  the  head 
of  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  several  places  in  Colorado  claim  the  honor.  Some 
think  that  the  ruins  called  "Gran  Quivira,''  in  New  Mexico,  mark  the  site  of  the 
mythical  province  of  Tartarrax.  Near  Junction  City,  Kan.,  a  monument  has 
been  erected  to  mark  the  northernmost  point  of  Coronado's  wanderings.  The 
engineers  engaged  in  building  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  found  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Loup  River,  in  Nebraska,  mounds  and  other  evidences  of  once  populous 
villages,  which  support  to  some  extent  the  dying  statement  of  the  Turk,  that 
the  cities  of  which  he  had  spoken  were  "just  a  little  farther  on." 

•      OTHER   SPANISH    EXPEDITIONS 

In  1599  Don  Juan  de  Onate  led  an  expedition  from  New  Mexico  in  search  of 
Quivira.  The  reports  of  his  movements  are  conflicting  and  unreliable.  He  says 
he  reached  the  "City  of  Quivira,  which  is  on  the  north  band  of  a  wide,  shallow 
river."  .Some  historians  think  the  river  mentioned  is  the  Platte,  and  the  location 
described  by  Onate  corresponds  fairly  well  to  the  ruins  found  by  the  Union  Pacific 
engineers. 

Certain  Spanish  writers  tell  of  an  expedition  that  left  Mexico  some  time 
prior  to  1650  and  established  a  settlement  on  a  large  tributary  of  the  Missouri 
River,  where  they  found  gold  mines,  stone-built  houses,  arrastres  for  reducing 
the  ore,  but  the  entire  party  was  killed  by  Indians  about  1650.  The  story  is 
probably  largely  traditional,  as  at  that  time  the  Spaniards  had  all  they  could  do 


112  HISTORY  OF  WYO-MIXG 

to  hold  their  own  in  New  Mexico,  though  in  1865  ruins  were  found  in  the 
Powder  River  Valley — foundations  of  houses  and  what  appeared  to  be  the  remains 
of  an  arrastre — that  give  color  to  the  story. 

Another  Spanish  expedition  into  the  Missouri  \'alley  was  that  of  the  so-called 
"Duke  of  Penalosa"  in  the  spring  of  1662.  Friar  Nicholas  de  Freytas,  who 
accompanied  the  expedition  as  chronicler,  says  that  at  the  end  of  three  months 
they  came  "to  a  wide  and  rapid  river,"  where  they  made  friends  with  a  large 
party  of  Indians,  who  accompanied  the  expedition  to  Ouivira.  After  a  march 
of  several  days  they  reached  another  large  river  and  saw  "a  stream  of  consider- 
able size  entering  it  from  the  north."  Along  this  tributary,  De  Freytas  says, 
could  be  seen  "a  vast  settlement  or  city,  in  the  midst  of  a  spacious  prairie.  It 
contained  thousands  of  houses,  circular  in  shape  for  the  most  part,  some  two, 
three,  and  even  four  stories  in  height,  framed  of  hard  wood  and  skilfully  thatched. 
It  extended  along  both  sides  of  this  second  river  for  more  than  two  leagues." 

Penalosa  encamped  on  the  south  side  of  the  large  river  (which  may  have 
been  the  Platte),  intending  to  cross  over  the  next  morning  and  visit  the  city. 
During  the  night  his  Indian  allies  stole  out  of  the  camp,  crossed  the  river  and 
attacked  the  city.  All  the  inhabitants  who  were  not  killed  fled  in  fright,  hence 
Penalosa  did  not  meet  a  single  occupant  of  that  fabled  province  which  had  so 
long  commanded  the  curiosity  of  the  Spanish  adventurers  of  New  Spain.  This 
13  a  rather  fanciful  story,  but  it  doubtless  served  to  increase  Penalosa's  impor- 
tance with  the  Spanish  authorities,  which  was  probably  the  chief  purpose  for 
which  it  was  invented. 

VERENDRVE 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  a  belief  existed  among  the  Euro- 
peans that  there  was  a  river  which  flowed  to  the  South  Sea,  as  the  Pacific  Ocean 
was  then  called.  This  belief  was  based  upon  reports  given  to  traders  by  Indians, 
who  said  that  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  surface  was  so  rough  that  it  was 
dangerous  to  try  to  pass  over  it  in  canoes,  while  farther  up  the  stream  were 
great  falls  and  rapids,  unsafe  for  canoes.  This  description  answers  the  Colum- 
bia, then  unknown  to  white  men.  In  the  spring  of  1 731  Pierre  Gaultier  de 
Varennes.  Sieur  de  la  \'erendrye.  received  authority  from  the  French  officials 
in  Canada  to  discover  the  river.  On  June  S.  1731,  \'erendrye,  with  his  three 
sons,  a  nephew  and  a  number  of  Canadian  voyageurs.  left  Montreal  on  his 
mission.  Not  much  can  be  learned  of  his  first  efl:'ort  to  find  the  fabled  river,  as 
the  expedition  met  with  a  war  party  of  Indians  and  a  fight  ensued  in  which 
A'erendrye's  youngest  son  and  a  number  of  the  voyageurs  were  killed,  and 
the  project  was  for  a  time  given  up. 

In  January,  1739,  after  repeated  failures,  \'erendrye  reached  the  Maiidan 
villages  on  the  Missouri  River,  near  the  present  City  of  Bismarck,  N.  D.  There 
his  interpreter  deserted  him  and  he  was  forced  to  turn  back.  With  his  two  sons, 
two  Canadians  and  an  interpreter,  he  again  visited  the  Mandan  villages,  arriving 
there  some  time  in  the  spring  of  1742.  From  the  Mandan  villages  he  pressed 
on  toward  the  West  until  he  arrived  at  the  P.lack  Hills,  where  his  interpreter 
again  deserted  him.  Trusting  to  luck,  he  went  on.  and  on  January  i,  1743.  the 
party  came  within  sight  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  somewhere  near  the  northern 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  113 

boundary'  of  Wyoming.  One  account  says  that  after  his  interpreter  deserted  him 
at  the  Black  Hills  he  found  a  friendly  Indian,  who  acted  as  guide  and  interpreter, 
while  he  explored  the  Assiniboine,  Upper  Missouri,  Yellowstone  and  Big  Horn 
rivers.  He  then  ascended  the  Shoshone  River  and  crossed  over  to  the  Wind 
River.  From  the  Indians  living  in  the  Wind  River  \'alley  he  learned  of  a  river 
farther  west,  which  flowed  in  southerly  direction  (probably  the  Green  River), 
but  the  same  Indians  warned  him  that  a  hostile  tribe  inhabited  the  country  about 
the  pass  through  the  mountains  and  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  attempt  to 
proceed  farther  in  that  direction.  Verendrye  then  retraced  his  steps  and  in  May, 
1744.  arrived  at  Montreal,  having  spent  thirteen  years  in  seeking  for  a  passage 
by  water  to  the  South  Sea. 

X'erendrye  and  his  associates  were  no  doubt  the  first  white  men  to  set  foot 
upon  the  soil  of  Wyoming.  After  his  last  expedition  no  further  efiforts  were 
made  by  the  French  to  discover  the  river.  A  few  years  later  came  the  French 
and  Indian  war.  at  the  conclusion  of  which  Canada  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  English,  who  left  the  matter  of  exploration  to  the  fur  traders. 

LEWIS   .\ND   CL.\RK 

After  \'erendrye.  no  exploring  expeditions  were  sent  into  the  Great  Northwest 
for  more  than  half  a  century.  In  the  summer  of  1803  President  Jefferson  began 
making  plans  to  send  an  expedition  up  the  Missouri  River  to  discover  its  sources, 
ascertain  the  character  of  the  country,  and  whether  a  water  route  to  the  Pacific 
coast  was  possible.  The  Treaty  of  Paris,  however,  was  not  ratified  until  the 
fall  of  that  year  and  the  expedition  was  postponed  until  the  spring  of  1804. 
Mr.  Jefferson  selected  as  leaders  of  this  expedition  Capt.  Meriwether  Lewis 
and  Capt.  William  Clark,  officers  of  the  regular  United  States  army. 

Captain  Lewis  was  born  near  Charlottesville.  \'a..  in  1774.  and  was  not  quite 
thirty  years  of  age  when  he  received  his  appointment  as  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  expedition.  He  entered  the  army  in  1795.  received  his  commission  as  cap- 
tain in  1800.  and  from  1801  to  1803  was  President  Jefferson's  private  secretary. 
In  1807  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Louisiana  Territory,  which  office  he  held 
until  his  death.  He  died  near  Nashville.  Tenn..  in  180Q,  while  on  his  way  to 
Washington. 

Clark  was  also  a  Virginian  and  a  brother  of  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark,  who 
distinguished  himself  during  the  Revolution  by  the  capture  of  the  British  posts 
in  the  Northwest.  In  1784  he  went  with  his  family  to  Kentucky  and  settled  where 
the  City  of  Louisville  now  stands.  In  1792  he  was  commissioned  lieutenant  and 
served  under  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne  in  the  campaigns  against  the  Indians  of  Ohio 
and  Indiana.  He  resigned  from  the  army  in  1796  on  account  of  his  health,  and 
settled  at  St.  Louis.  Regaining  his  health,  he  again  entered  the  army,  and  in 
1813  was  commissioned  captain.  In  1813  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Mis- 
souri Territory  and  held  the  office  until  the  state  was  admitted  in  1821.  The 
next  year  he  was  appointed  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  for  the  St.  Louis 
district  and  remained  in  that  position  until  his  death  at  St.  Louis  in  1838.  Ten 
years  before  his  death  he  founded  the  City  of  Paducah,  Kentucky. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  the  character  of  the  men  chosen  to  conduct  the  first 
official  explorations  in  the  new  purchase  of  Louisiana.     The  expedition  consisted 


1]4  HISTORY  OF  WYOMLNG 

of  nine  young  Kentuckians,  fourteen  regular  soldiers,  two  French  voyageurs  or 
boatmen,  an  Indian  interpreter,  a  hunter,  and  a  negro  servant  belonging  to  Cap- 
tain Clark.  The  equipment  embraced  a  keel-boat  fifty-five  feet  in  length,  two 
pirogues  and  two  horses,  which  were  to  be  led  along  the  bank,  to  be  used  in 
hunting  game  or  in  towing  the  keel-boat  over  rapids.  The  large  boat  was  fitted 
with  a  swivel  gun  in  the  bow,  a  large  square  sail  to  be  used  when  the  wind  was 
favorable,  and  twenty-two  oars  that  could  propel  the  boat  forward  when  there 
was  no  wind.  It  also  had  a  cabin  in  which  were  stored  the  most  valuable 
articles,  scientific  instruments,  etc. 

On  May  14,  1804,  the  little  company  left  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  River 
and  started  up  that  stream  on  their  long  journey.  As  they  went  along  they 
named  the  creeks  that  entered  the  river,  the  names  often  being  derived  from 
some  animal  killed  in  the  neighborhood,  such  as  Antelope  Creek,  Bear  Creek,  etc. 
Near  the  northeast  corner  of  Kansas  is  a  stream  which  still  bears  the  name  of 
Independence  Creek,  because  the  expedition  spent  the  Fourth  of  July  near  its 
mouth.  The  three  rivers  that  united  to  form  the  Missouri  they  named  the 
Jefferson,  Madison  and  Gallatin,  after  the  President  and  two  of  the  leading 
statesmen  of  that  period. 

At  the  Mandan  villages,  in  what  is  now  Xorth  Dakota,  Lewis  and  Clark 
employed  Toussaint  Charboneau  and  his  wife  to  accompany  the  expedition  as 
guides  and  interpreters.  Mrs.  Charboneau  was  an  Indian  woman,  a  member 
of  the  Snake  tribe,  who  had  been  captured  a  few  years  before  and  sold  to 
Charboneau,  who  married  her.  Her  Indian  name  was  Sac-a-ja-wea  (the  bird 
woman).  She  proved  an  invaluable  guide,  especially  on  the  return  trip  through 
the  Bozeman  Pass.  On  the  return  from  the  Pacific  coast  the  expedition  divided 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  one  party  under  Captain  Lewis 
descending  the  Missouri  River  and  the  other,  under  Captain  Clark,  crossing 
over  to  the  Yellowstone  and  descending  that  stream.  They  met  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Yellowstone  and  on  September  23,  1806,  about  noon,  they  arrived  at 
St.  Louis,  having  explored  the  Missouri  River  to  its  source,  crossed  over  the 
divide  and  followed  the  Columbia  River  to  the  Pacific. 

Numerous  accounts  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  have  been  published. 
The  explorers  did  not  touch  the  present  State  of  Wyoming,  but  their  report 
acquainted  the  people  of  the  United  States  with  the  nature  of  the  country  pur- 
chased from  France,  encouraged  the  organization  of  the  Missouri  and  Rocky 
Mountain  fur  companies,  and  hastened  the  day  when  white  settlements  were 
extended  west  of  the  Missouri  River. 

HANCOCK  .\ND  DIXON 

Two  Illinois  men  named  Hancock  and  Dixon  were  engaged  in  trapping  beaver 
on  the  Yellowstone  in  1804,  when  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  was  on  its 
way  to  the  coast.  Two  years  later,  as  Clark  passed  down  the  Yellowstone,  his 
party  encountered  the  two  trappers,  who  persuaded  John  Colter,  one  of  the 
private  soldiers  with  Clark,  to  join  them.  Colter  was  granted  his  discharge 
when  the  expedition  was  near  the  Mandan  villages,  and  was  supplied  with  the 
necessary  outfit  for  his  new  venture.  In  the  spring  of  1807  Colter,  and  possibly 
one  or  both  of  his  companions,  passed  through  the  Prv'or  Gap  of  the  Big  Horn 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  115 

Mountains  to  Clark's  Fort ;  thence  by  way  of  the  Stinking  Water  Pass  to  the 
Yellowstone;  thence  to  the  headwaters  of  Green  River;  back  to  the  head  of 
the  Wind  River,  which  he  mistook  for  the  Big  Horn,  and  finally  found  his  way 
back  to  the  camp  of  the  previous  winter.  An  account  of  Colter's  wanderings 
is  given  in  the  chapter  on  the  Yellowstone  National  Park. 

LIEUTENANT  PIKE 

On  August  9,  1805,  Lieut.  Zebulon  M.  Pike  left  St.  Louis  for  the  purpose 
of  ascending  the  Mississippi  River  to  its  source  and  holding  councils  with  the 
Indian  tribes  that  dwelt  upon  its  banks.  He  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  April,  1806, 
and  soon  afterward  was  commissioned  to  lead  an  expedition  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain  country  south  of  where  Lewis  and  Clark  crossed  over  to  the  western 
slope. 

With  twenty  men  he  passed  westward  through  what  is  now  the  states  of 
Kansas  and  Colorado,  and  discovered  the  lofty  peak  near  Colorado  Springs 
that  bears  his  name.  It  was  Pike's  intention  to  descend  the  Arkansas  River,  cross 
over  to  the  Red  River  and  go  down  that  stream  to  the  Mississippi,  but  he  made 
a  mistake,  struck  the  Rio  del  Norte  instead  of  the  Red  River  and  got  into  Spanish 
territory.  He  and  his  men  were  arrested  and  taken  to  Mexico.  His  men  were 
not  disarmed  and  Pike  saved  most  of  his  notes  by  concealing  them  in  the  barrels 
of  the  guns.  When  he  explained  his  error  to  the  Spanish  authorities,  the  expedi- 
tion was  escorted  to  Natchitoches,  on  the  Red  River,  where  all  were  released. 
Pike's  report  of  his  expedition,  although  part  of  his  notes  were  confiscated  by 
the  Spanish,  gave  the  country  the  first  official  information  regarding  the  south- 
western portion  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 

EZEKIEL  WILLl.AMS 

As  Lewis  and  Clark  were  returning  to  St.  Louis  in  1806,  they  induced  one 
of  the  Mandan  chiefs  to  accompany  them  to  that  city  and  from  there  to  Wash- 
ington. In  1807  Ezekiel  Williams  was  employed  by  the  Government  to  escort 
the  chief  back  to  his  tribe.  Williams  took  with  him  twenty  men,  and  after  the 
chief  had  been  safely  conducted  to  the  Mandan  villages  on  the  Missouri  River, 
he  went  on  up  the  river  to  the  Blackfoot  country  to  hunt  and  trap.  The  men 
were  divided  into  two  parties  of  ten  men  each.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow- 
stone one  party  was  attacked  by  the  Blackfeet  and  five  were  killed.  The  five 
survivors  then  joined  the  other  party  and  the  fifteen  turned  southward  to  the 
country  inhabited  by  the  Crow  Indians. 

One  of  the  party,  a  man  named  Rose,  remained  with  the  Crows,  and  Williams 
and  the  others  went  on  toward  the  southwest,  aiming  to  get  to  California  by 
way  of  the  South  Pass.  On  the  headwaters  of  the  North  Platte  they  were 
attacked  by  a  Crow  war  party  and  lost  five  men.  The  remaining  nine  cached 
the  furs  and  went  on  to  the  South  Platte.  One  by  one  they  were  cut  off  by  the 
Comanche  bands  wandering  over  the  plains,  until  only  Williams,  James  Work- 
man and  Samuel  Spencer  were  left.  After  many  difficulties  they  reached  the 
Arkansas  River  and  passed  down  that  stream  into  Kansas.  In  1809  Williams 
returned  with  a  party  to  the  upper  Platte  and  got  the  furs  cached  two  years 


lib  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

before,  but  tbey  were  in  such  a  condition  that  they  hardly  repaid  the  expenses 
of  the  trip. 

long's  expedition 

On  .May  3,  1819,  the  steamboat  Western  Engineer  left  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  carry- 
ing Maj.  Stephen  H.  Long  and  his  party  of  topographical  engineers,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascending  the  Missouri  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone.  On 
September  15,  1819,  the  Western  Engineer  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  River, 
being  the  first  steamboat  to  ascend  the  Missouri  to  that  point.  Long  tied  up  at 
Fort  Lisa,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  City  of  Omaha,  where  he  spent  the 
winter.  In  the  summer  of  1820  he  explored  the  Platte  River  as  far  as  the 
junction  of  the  North  and  South  forks,  but  did  not  reach  Wyoming.  His  expe- 
dition demonstrated  that  the  Missouri  River  was  navigable  for  boats  of  light 
draft,  a  knowledge  that  had  a  great  influence  upon  the  fur  trade  during  the  next 
few  years  and  upon  the  ultimate  settlement  of  the  \\'est. 

NATH.XNIEL  J.  WYETH 

Nathaniel  J.  W'yeth  was  born  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  January  29,  1802.  His 
father,  Jacob  Wyeth,  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard.  Nathaniel  was  fitted  for  col- 
'ege.  after  which  he  was  engaged  in  various  occupations  until  he  was  about 
thirty  years  old.  After  the  failure  of  Astor's  enterprise  on  the  Columbia,  Hall 
J.  Kelley,  a  Boston  schoolmaster,  wrote  a  number  of  articles  concerning  Oregon. 
Many  of  the  statements  contained  in  these  articles  were  incorrect,  but  they 
caused  young  Wyeth  to  become  interested  in  the  Great  West  and  he  read  every- 
thing on  that  subject  that  he  could  find.  In  the  winter  of  1831-32  he  undertook 
to  organize  an  expedition  of  fifty  men  to  engage  in  the  fur  trade,  and  made  the 
following  announcement : 

"Our  company  is  to  last  for  five  years.  The  profits  are  to  be  divided  in  such 
a  manner  that  if  the  number  concerned  is  fifty,  and  the  whole  net  profits  are 
divided  into  that  number  of  parts,  I  should  have  eight  parts,  the  surgeon  two, 
and  the  remaining  forty  parts  should  be  divided  among  the  forty-eight  persons."' 

L'nder  this  arrangement  Wyeth  was  to  furnish  all  the  necessary  capital.  On 
March  i,  1832,  the  company  of  twenty  men  left  Boston  and  at  St.  Louis  met 
Sublette,  McKenzie  and  other  veterans  of  the  fur  trade.  Says  Chittenden  :  "With 
his  perfect  knowledge  of  conditions  in  the  mountains,  Sublette  saw  that  he  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  this  new  company  and  might  very  likely  draw  all  the  men 
aiid  the  outfit  into  his  own  business  before  he  got  through  with  them.  He  there- 
fore lent  them  a  ready  hand,  set  them  on  their  feet,  and  ofl^ered  them  the  protection 
of  his  own  party  as  far  as  he  should  go.'" 

Under  Sublette's  guidance  the  two  parties  left  Independence  on  ]\Iay  12. 
1832,  and  on  the  8th  of  July  arrived  at  Pierre's  Hole,  the  annual  rendezvous  of 
the  traders.  Here  eleven  of  Wyeth's  men  decided  to  return  east,  and  later 
two  others  withdrew,  reducing  the  number  of  the  party  to  eleven.  With  this 
little  handful  Wyeth  went  on  to  Oregon.  I'pon  reaching  the  coast  he  learned 
that  the  vessel  laden  with  supplies,  which  he  had  sent  from  Boston  around  Cape 
Horn,  had  been  wrecked  on  a  reef  while  coming  northward  in  the  Pacific.     The 


HISTORY  OF  WYOAIING  117 

trading  post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at  X'ancouver  gave  the  wanderers 
a  cordial  welcome  and  provided  them  with  supplies  for  the  return  journey. 

wyeth's  second  expedition 

In  1833,  while  on  his  way  east,  Wyeth  made  a  contract  with  Mihon  G. 
Sublette  and  his  associates  to  bring  out  to  them  their  supplies  in  1834.  He  then 
went  back  to  Boston,  where  he  organized  the  "Columbia  River  Fishing  and 
Trading  Company."  Early  in  the  year  1834  another  vessel  left  Boston  for  Ore- 
gon, and  on  the  7th  of  March  Wyeth  left  St.  Louis  on  his  second  trip  to  the 
Rocky  Mountain  country.  He  was  accompanied  on  this  expedition  by  the  nat- 
uralist, John  K.  Townsend,  who  afterward  wrote  an  account  of  the  journey 
across  the  plains. 

On  May  18,  1834,  the  expedition  reached  the  Platte  River  and  on  June  ist 
was  at  the  Laramie  Fork.  On  the  19th  Wyeth  encamped  on  the  Green  River 
and  spent  the  balance  of  that  month  in  exploring  the  Green  River  \'alley.  On 
July  4th  he  left  Ham's  Fork  and  crossed  over  to  the  Bear  River,  which  stream 
he  descended  for  four  days,  encamping  on  the  8th  at  a  place  called  the  "White 
Clay  Pits."  On  the  nth  the  expedition  encamped  near  the  Three  Tetons,  and 
on  the  14th  began  the  construction  of  Fort  Hall.  The  old  Fort  Hall,  built  by 
Wyeth,  was  named  for  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  that  furnished  him  the 
money  to  equip  his  second  expedition.  It  was  located  about  forty  miles  south- 
west of  the  Government  post  called  Fort  Hall,  which  was  established  in  1870. 
When  Wyeth  left  Ham's  Fork  he  passed  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  present 
State  of  Wyoming  and  his  subsequent  movements  have  no  bearing  upon  the 
state's   history. 

C.XPTAIN    BONNEXILLE 

Contemporary  with  Wyeth  was  Capt.  Benjamin  L.  E.  Bonneville,  who  spent 
some  time  in  the  Northwest  and  explored  a  large  part  of  the  country  included 
in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Wyoming.  Captain  Bonneville  was  born  in  France 
in  1796.  His  father  was  a  printer,  who,  during  the  American  Revolution,  printed 
and  circulated  a  number  of  pamphlets  that  awakened  sympathy  for  the  colonists 
in  their  struggle  against  British  oppression,  and  he  was  a  member  of  a  republican 
club  in  Paris  organized  by  Thomas  Paine.  After  the  French  Revolution  he 
printed  something  that  was  displeasing  to  Napoleon,  who  ordered  him  to  be 
imprisoned.  His  wife  and  son  were  then  brought  to  this  country  by  Thomas 
Paine,  who  secured  for  the  boy  an  appointment  to  West  Point  as  soon  as  he 
was  old  enough  to  enter  that  institution.  In  the  meantime  the  father  had  been 
released  from  prison,  but  was  forbidden  to  leave  France.  He  managed  to  make 
his  escape,  however,  and  joined  his  family  in  America.  Young  Bonneville  grad- 
uated at  West  Point  in  1819  and  entered  the  army.  When  Lafayette  visited  this 
country  in  1824  he  made  inquiries  about  the  Bonneville  family,  and  Lieutenant 
Bonneville  was  assigned  his  escort.  He  then  returned  with  Lafayette  to  France 
for  a  visit.  Upon  coming  back  to  America  he  was  commissioned  captain  in  the 
Seventh  New  York  Infantry. 

In  1831,  having  become  interested  in  the  West,  he  asked  for  leave  of  absence, 


118  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

which  was  granted,  his  leave  to  extend  to  October,  1833,  and  he  was  instructed 
by  Maj.-Gen.  Alexander  Macomb  to  provide  suitable  instruments,  the  best  maps 
of  the  country  he  could  obtain,  and  to  make  report  as  to  the  number  of  Indians 
in  each  tribe  he  visited,  their  manner  of  making  war,  etc. 

Although  Bonneville  s  object  in  asking  for  a  leave  of  absence  was  to  engage 
in  the  fur  trade.  General  Macomb's  order  made  him  more  of  an  explorer  than 
a  fur  trader.  On  May  i,  1832,  with  no  men,  he  left  Fort  Osage  on  the  Mis- 
souri River,  taking  with  him  twenty  wagons  laden  with  provisions,  ammunition 
and  goods  for  the  Indian  trade.  His  destination  was  Pierre's  Hole,  the  rendez- 
vous of  the  fur  traders.  On  the  26th  of  the  same  month  he  encamped  on  the 
Laramie  River.  The  next  six  weeks  were  spent  in  examining  the  country  along 
the  North  Platte  and  Sweetwater  rivers,  and  on  July  20th  he  came  in  sight  of 
the  Wind  River  Mountains.  Here  he  met  Lucien  Fontenelle  with  a  party  of 
American  Fur  Company  trappers  and  went  with  him  through  the  South  Pass 
to  the  Green  River.    His  wagons  were  the  first  to  go  through  the  South  Pass. 

While  on  the  Green  River  an  incident  occurred  that  caused  an  estrangement 
between  Bonneville  and  Fontenelle.  From  the  Osage  Mission  Bonneville  had 
obtained  several  Delaware  Indians  as  hunters.  Fontenelle  saw  that  these  Indians 
were  skilful  in  bringing  in  game  and  lured  them  away  from  their  employer  by 
offering  them  better  wages.  Bonneville  knew  that  Fontenelle  was  waiting  for 
a  party  of  free  trappers  to  join  his  party,  and  intercepted  them.  He  then  opened 
a  keg  of  whisky,  treated  the  trappers  to  a  banquet,  and  persuaded  them  to  join 
his  expedition  instead  of  going  on  to  Fontenelle's  camp. 

About  five  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Horse  Creek,  in  what  is  now  the  eastern 
part  of  Lincoln  County,  Wyoming,  in  the  fall  of  1832,  he  built  Fort  Bonneville. 
Trappers  called  this  fort  "Bonneville's  Folly"  and  "Fort  Nonsense."  W.  A. 
Ferris,  in  his  "Life  in  the  Rocky  Mountains."  gives  the  following  description 
of  the   fort : 

"It  is  situated  in  a  fine  open  plain,  on  a  rising  spot  of  ground,  about  three 
hundred  yards  from  Green  River,  on  the  west  side,  commanding  a  view  of  the 
plains  for  several  miles  up  and  down  that  stream.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
fort,  about  two  miles  distant,  there  is  a  fine  willowed  creek,  called  Horse  Creek, 
flowing  parallel  to  Green  River  and  emptying  into  it  about  five  miles  below  the 
fortification.  The  fort  presents  a  square  enclosure,  surrounded  by  posts  or  pickets 
of  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter,  firmly  set  in  the  ground  close  to  each  other,  and 
about  fifteen  feet  in  length.  .\t  two  of  the  corners,  diagonally  opposite  to  each 
other,  blockhouses  of  unhewn  logs  are  so  constructed  and  situated  as  to  defend 
the  square  outside  of  the  pickets  and  hinder  the  approach  of  an  enemy  from 
any  quarter.  The  prairie  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  is  covered  with  fine  grass 
and  the  whole  together  seems  well  calculated  for  the  security  of  both  men  and 
horses." 

It  was  not  long  until  it  became  apparent  that  the  trappers  had  good  grounds 
for  calling  the  place  "Fort  Nonsense."  They  were  *o  doubt  better  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  the  Indians  in  that  section  than  was  Captain  Bonneville. 
The  hostility  of  the  tribes  near  the  fort  compelled,  him  to  evacuate  it  almost  as 
soon  as  it  was  completed,  and  he  went  over  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Salmoij 
River,  where  he  established  his  winter  quarters.  ^ 

Captain  Bonneville  spent  nearly  three  years  in  the  mountains.     Most^of  tha# 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  119 

time  he  was  on  the  move,  making  maps  and  notes,  trying  to  carry  out  the  instruc- 
tions given  him  by  General  Macomb.  When  he  went  to  Washington  to  make 
his  report,  he  was  informed  by  General  Macomb  that,  as  he  had  greatly  over- 
staid  his  leave  of  absence,  it  had  been  taken  for  granted  that  he  was  dead  and 
his  name  had  been  dropped  from  the  rolls  of  the  army.  He  then  appealed  to 
President  Andrew  Jackson,  who  ordered  him  to  be  reinstated  with  his  original 
rank  of  captain,  but  the  war  department  refused  to  accept  and  publish  his  report. 
He  then  began  the  work  of  rewriting  his  report,  with  a  view  of  publishing  it 
himself.  While  engaged  in  this  work  he  met  Washington  Irving,  to  whom  he 
submitted  his  manuscript,  and  gave  Mr.  Irving  the  privilege  of  publishing  it  in 
such  manner  as  he  might  deem  most  advisable.  The  result  was  Irving's  volume 
giving  an  account  of  Bonneville's  adventures.  In  February,  1855,  Captain  Bonne- 
ville was  made  colonel  of  the  Third  United  States  Infantry.  He  remained 
in  the  army  until  September  9,  1861,  when  he  was  retired,  and  died  at  FQrt 
Smith,  Ark.,  June  12,  1878. 

FATHER  DE  SMET 

Early  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  Jesuit  missionaries  were  among  the  Indian 
tribes  inhabiting  the  country  about  the  Great  Lakes.  As  the  traders  and  settlers 
pushed  their  way  farther  westward  these  missionaries  always  formed  part  of 
the  advance  guard,  far  into  the  Nineteenth  Century.  Pierre  Jean  de  Smet  was 
born  in  Belgium  on  the  last  day  of  January,  1801.  He  came  to  America  in 
boyhood,  joined  the  Jesuit  Society  at  an  early  age,  and  was  sent  as  a  missionary 
to  the  tribes  living  along  the  Missouri  River,  in  what  are  now  the  states  of 
Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa  and  Nebraska.  His  labors  on  the  frontier  so  impaired 
his  health  that  when  he  was  about  thirty  years  old  he  returned  to  his  native  land. 

In  1837  he  came  back  to  America  and  soon  afterward  was  appointed  as  mis- 
sionary to  the  Flathead  Indians.  On  April  5,  1840,  he  left  St.  Louis  with  an 
American  Fur  Company  party  bound  for  the  Northwest.  This  party  reached 
the  Green  River  on  June  30,  1840,  and  on  the  following  Sunday  (July  5th) 
Father  De  Smet  celebrated  the  first  mass  ever  observed  in  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Wyoming,  his  audience  being  a  motley  crowd  of  trappers  and  Indians 
gathered  at  the  rendezvous,  the  improvised  altar  being  decorated  with  the  wild 
flowers  of  the  prairie.  The  place  where  this  mass  was  celebrated  was  for  a 
long  time  known  as  "The  Prairie  of  the  Mass." 

The  next  day,  with  an  Indian  called  Ignace  as  guide.  Father  De  Smet  set 
out  for  the  Flathead  country.  He  met  the  main  body  of  the  tribe  at  Pierre's 
Hole  and  shook  hands  with  the  Indians,  after  which  Chief  Big  Face  addressed 
the  priest  thus: 

"Black  Robe,  my  heart  was  glad  when  I  heard  that  you  were  coming  among 
us.  Never  has  my  lodge  seen  a  greater  day.  As  soon  as  I  received  the  news  of 
your  coming  I  had  my.big  kettle  filled  to  give  you  a  feast  in  the  midst  of  my 
people.  I  have  had  my  best  three  dogs  killed  for  the  feast.  They  are  very  fat. 
You  are  welcome.'' 

After  some  time  amoiig  the  Flathead  Indians,  Father  De  Smet  went  to  the 
»Blackfeet  and  established  missions  in  what  is  now  Montana.  He  then  visite^d 
the  Crow  tribe,  but  their  chief  was  rather  skeptical  and  determined  to  put  the 


120  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

missionary  to  a  test.  Pointing  out  an  old  buffalo  bull  near  the  encampment,  the 
chief  asked  Father  De  Smet  to  go  out  and  put  his  hand  on  the  buffalo's  head. 
Here  was  a  dilemma.  The  priest  realized  the  danger  of  approaching  a  wild 
buffalo,  but  at  the  same  time  he  knew  that  if  he  refused  he  would  be  looked 
upon  by  the  Indians  as  an  impostor.  Slowly  he  approached  the  bull,  who  raised 
his  head  and  gazed  with  astonishment  at  the  intruder.  Upon  his  breast  the  mis- 
sionary wore  a  golden  crucifix,  which  seemed  to  exert  some  sort  of  hypnotic 
power  upon  the  beast,  and  as  his  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  glittering  emblem, 
Father  De  Smet  came  nearer,  finally  laying  his  hand  upon  the  bull's  head.  He 
then  returned  to  the  Indians,  who  had  been  intently  watching  his  movements. 
The  chief  grasped  him  by  the  hand  and  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  sent 
by  the  Great  Spirit. 

Father  De  Smet  remained  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  for  several 
years.  On  horseback  he  traveled  over  Montana,  Wyoming,  Idaho.  Oregon. 
Washington  and  that  part  of  the  Dakotas  west  of  the  Missouri,  and  it  has  been 
said  he  "knew  every  foot  of  the  country.''  In  1842  he  made  a  trip  to  Europe 
to  solicit  aid  for  his  Indian  missions.  He  came  back  in  1842,  accompanied  by 
one  Belgian  and  two  Italian  priests  and  some  sisters  of  Notre  Dame  as  teachers 
of  the  Indian  children.  A  little  later  he  was  taken  from  his  labors  among  the 
red  men  and  sent  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  wrote  a  number  of  interesting  letters 
regarding  his  travels  and  missionary  work.  In  1868  he  visited  the  mountains 
and  spent  several  days  at  Cheyenne.  He  discovered  and  named  Lake  De  Smet, 
in  the  northern  part  of  Johnson  County,  and  it  is  said  that  he  was  the  first  white 
man  to  find  gold  in  Wyoming. 

JOHN  C.  FREMONT 

John  Charles  Fremont  was  born  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  January  21.  1813. 
In  1818  his  father  died  and  his  mother  removed  to  Virginia,  where  he  was 
educated.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  began  studying  for  the  ministry,  but 
being  of  a  mathematical  turn  of  mind,  became  a  surveyor  instead.  In  the  spring 
of  1833  he  was  appointed  teacher  of  mathematics  on  the  sloop  of  war  Natchez, 
and  in  July  of  the  same  year  was  commissioned  second  lieutenant  in  the  topo- 
graphical engineers.  In  1837  he  was  employed  on  the  survey  of  a  railroad 
from  Charleston  to  Cincinnati,  and  in  1840  he  was  on  the  geological  survey  of 
the  Northwest.  He  then  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  on  October  19,  1841,  he 
married  Jessie,  daughter  of  Thomas  H.  Benton,  one  of  the  L^nited  States  senators 
from  Missouri. 

Senator  Benton  was  not  altogether  friendly  to  the  marriage  of  his  daughter 
with  a  young  lieutenant,  but  when  in  1842  the  Government  decided  to  send  an 
expedition  to  the  Rocky  Alountains.  he  secured  the  command  of  the  expedition 
for  his  son-in-law  "over  the  heads  of  all  his  superior  officers  of  the  engineer 
corps."  The  principal  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  select  sites  for  a  line  of 
military  posts  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  the  pur- 
pose of  which  was  two-fold :  First,  to  protect  the  fur  traders  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  English  fur  companies,  and  second,  to  encourage  immigration  to 
and  settlement  of  the  Pacific  slope  by  protecting  emigrant  trains  from  Indian 
attacks. 


HISTORY  OF  \VYOML\G  121 

Fremont  organized  his  expedition  at  Chouteau's  trading  post  on  the  Kansas 
River,  six  miles  above  its  mouth.  He  left  there  on  June  lO,  1842,  with  twenty- 
two  men,  and  Kit  Carson  as  guide.  Carson  at  that  time  was  thirty-three  years 
of  age  and  had  lived  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the  West.  His  home  was 
then  at  Taos,  N.  M.  He  was  of  slender  build,  but  possessed  greater  physical 
strength  than  many  men  who  were  his  superiors  in  height  and  weight.  His 
courage  was  proverbial  and  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  country  through 
which  the  expedition  was  to  pass.  Ruxton  calls  him  "the  paragon  of  moun- 
taineers." 

Accompanying  the  expedition  were  Henry  Brant,  a  youth  of  nineteen  years 
and  a  son  of  Col.  J.  B.  Brant  of  St.  Louis,  and  Randolph  Benton,  Fremont's 
twelve-year-old  brother-in-law.  Fremont  first  went  to  St.  \' rain's  Fort  on  the 
South  Platte,  not  far  from  the  present  Town  of  Greeley,  Colorado,  arriving  there 
on  the  afternoon  of  July  loth,  just  a  month  after  leaving  Chouteau's  post  on 
the  Kansas.  From  St.  Wain's  he  followed  the  mountains  in  a  northwesterly 
direction  and  on  the  13th  arrived  at  old  Fort  Laramie.  Two  days  later  the 
expedition  was  at  Fort  Platte,  the  trading  post  of  Sabille,  Adams  &  Company, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Platte  and  Laramie  rivers.  On  the  28th  he  came  to  the 
place  where  the  trail  is  crossed  by  the  Platte  River  and  on  the  30th  he  came  to 
the  Sweetwater.  Moving  up  the  Sweetwater  Valley,  he  passed  Independence 
Rock  and  Devil's  Gate,  and  on  August  8th  reached  the  South  Pass.  On  the  15th 
he  unfurled  the  Stars  and  Stripes  from  the  top  of  the  most  lofty  peak  of  the 
Wind  River  range  (  13,570  feet)  which  mountain  he  christened  "Fremont's  Peak.'' 
Concerning  this  achievement,  Bancroft  says  : 

"Considering  that  the  Government  paid  all  the  costs,  and  that  he  had  an 
experienced  mountain  man.  Kit  Carson,  for  a  guide,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  eternal  mountains  might  be  put  to  nobler  use  than  to  perpetuate  such  achieve- 
ments." 

This  was  the  farthest  point  west  reached  by  the  expedition.  Soon  after  naming 
Fremont's  Peak,  the  explorer  started  upon  the  return  trip.  He  arrived  at  St. 
Louis  on  October  17,  1842,  and  after  a  short  stay  there  went  on  to  Washington, 
where  he  made  a  report  of  his  explorations  and  received  authority  to  conduct 
another  expedition  to  the  mountains  the  following  year. 

THE  SECOND  EXPEDITION 

Fremont  decided  upon  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  as  the  rendezvous  and  starting 
point  of  his  second  expedition  and  sent  word  to  a  number  of  the  men  who  were 
with  him  in  1842  to  meet  him  there  in  May.  In  making  his  preparations  early 
in  the  year  1843,  he  obtained  from  the  arsenal  at  St.  Louis  a  twelve-pounder 
howitzer  and  a  quantity  of  ammunition.  This  came  very  near  getting  him  into 
trouble.  After  he  had  left  St.  Louis  a  letter  came  from  Washington  sum- 
moning him  to  that  city  to  explain,  as  the  expedition  was  "to  be  scientific  rather 
than  military."  ]\Irs.  Fremont  did  not  forward  the  letter  containing  the  order, 
but  instead  wrote  to  her  husband  to  lose  no  time  in  starting  on  his  expedition. 

On  May  29,  1843,  he  left  Kansas  City  with  thirty-three  men,  several  of 
whom  had  been  with  him  the  preceding  year.  Kit  Carson  was  again  his  guide, 
and  the  naturalist,  John  K.  Townsend,  accompanied  the  expedition.     Following 


122  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  route  of  1842,  Fremont  reached  St.  Vrain's  Fort  in  time  to  celebrate  the 
Fourth  of  July  there.  Some  three  weeks  were  then  spent  in  Colorado,  exploring 
the  country.  On  the  26th  the  men  were  divided  into  two  companies.  Fremont, 
with  thirteen  men,  moved  directly  to  the  Big  Laramie  River,  and  Thomas  Fitz- 
patrick,  with  the  remainder  of  the  expedition,  was  to  go  by  way  of  Fort  Laramie, 
the  Sweetwater  and  South  Pass  to  Fort  Hall. 

On  August  I,  1843,  Fremont  arrived  at  the  Medicine  Bow  Mountains  and 
encamped  on  the  Medicine  Bow  River.  He  then  moved  toward  the  North  Platte 
River,  up  the  Sweetwater  Valley  to  South  Pass,  where  in  his  report  he  says 
he  met  on  August  4th  "a  war  party  of  Arapaho  and  Cheyenne  Indians,  who  had 
surprised  one  of  the  Shoshone  villages  at  Bridger's  Fort  on  Ham's  fork  on  Green 
River."  From  the  South  Pass  he  followed  "the  emigrant  road  to  Oregon,"  until 
he  struck  Green  River,  where  he  despatched  Kit  Carson  to  Fort  Hall  to  make 
arrangements  for  a  supply  of  provisions.  From  the  Green  River  to  the  Bear 
River  he  followed  the  route  taken  by  Ezekiel  Williams  in  1807  until  he  arrived 
at  Salt  Lake. 

Turning  his  course  northward  again,  he  met  Fitzpatrick's  party  at  Fort  Hall 
on  September  19,  1843,  and  on  the  22d  the  entire  party  left  that  post  for  Oregon. 
They  struck  the  Columbia  River  and  followed  that  stream  almost  to  the  mouth. 
when  they  turned  southward  and  on  March  8,  1844,  arrived  at  Sutter's  fort 
on  the  Sacramento  River.  There  Fremont  obtained  some  much  needed  supplies 
and  after  a  brief  rest  resumed  his  journey.  He  arrived  at  St.  Louis  on  August 
6,  1844,  having  been  gone  for  a  little  more  than  fourteen  months.  Nothing  had 
been  heard  from  him  for  some  time  prior  to  his  return,  and  the  secretary  of  war 
offered  to  send  a  company  of  dragoons  in  search  of  him,  but  Mrs.  Fremont 
declared  it  was  unnecessary,  as.  if  he  could  not  find  his  way  out  the  dragoons 
would  not  be  likely  to  find  their  way  in. 

Fremont  afterward  conducted  two  expeditions  to  the  Pacific  coast,  but  as 
neither  of  them  touched  Wyoming  they  form  no  part  of  the  state's  history. 
Through  his  explorations  he  acquired  the  sobriqttet  of  the  "Pathfinder." 

CAPT.MX  STANSDURV 

In  1849  Capt.  Howard  Stansbury  was  commissioned  by  the  L'uited  States  Gov- 
ernment to  explore  the  Great  Salt  Lake  \'alley  and  make  a  report  on  its  topography, 
etc.  After  performing  that  duty  he  was  to  make  a  reconnaissance  for  a  railroad 
route  from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Fort  Bridger,  and  from  Fort  Bridger  eastward  to 
some  point  in  the  Platte  Valley  near  Fort  Laramie.  When  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  was  built  some  years  later,  it  followed  in  general  the  route  suggested 
by  Captain  Stansbury,  but  passes  over  the  south  end  of  the  Laramie  Mountains 
instead  of  going  through  Cheyenne  Pass  as  he  recommended. 

At  the  time  of  Captain  Stansbury's  explorations  in  Wyoming  the  California 
gold  fever  was  at  its  height,  and  in  his  report  he  gives  considerable  attention  to 
the  companies  of  gold  hunters  that  he  saw  crossing  the  plains.  The  first  mention 
of  the  Wyoming  coal  beds  may  be  found  in  his  report,  coal  being  the  only  mineral 
mentioned. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  123 

warren's  expedition 

Lieut.  G.  K.  Warren  of  the  United  States  topographical  engineers,  afterward 
a  general  in  the  Union  army  in  the  Civil  war,  made  an  exploration  of  Wyoming 
from  Fort  Laramie  to  the  western  slope  of  the  Black  Hills  in  1857.  At  the  Black 
Hills  he  was  stopped  by  the  Sioux  Indians.  His  report  deals  largely  with  the 
geology  of  the  section  through  which  he  passed,  particularly  the  deposits  of 
building  stone.  He  was  probably  the  first  man  to  advance  the  theory  that  the 
valleys  of  Northeastern  Wyoming  could  be  made  profitable  for  farming  purposes 
by  irrigation.  His  report  also  states  that  he  found  gold  in  paying  quantities  in 
places. 

CAPTAIN    RAYNOLDS 

In  July,  1859,  under  orders  from  the  war  department,  Capt.  W.  F.  Raynolds 
left  Fort  Pierre  on  the  Missouri  River  to  explore  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Black  Hills.  In  the  party  were  the  following  scientists :  Lieut.  H.  E.  May- 
nadier  and  J.  H.  Snowden,  topographers;  J.  D.  Hutton,  topographer  and  artist; 
H.  C.  Fillebrown,  meteorologist  and  astronomer ;  Antoine  Schonbarn,  meteorolo- 
gist and  draftsman ;  F.  V.  Hayden,  geologist ;  Dr.  F.  E.  Hayden,  surgeon ;  M.  C. 
Hines,  assistant  surgeon.    The  escort  was  commanded  by  Capt.  John  Mullan. 

After  exploring  and  making  maps  of  the  Black  Hills  region,  the  party  pushed 
on  westward  and  explored  the  valleys  of  the  Powder  and  Big  Horn  rivers.  The 
winter  was  passed  on  the  Platte  River  and  the  next  spring  Captain  Raynolds 
submitted  his  report,  in  which  he  refers  to  Jim  Bridger  as  guide  and  gives  an 
extended  account  of  the  geology  of  the  country.  He  states  that  gold  was  found 
in  several  places,  but  as  the  escort  was  composed  chiefly  of  adventurers  the  matter 
was  kept  secret  for  fear  they  would  desert.  In  his  report  he  also  gives  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  "Portuguese  Houses"  quoted  in  another  chapter. 

Through  the  reports  of  the  explorers  above  mentioned,  the  people  living  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River  obtained  a  better  idea  of  the  character  of  the  western 
country  than  they  had  before  entertained,  as  the  earliest  maps  designated  prac- 
tically all  the  region  west  of  the  Missouri  as  the  "Great  American  Desert."  The 
success  of  the  Mormons  in  the  Salt  Lake  Valley,  with  the  opinions  of  Warren  and 
others  that  farms  could  be  profitably  cultivated  in  the  valleys  of  the  western 
rivers,  taught  many  that  the  "Great  American  Desert"  was  largely  a  myth  and 
hastened  the  day  of  settlement. 


CHAPTER  ]X 
MORMONS  AND  ARGONAUTS 

ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY    OF   THE    MORMON    CHURCH EARLY    MORMON    COLONIES OP- 
POSITION— THE    JIORMON    BATTALION — WINTER    QUARTERS THE   EMIGRATION 

THE   SCARE   OF    1857-58 JOHNSON's    EXPEDITION WESTWARD    HO — THE    ARGO- 
NAUTS  DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD  IN  CALIFORNIA THE  EXCITEMENT THE  OVERLAND 

ROUTE — SUCCESS   AND   FAILURE SUTTER  AND   MARSHALL. 

The  story  of  the  Mormon  emigration  westward  is  intimately  interwo\en  with 
the  history  of  the  State  of  Wyoming.  That  event  is  more  closely  related  to  the 
settlement  of  the  country  than  was  the  emigration  to  Oregon  or  California  for  the 
reason  that  quite  a  number  of  the  Mormons  stopped  at  various  places  on  the 
way  westward  and  became  permanent  settlers.  In  connection  with  the  story  of 
this  emigration,  although  not  an  essential  part  of  Wyoming's  history,  it  may  be  of 
interest  to  the  reader  to  know  something  in  general  of  this  peculiar  sect. 

The  Mormon  Church,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  the  "Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  the  Latter  Day  Saints,"'  was  founded  by  Joseph  Smith  in  1830.  Smith  was 
born  at  Sharon,  Vt.,  in  December,  1805.  His  mother  took  a  deep  interest 
in  religious  matters,  though  at  times  she  was  somewhat  visionary.  It  is  said 
that  she  predicted  soon  after  her  marriage  that  a  prophet  would  come  out  of  her 
family.  When  Joseph  was  about  ten  years  of  age  the  family  removed  to  Palmyra. 
N.  Y.,  where  he  acquired  the  merest  rudiments  of  an  education — all  the 
schooling  he  ever  received.  In  the  spring  of  1820  a  series  of  religious  meetings 
were  held  in  Palmyra.  Toward  the  close  of  the  revival,  Joseph,  who  had  inherited 
from  his  mother  a  fondness  for  all  subjects  of  a  supernatural  nature,  announced 
that  he  had  seen  a  vision,  in  which  two  personages  appeared  above  him  in  the  air. 
■'They  told  me,"  said  he,  "to  join  no  denomination,  for  all  their  creeds  are  an 
abomination  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.'' 

His  second  vision  came  to  him  on  September  21,  1823,  about  three  months 
before  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  In  this  vision,  according  to  his  account,  an 
angel  appeared  to  him  and  revealed  the  hiding  place  of  the  golden  plates  upon 
which  was  recorded  the  history  of  the  ancient  peoples  of  America.  The  next  day, 
guided  by  the  angel,  he  went  to  the  hill  of  Cumorrah,  near  Manchester,  N.  Y., 
and  saw  the  plates,  but  the  angel  would  not  let  him  take  them  away.  Each 
year  thereafter  for  three  years,  on  the  22d  of  September,  he  visited  the  place 
and  saw  the  plates,  but  each  time  the  angel  told  him  that  the  time  for  their  re- 
moval had  not  yet  come.  On  September  22,  1827,  he  paid  his  fourth  visit  to  the 
place  and  again  saw  the  golden  plates.  This  time  the  angel  gave  him  permission 
to  take  them  away,  .^s  they  were  written  in  a  strange  language,  he  was  endowed 
124 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  125 

with  the  supernatural  power  of  translating  them  into  English.  More,  than  two 
years  were  spent  in  this  work,  but  in  the  spring  of  1830  the  '"Book  of  Mormon" 
was  published. 

EAKLV    JUIRMON    COLONIES 

Converts  to  the  new  faith  came  in  considerable  numbers  and  a  colony  was 
founded  at  Kirtland,  Ohio.  Opposition  to  the  Mormons  soon  de\eloped  and 
Smith  had  a  "revelation"  to  go  to  Independence.  Mo.,  and  build  a  temple. 
But  the  Mormons  were  no  more  popular  in  Independence  than  they  had  been  in 
Ohio,  and  in  the  fall  of  1833  they  were  driven  out  of  the  place.  They  then  took 
refuge  in  what  is  now  Caldwell  County,  Missouri,  where  they  founded  the  Town 
of  Far  West  and  again  began  the  erection  of  a  temple.  Once  more  they  be- 
came unpopular  with  the  people  living  in  the  vicinity  and  Governor  Boggs  issued 
a  proclamation  ordering  them  to  leave  the  state.  They  were  expelled  by  force  in 
the  fall  of  1838  and  took  refuge  at  Nauvoo,  111.,  which  city  they  founded. 

Meantime  elders  of  the  church  had  been  sent  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of 
winning  converts,  and  about  the  time  the  main  body  settled  at  Nauvoo  they  were 
joined  by  eight  shiploads  of  converts  from  beyond  the  sea.  The  political  leaders  of 
Illinois  saw  that  the  Mormons  were  likely  to  become  a  power  in  public  aiifairs 
and  the  Legislature  granted  them  a  charter  for  the  Town  of  Nauvoo  "which  con- 
ferred extravagant  and  dangerous  power  upon  the  municipal  officials."  An  Iowa 
writer  says :  "Under  this  charter  Nauvoo  became  a  breeding  place  for  outlaws, 
and  probably  the  true  story  of  all  the  outrages  committed  by  these  outlaws  will 
never  be  told.  Fugitives  from  justice  sought  refuge  there,  and  if  anyone  should 
be  arrested  witnesses  could  always  be  found  to  prove  an  'alibi.'  " 

Governor  Boggs  of  Missouri  was  shot  and  seriously  wounded  in  1842,  and  the 
attempted  assassination  was  charged  against  the  Mormons  because  of  his  procla- 
mation four  years  before.  An  opposition  was  thus  started,  which  was  continued 
until  in  January,  1845,  when  the  Illinois  Legislature  revoked  the  Nauvoo  charter. 
In  the  meantime  Joseph  Smith  and  his  brother  Hyrum  had  been  arrested  and 
confined  in  the  jail  at  Carthage,  111.,  where  both  were  killed  by  a  mob  on  the 
night  of  June  27,  1844.  The  loss  of  their  prophet  and  the  continued  opposition 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Illinois  determined  the  Mormons  to  seek  a  more 
congenial  climate. 

Brigham  Young  was  chosen  as  Smith's  successor.  He  divided  the  "forces  of 
Isreal."  as  the  members  of  the  church  were  called,  into  companies  of  hundreds, 
fifties  and  tens,  and  in  the  spring  of  1846  they  began  their  emigration  westward. 
In  their  march  across  Iowa  they  moved  with  as  perfect  a  precision  as  an  army 
of  well  trained  soldiers.  By  the  middle  of  May.  2,000  wagons  and  15,000  Mormons 
were  on  their  way  to  the  Missouri  River.  It  was  a  wet.  backward  spring,  the 
roads  in  many  places  were  almost  impassable  and  they  made  slow  progress. 
Several  hundred  stopped  at  Garden  Grove  and  Mount  Pisgah,  in  Iowa,  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  a  crop.  On  the  14th  of  June  the  advance  guard,  under  the 
leadership  of  Brigham  Young,  reached  the  Missouri  River  opposite  where  the 
City  of  Omaha  now  stands  and  there  established  a  "camp  of  Israel"  until  a  ferry- 
boat could  be  built. 


126  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

THE   MORMON    BATTALION 

The  war  with  Mexico  was  then  in  progress  and  the  United  States  Government 
sent  Capt.  James  Allen  to  the  Mormon  camp  with  instructions  to  raise  a  battalion 
of  five  companies  among  the  emigrants.  The  Mormons  readily  answered  the  call 
and  the  volunteers  were  organized  by  Col.  Thomas  L.  Kane,  a  brother  of  the 
Arctic  explorer.  At  Fort  Leavenworth  each  Alomion  volunteer  received  a  bounty 
of  forty  dollars,  which  was  sent  back  to  his  family.  Colonel  Kane  taking  it  upon 
himself  to  see  that  the  money  reached  its  destination.  The  battalion  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  Col.  Stephen  W.  Kearney  and  marched  to  Santa  Fe,  thence  to 
California,  where  it  arrived  after  the  war  was  over.  Some  of  the  Mormons  then 
worked  in  the  construction  of  Sutter's  millrace  and  were  there  when  the  first 
gold  was  discovered.  Others  returned  to  their  families  which  had  been  left  in 
the  camp  on  the  Missouri  River. 

WINTER  QUARTERS 

After  the  departure  of  the  battalion,  those  who  remained  behind,  feeling 
the  loss  of  so  many  of  their  best  men,  decided  to  establish  suitable  quarters  for 
the  approaching  winter.  The  first  step  was  to  insure  the  friendship  of  the  Potta- 
watomi  and  Omaha  Indians — the  former  tribe  occupying  the  lands  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Missouri  and  the  latter  the  lands  on  the  west  side.  A  council  was  held 
with  the  Omaha,  at  which  Brigham  Young  made  known  the  wants  of  his  people. 
At  the  close  of  his  remarks,  the  chief.  Big  Elk,  replied  as  follows: 

"My  son,  thou  hast  spoken  well.  All  you  have  said  I  have  in  my  heart.  I 
have  much  to  say.  We  are  poor.  When  we  go  to  hunt  game  in  one  place  we  meet 
with  an  enemy,  and  so  in  another  place  our  enemies  kill  us.  We  do  not  kill 
them.  I  hope  we  shall  be  friends.  You  may  stay  on  these  lands  two  years  or  more. 
I  hope  we  shall  be  friends.  Our  young  men  shall  watch  your  cattle.  We  should 
be  glad  to  have  you  trade  with  us.  We  will  warn  you  of  danger  from  other 
Indians." 

Young  applauded  the  old  chief's  speech,  but  he  was  not  willing  to  accept  a  mere 
verbal  promise  for  the  possession  of  the  land.  He  drew  up  a  formal  lease  for  five 
years,  which  was  signed  by  Big  Elk  and  other  leading  Omaha  chiefs.  After  the 
council  was  over  the  Mormons  gave  a  banquet  to  the  Indians.  A  ferry  was 
then  established  across  the  Missouri  and  the  "Winter  Quarters"  were  located 
where  the  Town  of  Florence,  Neb.,  now  stands,  about  six  miles  up  the  river 
from  Omaha.  Here  the  Mormons  built  several  hundred  log  cabins,  nearly  one 
hundred  sod  houses,  and  an  octagon  council  house.  Mills  and  workshops  w^ere 
also  built  and  operated.  In  the  fall  of  1846  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  fifteen 
thousand  Mormons  encamped  in  the  Missouri  Valley  on  the  Omaha  and  Potta- 
watomi  lands.  They  had  raised  a  crop  and,  although  they  divided  the  products  of 
their  gardens  and  fields  with  their  Indian  friends,  their  industrial  activity  de- 
stroyed so  much  timber  and  drove  away  the  game-  that  the  Omaha  chiefs  com- 
plained to  their  agents.  An  investigation  showed  that  the  Indians  had  good 
grounds  for  their  complaints  and  the  Mormons  were  ordered  to  vacate  the  Omaha 
country. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  127 

THE   EMIGRATION 

On  January  14,  1847,  Brigham  Young  had  a  revelation  to  seek  a  new  location 
farther  to  the  west.  It  is  possible  that  the  order  of  the  Indian  agent  to  vacate 
the  Omaha  lands  had  something  to  do  with  the  "revelation,''  but  at  any  rate 
Oliver  P.  Gleason,  George  Chatelaine,  Miles  Bragg,  J.  P.  Johnson,  Solomon 
Silver  and  William  Hall  were  appointed  a  committee  by  Brigham  Young  to  go  on 
in  advance  and  select  a  site  for  the  new  settlement.  This  committee  reached 
Fort  Laramie  in  the  spring,  where  they  learned  something  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
\^a!ley  and  employed  O.  P.  Wiggins  and  Jim  Beckwourth  to  guide  them  to  the 
place. 

Meantime  the  main  body  of  Mormons  did  not  wait  for  the  return  of  the 
committee,  but  hurried  forward  their  preparations  to  obey  the  order  of  the  Indian 
agent.  On  April  14,  1847,  just  three  months  after  Young's  "revelation,"  the 
first  company  of  143  persons,  three  of  whom  were  women,  with  73  wagons  loaded 
with  provisions  and  supplies,  left  the  winter  quarters  for  an  unknown  "Land  of 
Promise."  This  company  was  under  the  leadership  of  Heber  C.  Kimball  and 
was  accompanied  by  Brigham  Young  as  far  as  the  Elkhom  River — a  distance 
of  about  twenty-five  miles.  A  few  days  later  a  company  of  1,553  Persons,  with 
560  wagons  and  a  number  of  domestic  animals  left,  under  the  guidance  of  John 
Taylor  and  Parley  P.  Pratt.  Early  in  May  a  third  company,  numbering  1,229 
people,  with  397  wagons,  under  the  personal  direction  of  Brigham  Young,  followed 
those  who  had  gone  before.  Heber  C.  Kimball  turned  over  the  command  of  the 
first  company  to  Orson  Pratt  and  Erastus  Snow  and  returned  to  lead  another 
company,  which  left  the  winter  quarters  in  July.  It  consisted  of  226  wagons  and 
662  persons.  A  week  or  so  later  Willis  Richards  led  526  persons,  with  169  wagons, 
up  the  Platte  Valley,  and  with  the  departure  of  this  company  the  Omaha  lands 
were  vacated.  Those  who  did  not  go  west  recrossed  the  Missouri  and  settled  on 
the  Pottawatomi  lands  in  Western  Iowa. 

As  the  first  company  went  up  the  north  side  of  the  Platte  River,  guide  posts 
were  set  up  at  intervals  for  the  benefit  of  those  in  the  rear.  On  Bufifalo  skulls 
along  the  route  were  painted  the  dates  when  such  places  were  reached,  and  inside 
the  skulls  were  placed  written  communications  conveying  information  as  to  the 
route  it  was  intended  to  follow.  Aided  by  these  instructions  and  the  guide  posts. 
Young's  company  overtook  the  second  detachment  near  the  present  boundary 
line  between  Nebraska  and  Wyoming,  where  both  encamped  on  May  29,  1847. 
Here  an  incident  occurred  that  demonstrated  Brigham  Young's  qualifications  as  a 
leader.  The  morning  of  the  ,^oth  was  cold  and  damp  and  some  of  the  men  wanted 
to  wait  until  the  weather  conditions  were  improved  before  continuing  the  journey. 
About  half  past  ten  Young,  who  had  assumed  command,  gave  the  order  to  harness 
up.  The  response  was  slow  and  Young  ordered  a  council  to  be  called.  When  all 
were  assembled  he  told  the  delinquents  plainly  that  he  intended  to  be  obeyed, 
and  if  they  were  unwilling  to  accept  his  authority  they  mi^ht  remain  where  they 
were  or  return  east.  This  little  speech  had  the  efTect  of  bringing  the  recalcitrants 
into  line  and  by  hard  travelinsr  Fort  Laramie  was  reached  on  the  ist  of  Jtme. 
James  Bordeau,  the  aeent  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  gave  the  Mormons  a 
cordial  welcome  and  furnished  them  with"  some  much  needed  supplies. 

On  June  12,  1847,  the  caravan  arrived  at  the  Platte  River,  two  miles  above  the 


128  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

present  City  of  Casper,  where  it  was  intended  to  cross  the  stream.  Boats  and  rafts 
were  constructed,  but  the  river  was  running  bank  full  and  a  whole  week  was 
spent  in  effecting  a  crossing.  On  the  19th  the  entire  party  was  across  the  river 
and  ready  to  proceed.  The  20th  was  Sunday,  but  so  much  time  had  been  lost 
that  the  emigrants  traveled  all  day.  On  the  26th  they  went  through  the  South 
Pass,  where  they  met  a  party  of  trappers  led  by  Moses  Harris,  who  gave  them  in- 
formation regarding  the  course  they  were  to  pursue.  Two  days  later  they  met  Jim 
Bridger,  from  whom  they  obtained  additional  information.  This  was  the  first 
meeting  of  Bridger  and  Brigham  Young,  and  both  their  parties  encamped  while  the 
leaders  held  a  conference. 

Upon  reaching  Green  River  on  the  last  day  of  June,  the  company  was  met  by 
Elder  Brennan  of  California,  who  urged  Brigham  Young  to  go  to  Yerba  Buena 
(now  San  Francisco)  but  the  committee  sent  out  early  in  the  year  had  reported 
in  favor  of  the  Salt  Lake  X'alley  and  Young  would  not  alter  his  course.  Green 
River  was  crossed  on  the  3d  of  July  and  a  rest  of  two  days  followed.  From  this 
point  five  men  were  sent  back  to  pilot  the  other  trains.  On  the  6th  the  company 
encamped  on  the  site  of  the  present  Town  of  Granger,  Wyo.,  and  on  the  7th 
arrived  at  Fort  Bridger. 

Jim  Bridger  was  exceedingly  skeptical  about  the  Salt  Lake  \'alley  being  a 
place  to  establish  a  farming  community  and  it  is  said  he  offered  Brigham  Young 
$1,000  for  the  first  bushel  of  grain  grown  in  the  valley.  To  this  Young  merely 
replied  "Wait  and  see.'' 

On  Tulv  21,  1847.  the  first  company,  led  by  Orson  Pratt  and  Erastus  Snow, 
saw  from  the  top  of  an  elevation  the  panorama  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  \"alley 
and  sent  a  messenger  back  with  the  information  that  they  had  reached  the  place 
recommended  by  the  committee  of  investigation.  Young  had  made  such  head- 
way with  his  company  that  he  arrived  on  the  24th,  only  three  days  behind  the 
leaders,  though  the  latter  had  a  start  of  nearly  a  month  from  the  Missouri  River. 
The  day  before  his  arrival  some  of  the  first  company  plowed  the  first  ground  ever 
broken  between  the  Platte  River  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  ^Mountains. 

An  August  16,  1847,  Brigham  Young  started  back  to  the  Missouri  River  to  in- 
form those  left  behind  of  the  character  of  the  country  and  the  prospects  for  the 
future.  A  history  of  the  Mormons  entitled  "Route  from  Liverpool  to  Great  Salt 
Lake  \'alley."  was  published  in  1853,  edited  by  one  James  Linforth.  It  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  emigration  to  Utah : 

"The  next  consecutive  event  of  importance  in  President  Young's  career  after 
his  arrival  at  Kanesville  or  Council  Bluffs,  was  his  starting  in  the  spring  of  1847, 
at  the  head  of  143  picked  men,  embracing  eight  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  across 
the  unexplored  country  in  search  of  a  new  home  for  the  Saints  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  (Young  really  accompanied  this  company  only  as  far  as  the  Elkhorn 
River.)  The  pioneer  band  pursued  their  wav  over  sage  and  saleratus  plains, 
across  unbridged  rivers  and  through  mountain  defiles,  until  their  toilsome  and 
weary  journey  was  terminated  by  the  discovery  of  Great  Salt  Lake  \^alley  and 
the  choice  of  it  for  the  gathering  place  of  the  Saints.  They  then  returned  to 
Council  Bluffs,  where  they  arrived  on  the  31st  of  October,  and  an  epistle  was 
issued  on  the  23d  of  December  by  the  Twelve  Apostles,  noticing  the  principal  events 
since  the  expulsion  from  Kauvoo  and  the  discovery  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley." 

While  the  above  statement  is  correct  in  the  main,  it  is  not  true  that  the  entire 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  129 

143  "picked  men"  returned  to  the  Missouri.  Those  who  returned  were  Brigham 
Young  and  the  committee  which  had  been  sent  out  to  select  a  location. 

In  the  march  across  the  plains  every  man  among  the  Mormons  carried  a 
rifle  or  a  musket,  and  such  discipline  was  maintained  that  it  is  said  the  Indians 
would  frequently  allow  a  small  party  of  Mormons  to  pass  unmolested  and  attack 
a  much  larger  body  of  other  emigrants,  who  were  not  so  well  organized  for 
defense.  The  route  the  emigrants  followed  from  the  Mississippi  River  near 
Keokuk,  Iowa,  became  known  as  the  "Mormon  Trail.'  In  after  years  the  Mor- 
mon Trail  westward  from  the  Missouri  River  became  the  route  of  the  great  Union 
Pacific  Railway. 

The  number  of  Mormons  who  passed  up  the  Platte  Valley  and  through  Wyo- 
ming in  1847  was  3,113.  In  1848  Brigham  Young  personally  conducted  1,200 
men,  women  and  children  to  the  new  home  of  the  Saints  and  a  number  of  smaller 
parties  came  in  under  other  leaders,  so  that  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the  Salt  Lake 
Valley  had  a  population  of  about  five  thousand.  During  the  next  five  years  it  is 
estimated  that  one  hundred  thousand  Mormons  crossed  the  plains  on  their  way 
to  Salt  Lake.  They  opened  and  developed  farms,  built  irrigation  systems,  and 
transformed  the  desert  into  a  veritable  garden  spot. 

THE  SC.VRE  OF  1 857-58 

At  the  time  the  first  Mormons  settled  in  the  Salt  Lake  Valley  in  1847,  the  terri- 
tory was  outside  of  the  boundaries  of  the  L'nited  .States.  By  the  Treaty  of  Guad- 
alupe Hidalgo,  in  1848,  which  concluded  the  Mexican  war,  Utah,  with  other  ter- 
ritory in  the  Southwest,  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Mexico.  The  Mor- 
mons then  organized  the  "State  of  Deseret,"  adopted  a  constitution  and  sent  a 
delegate  to  Washington  to  urge  the  admission  of  the  state  into  the  Union.  Con- 
gress refused  to  admit  the  state,  or  to  recognize  the  delegate,  but  in  1850  the 
Territory  of  Utah  was  organized  and  Brigham  Young  was  appointed  governor. 

In  the  latter  '50s  a  number  of  outrages  were  committed  upon  emigrant  trains 
and  some  of  these  outrages  were  attributed  to  the  Mormon  organizations  known 
as  the  "Danites"  and  the  "Avenging  Angels."  In  1857  trouble  arose  between 
Brigham  Young  and  the  other  territorial  officials  appointed  by  President  Buchanan. 
Perhaps  the  officials  may  have  been  incompetent  to  a  certain  degree,  as  claimed 
by  Young,  but  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Utah  had  already  adopted  the  laws 
of  the  State  of  Deseret  and  it  was  apparent  that  the  Mormon  Church  was  de- 
termined to  rule  the  territory.  Instructions  from  Washington  were  disregarded 
and  in  some  cases  Young  openly  defied  the  United  States  authorities.  It  was 
finally  decided  by  the  administration  to  send  a  military  expedition  to  Utah,  to  pre- 
serve order  in  the  territory  and  prevent  further  depredations  against  peaceful 
emigrants. 

When  the  announcement  was  made  public  in  the  fall  of  1857,  that  the  Govern- 
ment was  about  to  send  an  expedition  into  LTtah,  considerable  anxiety  was  felt 
among  the  settlers  of  the  West,  for  fear  that  the  Mormons  would  retaliate  by 
sending  companies  of  the  "Danites"  and  "Angels"  against  the  frontier  settle- 
ments. Gen.  William  S.  Harney  was  first  selected  as  the  leader  of  the  expedition, 
but  he  was  succeeded  by  Col.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who  was  afterward  killed 
at  the  Battle  of  Shiloh.  in  April,  1862.  while  commanding  the  Confederate  forces. 


130  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  expedition  left  Fort  Leavenworth  in  the  fall  of  1857,  and,  although  there  was 
little  actual  fighting,  the  Mormons  harassed  Johnston's  movements  to  such  an 
extent  by  burning  supply  trains,  etc.,  that  the  troops  did  not  occupy  Salt  Lake 
City  until  in  June,  1858. 

While  the  expedition  was  en  route  the  "scare'  reached  its  greatest  height.  In 
April,  1858,  a  communication  signed  "Fair  Warning''  was  published  in  the  Omaha 
Times,  in  which  the  writer  said :  "When  our  army  shall  enter  the  \'alley  of  the 
Salt  Lake  the  ]\Iormons  en  masse  will  rise  in  hostile  array,  for  they  are  sworn 
to  resist.  At  that  moment  let  the  good  people  west  of  us  look  well  to  their*, 
safety.  We  hesitate  not  to  say  that  those  1,000  Mormons  near  Loup  Fork,  armed 
and  equipped  as  they  are,  can  and  will  sweep  from  existence  every  Gentile  village 
and  soul  west  of  the  Elkhorn.  As  to  Omaha  City,  the  nursling  of  a  government 
hostile  to  ]\Iormon  rule,  the  rival  of  Mormon  towns  and  the  victim  of  sworn 
Mormon  vengeance,  how  shall  she  share  in  this  strife?  In  the  space  of  one  night 
the  100  Saints  now  here  could  lay  in  ashes  every  house  in  the  city,  whilst  the 
armed  bands  in  our  vicinity  should  pillage  and  revel  in  our  blood.  The  Deseret 
News  proclaims  to  the  wide  world  from  the  great  leader  of  the  hosts  of  the 
anointed  thus :  'Winter  quarters  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord.  Nebraska  will  I  lay 
waste.  With  fear  and  with  sword  shall  my  people  blot  out  from  the  face  of  the 
earth  all  those  who  kill  the  prophets  and  stone  the  Lord's  anointed.' " 

The  Deseret  News,  from  which  the  writer  quoted,  was  a  Mormon  newspaper 
published  at  Salt  Lake  City.  Truly  this  "Fair  Warning''  was  a  pessimistic  prophet 
— a  veritable  "calamity  howler" — but  events  failed  to  justify  his  doleful  prediction. 
When  Johnston's  army  arrived  at  Salt  Lake,  Brigham  Young  was  removed  as 
governor  of  the  territory  and  the  worst  of  the  trouble  was  over.  A  garrison  was 
maintained  there  for  several  years,  however,  as  a  precautionary-  measure  against 
further  insubordination  on  the  part  of  the  IVIormon  leaders. 

"westward  ho" 

Som.e  five  years  before  the  departure  of  the  Mormons  from  their  winter 
quarters  on  the  Missouri,  the  tide  of  em.igration  westward  had  commenced.  As 
early  as  1841  a  party  of  fifteen,  a  few  of  whom  were  women,  passed  the  fur 
companies'  posts  in  Wyoming  on  their  way  to  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Later  in  the  same  year  Bidwell's  California  company  crossed  the 
plains.  In  1842  Elijah  White  led  112  men,  women  and  children  through  \\''yoming 
on  the  way  to  Oregon.  These  emigrants  were  equipped  with  eighteen  Conestoga 
wagons,  a  number  of  cattle,  and  several  pack  mules  and  horses.  In  crossing  the 
plains  the  emigrants  found  resting  places  at  Fort  Laramie  and  other  trading  posts, 
where  they  could  purchase  supplies,  though  they  sometimes  grumbled  at  the  prices 
charged  by  the  post  traders. 

In  1843  the  number  of  emigrants  who  crossed  the  plains  was  estimated  at  one 
thousand.  By  that  time  the  western  coast  was  no  longer  an  unknown  land.  Those 
who  went  west  in  1843  carried  with  them  oxen  and  horses,  herds  of  cattle,  farm 
implements,  household  goods,  etc.,  which  indicated  that  they  had  "come  to  stay." 
By  that  time,  too.  the  beaver  had  been  almost  exterminated  in  the  valleys  along 
the  Wyoming  streams  and  many  of  the  trappers  employed  by  the  fur  companies 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  131 

were  diverting  their  attention  to  occupations  that  promised  greater  profits,   or 
leaving  for  other  fields  where  the  beaver  were  more  plentiful. 

THE  ARGONAUTS 

Among  those  who  settled  in  California  prior  to  the  Mexican  war  was  John 
Sutter,  who  was  born  of  Swiss  parents  in  Baden,  Germany,  in  1803.  He  came  to 
California  in  July,  1839,  and  the  next  year  became  a  Mexican  citizen.  Alvarado, 
the  revolutionist,  was  then  in  power  as  the  governor  of  the  province.  He  took  a 
liking  to  Mr.  Sutter  and  made  him  an  official  of  the  government.  The  same  }-ear 
Mr.  Sutter  bought  out  some  Russian  settlers  on  the  Sacramento  River  and  built 
a  small  fort.  It  was  at  this  fort  that  Fremont's  second  expedition  arrived  on 
March  8,  1844. 

Late  in  the  year  1847  Mr.  Sutter  employed  James  W.  Marshall  to  build  a  saw- 
mill near  the  fort.  As  the  mill  was  to  be  run  by  water  power  it  was  necessary 
to  excavate  a  mill-race,  and  it  was  in  this  race  that  gold  was  discovered.  Mr. 
Marshall,  who  made  the  discovery,  afterward  gave  the  following  account  of  how- 
it  occurred  :  "One  morning  in  January  (it  was  the  morning  of  January  24,  1848), 
as  I  was  taking  my  usual  walk  along  the  race,  after  shutting  off  the  water,  my 
eye  was  caught  with  the  glimpse  of  something  shining  in  the  bottom  of  the  ditch. 
There  was  about  a  foot  of  water  running  then.  I  reached  my  hand  down  and 
picked  it  up;  it  made  my  heart  thump,  for  I  was  certain  that  it  was  gold.  The 
piece  was  about  half  the  size  and  shape  of  a  pea.'' 

]\Ir.  Marshall  showed  the  nugget  to  Mr.  Sutter  and  a  few  of  the  men  whom 
he  thought  he  could  trust,  and  all  kept  a  lookout  for  more.  Within  a  few  days 
they  had  collected  about  three  ounces  of  the  metal,  which  was  subjected  to  tests 
and  proved  to  be  gold.  They  tried  to  keep  the  matter  a  secret,  for  fear  their 
workmen  would  desert  in  the  hope  of  getting  rich  quickly  by  searching  for  gold, 
but  it  happened  that  some  ex-soldiers  at  the  fort  learned  of  the  discovery  and  the 
news  spread  rapidly.  There  was  no  trans-continental  telegraph  in  those  days,  but 
it  was  not  long  until  every  hamlet  in  the  Union  knew  that  gold  had  been  found  on 
the  western  coast. 

Gold  had  been  found  in  placers  near  Los  Angeles  in  1841,  and  it  is  said  that 
Jedediah  S.  Smith  found  gold  near  Mono  Lake  on  his  first  trip  to  the  coast  in  1827. 
Neither  of  these  discoveries  created  the  least  ripple  of  excitement  when  compared 
with  the  discovery  at  Sutter's  mill.  Within  one  year  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
people  from  the  older  states  went  to  California  with  the  expectation  of  accumulat- 
ing a  fortune  in  a  few  months.  There  were  three  ways  of  getting  to  the  El 
Dorado:  i.  By  going  by  sea  around  Cape  Horn;  2.  By  the  land  and  water  route 
via  the  Isthmus  of  Panama ;  and  3.  Overland  via  the  Oregon,  California  and 
Salt  Lake  trails.  Each  of  the  three  routes  was  soon  crowded  to  its  utmost 
capacity. 

THE  OVERLAND  ROUTE 

The  principal  starting  points  for  the  journey  across  the  plains  were  at  Inde- 
pendence and  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  though  a  little  later  inany  crossed  the  Missouri 
River  where  the  Citv  of  Omaha  is  now  located.    California  Street  in  that  eitv  takes 


132  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

its  nijine  from  the  fact  that  it  marks  the  course  followed  by  the  gold  seekers 
of  the  early  '50s.  In  April,  1849,  some  twenty  thousand  people  left  the  Missouri 
River  bound  for  the  nev/  gold  iields.  Ihe  plains  were  dotted  with  the  vehicle 
known  as  the  "prairie  schooner,"  some  rode  on  horseback,  and  many  undertook  the 
long,  wearisome  journey  on  foot.  One  argonaut,  who  afterward  returned  to  his 
home  east  of  the  Mississippi,  said  he  counted  459  wagons  in  going  a  distance  of 
nine  miles.  In  outfitting  at  the  starting  place,  many  of  the  wagons  were  laden 
with  tools,  provisions,  etc.,  but  as  the  journey  proceeded  and  the  teams  began  to 
show  signs  of  weariness,  many  of  the  heaviest  articles  were  thrown  away,  espe- 
cially as  the  driver  saw  others  passing  him  on  the  road.  The  main  object  was  to 
get  to  the  diggings  before  all  the  paying  claims  were  "staked  off."  Capt.  Howard 
Stansbury,  who  was  then  engaged  in  making  some  explorations  in  the  West  for 
the  Government,  says  in  his  reports : 

"The  road  was  literally  strewn  with  articles  that  had  been  thrown  away.  Bar 
iron,  steel,  large  blacksmith  anvils,  bellows,  crowbars,  drills,  augers,  gold  wasliers, 
chisels,  axes,  lead,  trunks,  spades,  plows,  grindstones,  baking  ovens,  cooking 
stoves  without  number,  kegs,  barrels,  harness,  clothing,  bacon  and  beans  were 
found  along  the  road  in  pretty  much  the  order  enumerated." 

Some  clung  to  everything  with  which  they  started  and  in  the  end  found  it  had 
paid  them  to  do  so.  Prices  in  California  soared.  Flour  sold  as  high  as  seventy- 
five  dollars  per  barrel,  bacon  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar  per  pound,  and  other  things 
in  proportion.  Those  who  came  too  late  to  secure  a  paying  claim,  but  brought 
v.'ith  them  a  supply  of  provisions,  made  about  as  much  money  as,  perhaps  more 
than,  the  average  gold  hunter.  San  Francisco  grew  from  a  straggling  hamlet  to 
a  thriving  city  almost  over  night  and  was  the  chief  source  of  supply  for  the  gold 
diggings.  "The  days  of  '49"  have  been  celebrated  in  song  and  story.  A  few 
acquired  fortunes,  but  a  large  majority  of  the  argonauts  were  glad  to  get  back  to 
the  homes  they  had  left,  many  of  them  poorer  than  when  they  started  for  the 
land  of  gold. 

The  first  gold  found  in  California  was  what  is  called  "free  gold,"  being 
easily  taken  from  the  places  where  it  had  been  deposited  in  the  sands  of  the 
streams.  No  costly  machinery,  such  as  stamp  mills  and  smelters,  was  needed  to 
extract  the  precious  metal.  By  1856,  eight  years  after  the  first  gold  was  found  by 
Mr.  Marshall,  $450,000,000  had  been  taken  from  the  California  placers. 

While  the  excitement  was  at  its  height.  Fort  Laramie,  Fort  Bridger  and  the 
other  posts  in  Wyoming  did  a  thriving  business  in  furnishing  supplies  to  the 
argonauts.  Those  who  acquired  wealth  in  the  diggings  usually  returned  east  by 
the  water  route,  while  those  who  had  failed  and  returned  overland  had  little 
money  with  which  to  purchase  supplies.  All  they  wanted  was  a  "bite  to  eat  and 
a  place  to  sleep."  They  carried  information,  however,  concerning  the  West  that 
had  its  influence  upon  many  who,  a  few  years  later  sought  homes  beyond  the 
great  "Father  of  Waters."  In  this  way  the  argonauts  of  '49  paved  the  way  for 
the  settlement  of  Wyoming  and  some  of  the  adjoining  states. 

Neither  Marshall  nor  Sutter,  who  made  the  first  discovery  of  gold,  derived 
any  substantial  profit  from  it.  They  expected  to  make  money  from  their  saw- 
mill, and  did  make  money  for  a  time,  but  as  the  timber  was  cut  off  near  the 
mill  and  logs  had  to  be  brought  from  a  distance,  their  profits  were  reduced. 
Added  to  this,  the  gold  fever  subsided  and  the  demand  for  lumber  correspond- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  133 

ingly  decreased.  Both  were  granted  pensions  in  their  old  age.  Marshall  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three  at  Coloma,  and  was  buried  in  sight  of  the  spot  where 
he  found  the  first  nugget  of  gold  in  January,  1848.  Over  his  grave  stands  a 
statue  of  himself  in  bronze,  of  heroic  size — a  poor  reward  for  a  man  who  gave  to 
the  world  a  gold  field  that  has  produced  millions  of  dollars. 


CHAPTER  X 
STORIES  OF  THE  PIONEERS 

FISH    AS    BRAIX    FOOD A    MOUNTAIN    TRIP    IX    1879 A    FRONTIER    MINING   CAMP — 

STORY  OF   THE  LOST  CABIN   GOLD   PLACERS JOHN    HUNTON   AND  OLD   FORT   LAR- 
AMIE  OTHER    PIONEERS     OF     NOTE FRANK     GROUARD,     THE     FAMOUS     SCOUT 

SACAJAWEA,  THE  INDIAN  GIRL   PATHFINDER CASPAR  COLLINS  AND  OLD  PLATTE 

BRIDGE LUKE    VOORHEES    AND    EARLY'  STAGE    COACH    DAYS — BEN.    HOLLIDAY    IN 

A   HOLD  UP — STORIES  OF  A   PIONEER   PREACHER THE   COWBOY's   PRAYER. 

The  adventures  and  experiences  of  the  early  settlers  of  Wyoming,  with  all 
their  humorous,  tragic  and  romantic  phases,  become  more  interesting,  to  the 
reader  and  more  valuable  historically,  as  the  days  go  by,  when  the  actors  dis- 
appear and  the  curtain  falls  on  the  thrilling  and  realistic  scenes  of  frontier  life. 
The  old  frontier  is  disappearing,  in  fact,  has  disappeared,  and  we  realize  the  truth 
of  the  old  saying,  "Distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view."  Today  the  auto- 
mobile is  everywhere,  and  wherever  that  swift  moving  machine  glides  through 
the  landscape  there  is  no  frontier — there  is  no  explorer,  for  the  remotest  nook 
and  corner  is  explored — and  even  the  hunter  and  trapper  by  mountain  or  stream 
can  no  longer  be  a  recluse  in  silence  and  solitude,  for  from  the  banks  of  a  stream 
or  on  the  side  of  a  mountain  he  may  hear  the  chug  of  a  motor  car  or  look  up  into 
the  sky  and  see  that  bird  of  a  new  ci\ilization,  an  aeroplane.  Therefore  we  may 
dwell  with  peculiar  interest  on  the  memories  and  stories  of  the  old  pioneers. 

From  many  sources  have  been  gathered  the  personal  narratives,  sketches 
and  relations  that  follow,  many  of  them  from  the  lips  of  the  men  who  were  actors 
in  the  scenes  they  describe,  and  they  are  given  without  regard  to  time,  place  or 
order  of  occurrence,  promising  only  that  they  are  true  and  illustrate  historically 
the  early  days  of  Wyoming.  To  begin  with  some  of  the  early  experiences  of  the 
author,  in  which  I  have  given  some  notes  of  what  I  saw  and  ''a  part  of  which 
I  was." 

FISH   AS   BRAIN   FOOD 

In  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  1882  I  was  a  member  of  the  house.  We 
passed  a  pretty  good  game  bill  for  that  period.  On  the  last  night  of  the  session 
while  the  house  was  indulging  in  a  good  deal  of  horse-play.  Judge  J.  M.  Carey 
informed  me  that  Pete  Downs,  a  member  from  Uinta  County,  had  just  been  ap- 
pointed fish  commissioner  and  suggested  that  I  announce  it  and  get  a  rise  from 
the  gentleman.  I  made  the  announcement  and  suggested  to  Downs  that  he 
should  introduce  terrapin  in  Crow  Creek  waters,  plant  clams  in  the  Sweetwater 
and  make  certain  experiments  with  pickeled  eel's  feet,  etc.  Pete  Downs  was 
134 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  135 

an  original  character  of  a  jovial  nature  and  tuiiversally  popular.  He  never  made 
a  speech  longer  than  a  motion  to  adjourn.  As  I  finished  the  members  began  to 
call  Downs,  and  yell  "Speech!  speech!" 

Pete  got  up  somewhat  flustrated  and  said :  "Boys  you  know  I  can't  make  a 
speech." 

"Yes  you  can,  go  on,  go  on,"  shouted  the  members. 

He  hesitated,  cleared  his  throat  and  assumed  a  belligerent  attitude. 
"I  tell  you  I'm  no  speech  maker,  but  I  want  you  fellers  to  understand  if  I 
tackle  this  job  I  am  going  to  do  it  right.  I'm  told  that  fish  is  the  greatest  brain 
food  in  existence.  If  that's  the  case,  I'm  going  to  stock  up  our  streams  to  beat 
the  band,  and  I'm  going  to  make  it  my  special  business  to  see  that  the  next 
Legislature  has  a  damn  sight  more  brains  than  this  one  has !" 

As  he  said  this  his  voice  rose  and  rang  through  the  hall,  he  swung  his  fist 
around  and  hit  the  desk  a  resounding  whack  and  sat  down.  The  house  broke  out 
in  a  roar  of  laughter  and  applause.  I  have  heard  many  orations  and  speeches 
but  none  so  instantaneously  effective. 

I  wish  to  state  here,  sub  rosa,  that  since  then,  several  Wyoming  Legislatures 
have  convened  and  adjourned,  that  certainly  appeared  to  be  shy  on  brain  food. 

TEN   MILLION  BUFFALO 

In  attendance  at  the  Oregon  Trail  monument  celebrations,  I  met  and  had 
some  interesting  talks  with  old  timers.  In  the  evening  of  the  celebration  at  Fort 
Laramie  several  of  us  were  swapping  stories  under  the  piazza  of  the  old  cavalry 
barracks  which  resembles  the  palaces  of  South  American  presidents.  The  build- 
ing is  about  three  hundred  feet  long  and  has  a  balcony  extending  along  the  whole 
front.  Joe  Wiley  is  now  governor  general  of  this  famous  building  and  grounds. 
Talking  about  game  animals  in  that  section  in  early  days,  Ed.  Patrick  asserted 
that  he  had  seen  "5,000  antelope  in  one  bunch  near  Rawhide  Buttes,  and  they 
^  were  so  tame  it  was  a  shame  to  kill  one." 

"That's  good,"  said  I,  "but  when  I  crossed  the  plains  in  1864,  I  saw  10,000,000 
buffalo  in  practically  one  herd  extending  along  the  Arkansas  River  for  five  hundred 
miles." 

"How  do  you  know  there  were  10,000,000"  said  Patrick. 

"I  counted  'em,"  said  I. 

This  raised  a  laugh  on  Patrick  and  he  came  back  with  this : 

"How  did  you  count  them?" 

"Psychologically  and  in  my  mind's  eye,"  said  I. 

There  might  have  been  more  but  a  million  or  so  difference  in  the  estimate 
wouldn't  cut  much  figure.  Our  route  lay  along  the  Arkansas  Valley  from  Man- 
hattan to  Ben's  old  fort  and  being  in  the  month  of  November  all  the  big  herds  of 
the  North  were  moving  South  and  found  their  best  feeding  grounds  in  this  section. 
They  therefore  delayed  in  crossing  south  during  the  pleasant  weather  and  rap- 
idly accumulated  in  numbers.  The  western  Indians  were  on  the  warpath  then 
and  might  be  classed  as  wild  animals,  but  that  makes  another  storj'. 

Showing  how  tame  wild  game  was  at  that  time,  Mr.  Patrick  mentioned  the 
incident  of  a  young  antelope  getting  in  between  his  team  of  horses  for  protection 
from  a  dog. 


136  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

A   NORTH    PARK  TRIP 

In  August,  1878,  I  came  to  Cheyenne  to  take  the  position  of  mihtary  store- 
keeper at  Camp  Carhn  which  was  then  the  largest  supply  depot  in  the  West.  It 
had  fourteen  large  warehouses  full  of  military  supplies,  several  large  manufac- 
turing and  repair  establishments,  a  garrison  of  soldiers,  officers  and  employees 
quarters,  corrals  and  stables  for  five  large  wagon  trains.  Ten  forts  located  at 
points  in  Wyoming,  Utah,  Nebraska  and  Idaho  were  supplied  from  this  great 
depot,  and  from  three  hundred  to  four  hundred  civilians  were  given  constant 
employment  as  teamsters,  wagon  makers,  blacksmiths,  saddlers,  packers,  etc. 
The  military  depot  was  located  about  half  way  between  Fort  Russell  and 
Cheyenne. 

In  the  summer  of  1879  with  my  wife  and  children,  I  made  a  camping  out 
trip  to  and  through  North  Park  for  a  month's  vacation.  We  took  a  tent,  camp 
equipage  and  grub.  There  were  few  ranches  and  for  days  at  a  time  we  saw  no 
human  habitations.  Game  was  very  plentiful,  especially  antelope.  At  the  southern 
end  of  the  pa^rk  we  camped  near  a  ranch  where  the  owner  had  seven  or  eight 
elk  he  had  captured  and  was  training  them  for  work  and  selling  them  to  animal 
collectors.     These  elk  were  as  tame  as  a  domestic  cow. 

On  the  trip  we  had  a  dog  who  was  fired  with  the  ambition  to  catch  an  ante- 
lope, but  he  got  his  lesson  and  quit.  In  the  last  attempt  he  started  after  a 
bunch  when  the  leader,  a  big  buck,  turned  around  suddenly  and  jumped  on  him 
with  his  forefeet,  stiff-legged.  The  dog,  who  was  hit  only  by  a  powerful  glanc- 
ing stroke,  rolled  over  down  the  hill  yelling  in  terror.  He  came  back  to  the 
wagon  with  scars  on  his  head  and  the  side  of  his  body  and  never  chased  any 
more  antelope. 

Twice  on  the  trip  we  found  little  baby  antelopes  in  the  sage  brush  where 
the  mother  had  left  them.  One  little  one  that  was  running  around  we  captured 
and  took  along  for  a  pet,  feeding  him  on  canned  milk,  warm  and  diluted.  He 
thrived  well  for  several  days,  but  at  one  of  our  camping  places  got  away  long 
enough  to  drink  some  very  cold  spring  water,  which  caused  his  death. 

TAME    MOUNTAIN    SHEEP 

On  this  trip  we  saw  for  the  first  time  a  bunch  of  mountain  sheep  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sherman.  They  were  some  five  hundred  yards  from  the  road  when 
first  sighted  and  quite  near  a  ranch  we  had  just  passed.  On  seeing  us  they  be- 
came very  curious,  perhaps  on  account  of  our  children,  and  walked  quietly 
toward  the  wagon  until  they  reached  a  knoll  looking  down  upon  us  about  fifty 
yards  away.  There  they  stopped,  a  big  buck  in  the  front  with  massive  horns  and 
five  ewes  grouped  around  him.  I  stopped  the  team,  got  out  my  rifle,  they  watch- 
ing us  and  I  them.  I  got  a  bead  on  the  big  buck  and  was  about  to  fire,  when 
my  wife  said,  "They  can't  be  wild  mountain  sheep.  They're  too  tame.  They 
must  be  some  breed  of  goats  belonging  to  that  ranch  we  passed.  I  wouldn't  shoot 
them."  We  discussed  the  matter,  the  sheep  still  looking  and  wondering  what  on 
earth  we  were  there  for.  As  I  put  away  the  gun  and  continued  the  journey  the 
sheep  turned  around  and  quietly  walked  away.  If  any  visitor  at  our  apartments 
fails  to  see  that  splendid  pair  of  big  horns  on  the  walls  they  can  blame  Mrs. 
Bartlett  for  her  mistaken  opinions  and  merciful  kindness. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  137 

A  SPASMODIC   MINING  CAMP 

Incidental  to  this  trip  we  visited  Teller  City,  a  new  mining  camp  where  great 
gold  discoveries  had  just  been  reported.  There  was  a  great  rush  there.  A  town 
had  been  laid  out  in  the  timber  and  many  houses,  shacks  and  cabins  were  being 
buih.  A  new  hotel,  roughly  constructed  of  pine  boards,  was  being  built  and  I 
applied  for  a  room.  The  proprietor  said  all  the  completed  rooms  were  taken,  but 
explained  that  the  carpenters  would  have  another  room  enclosed  by  night  if  we 
wanted  to  take  it.  We  took  it  and  the  room  was  built  round  us  during  the  day. 
The  windows  and  door  were  put  in  and  the  boarding  of  the  walls  completed 
while  we  occupied  the  room.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  a  room  "built 
around  you  while  you  wait."  That  night  we  had  a  grand  reception.  The 
mountains  on  the  east  were  lit  up  by  a  great  forest  fire  making  a  scene  almost 
terrific  in  grandeur. 

Another  thing — in  laying  out  the  streets  a  great  many  pine  trees  had  to  be 
cut  down.  Therefore  the  streets  and  roadways  were  full  of  stumps  and  it  re- 
quired the  utmost  skill  in  a  driver  to  get  through  without  smashing  a  wagon  or 
breaking  the  horses'  legs.  Therefore,  there  were  many  stump  speeches  made,  brief 
and  emphatic,  interlarded  with  "strange  oaths"  unfit  for  publication.  However, 
we  escaped  safely  with  our  team  and  our  morals. 

A    FAKE   LYNCHING 

Going  back  a  little,  on  our  way  to  North  Park  we  visited  Cumming's  City  on 
the  Laramie  River,  near  Jelm  Mountain.  It  was  then  the  most  noted  mining 
camp  in  Wyoming  and  had  among  its  population  of  gold  hunters,  many  who 
afterward  became  Wyoming's  most  prominent  citizens  and  officials.  Bill  Nye  was 
one  who  made  the  camp  the  scene  of  some  of  his  most  excruciating  stories.  Judge 
Groesbeck,  who  afterwards  became  chief  justice  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  was 
another.  Judge  Bramel,  who  was  at  that  time  an  enthusiastic  mining  pioneer 
was  among  the  choice  spirits  of  this  camp.  Women  and  children  were  rare  in 
the  camp  and  our  coming  through  as  campers  attracted  a  great  deal  of  interest. 
We  put  up  at  the  big  hotel  and  were  invited  around  to  see  the  wonderful  gold 
mines,  some  of  them  capitalized  at  $1,000,000.  Everybody  seemed  bent  on  making 
our  visit  enjoyable.  The  extent  to  which  this  effort  was  carried  was  seen  the 
next  morning.  We  started  quite  early  to  continue  our  journey.  When  about  half 
a  mile  out,  on  turning  a  bend  in  the  road,  we  saw  suspended  from  the  limb  of  a 
tree  which  stretched  to  the  middle  of  the  road,  a  man  with  a  rope  round  his  neck. 
The  horses  also  saw  the  figure  and  stopped  suddenly.  They  had  evidently  never 
seen  a  man  suspended  high  in  mid-air  with  no  foundation  for  his  feet.  They 
snorted  and  pawed  and  really  wanted  to  go  back,  although  we  were  yet  a  hundred 
yards  away.  Before  going  after  the  coroner  I  concluded  to  make  a  closer  examina- 
tion, first  turning  the  horses  around  so  they  wouldn't  cramp  the  wagon.  I 
walked  down  to  the  place  where  the  figure  hung  and  found  it  was  a  well  dressed 
dummy. 

Afterwards  I  learned  that  the  miners  got  up  this  little  show  for  our  enter- 
tainment. Things  had  been  rather  quiet  with  them  for  a  week,  no  shooting 
scrapes  or  lynchings,  and  they  wanted  to  liven  up  matters  and  give  us  a  sample 


138  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  what  life  in  a  genuine  mining  camp  should  be.  We  were  entertained  all  right, 
but  had  the  time  of  our  lives  trying  to  drive  the  horses  under  that  suspended 
figure. 

.\  RE-AL  FISH   STORY 

In  1881  I  assisted  in  organizing  the  Wyoming  Copper  Company  and  as  one  of 
the  officers  of  the  company  went  to  Fairbank  where  we  erected  a  copper  furnace 
and  buildings  connected  with  the  smelting  works.  Colonel  Babbitt,  a  prominent 
cattleman,  was  the  leading  spirit  of  the  enterprise  and  he  had  interested  several 
Chicago  millionaires  in  it,  among  them  George  M.  Pullman  and  X.  K.  Fairbank 
and  we  gave  our  smelter  settlement  the  name  of  the  latter  gentleman. 

The  smelter  was  located  on  the  banks  of  Platte  River  at  the  mouth  of  the 
canyon  about  one  mile  and  a  half  above  Guernsey.  It  had  been  noted  as  the  finest 
pike  fishing  resort  on  the  river  and  was  a  favorite  place  for  the  sport  of  United 
States  officers  from  Fort  Laramie,  which  was  then  garrisoned  and  was  the 
principal  army  post  of  the  department. 

One  day  Superintendent  Bartlett  (no  relation)  and  myself  looking  down  the 
river,  saw  an  immense  school  of  pike  swimming  up,  their  fins  agitating  the 
surface  with  dimpling  waves.  They  kept  in  the  center  of  the  stream,  and  we 
could  not  reach  them  with  poles.  Accordingly  we  improvised  a  raft,  having 
plenty  of  lumber  and  tools,  rigged  up  our  lines,  got  some  fresh  meat  for  bait  and 
secured  some  heavy  irons  for  an  anchor.  Taking  one  of  our  big  ore  tubs  we  placed 
it  in  the  center  of  the  raft  and  anchored  in  mid-stream  where  the  water  was 
alive  around  us.  We  had  two  hooks  on  each  line  and  as  soon  as  they  were 
dropped  they  were  grabbed  by  the  hungry  fish,  and  we  hauled  them  in  two  at  a 
time  until  the  tub  was  nearly  full  and  we  were  exhausted  by  our  efforts  and 
the  excitement  of  the  catch 


THE  OLD   CABIX   HOME 

Soon  after  the  smelter  was  erected  I  built  the  first  log  cabin  at  Fairbank  and 
brought  my  family  up  from  Cheyenne.  It  was  located  in  a  most  beautiful  spot 
close  to  the  river  in  a  grove  of  cottonwood  and  boxelder  trees.  It  was  at  the 
mouth  of  the  canyon  whose  precipitous  walls  of  red  sandstone  intermingled  with 
strata  of  white  limestone  towered  in  prismatic  beauty,  and  when  shone  upon  by 
the  sun  were  brilliant  w-ith  nature's  architectural  effects.  Just  above  the  cabin 
the  rapids  plunged  over  a  rocky  bed  and  the  murmer  of  the  falling  water  was 
continuous  music  in  our  ears.  Fremont  on  his  first  expedition  camped  across  the 
canyon  close  by  the  side  of  our  home,  and  in  his  report  gives  a  glowing  description 
of  its  scenic  beauties. 

The  serpent  entered  this  Eden,  but  without  his  ancient  fascination.  In  the 
summer  time  the  doors  and  wmdows  were  open.  On  two  occasions  we  captured 
rattlesnakes  that  had  entered  the  house  and  one  time  we  got  two  big  bull  snakes 
who  were  making  a  home  under  the  bed.  lying  in  wake  for  mice.  The  bull  snake 
is  harmless  but  so  much  resembles  a  rattler  that  anv  tenderfoot  will  be  deceived. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOAIING  139 

GOOD   RUNNING  TIME 

It  is  the  unexpected  that  happens — sometimes.  One  day  I  was  sitting  in  our 
office  and  laboratory  building.  Franklin  Getterman,  our  chemist,  sat  at  the  desk 
writing.  Suddenly  a  hugh  bull  snake  dropped  down  "kerplunk,"  on  the  desk 
before  him.  He  gave  a  yell  and  in  about  two  jumps  landed  himself  outside  the 
door.  For  about  two  hundred  yards  he  made  as  good  time  as  I  ever  saw.  The 
snake  had  crawled  in  under  the  eaves  and  was  crawling  over  the  loose  boards  of 
the  ceiling  when  he  fell.  Getterman  was  a  recent  graduate  from  Freiburg, 
Germany,  and  if  he  had  died  of  heart  failure  then  the  world  would  have  lost  a 
remarkable  man,  as  he  is  now  the  president  and  general  manager  of  the  American 
Smelting  Company,  the  largest  smelting  organization  in  existence. 

THE  PLAYFUL  MOUNT.MN  RAT 

Shortly  after  we  moved  into  the  cabin,  a  family  of  mountain  rats  also  moved 
in  and  occupied  the  space  between  the  pole  roof  and  the  canvas  ceiling  stretched 
below.  These  animals  are  playful  and  humorous.  They  have  several  games, 
one  especially  that  interested  the  children.  They  had  a  collection  of  little  stones 
and  ciay  balls  that  they  would  bring  to  the  ridge  pole  and  then  roll  them  down 
to  the  eaves  and  scamper  after  them.  Then  they  would  bring  them  up  again  and 
continue  the  sport.  Then  thev  had  another  game  that  I  judge  were  wrestling 
matches.  They  would  tumble  around,  roll  o\er  and  squeal  with  joy.  We  finally 
killed  two  of  them  and  the  others  took  the  hint  and  quit  the  premises  disgusted 
with  our  inhospitality. 


Speaking  of  skunks,  a  colon)-  of  these  interesting  animals  made  their  homes 
in  a  limestone  ledge  near  our  cabin.  Limestone  formations  here  are  marked  by 
many  caves  and  opeiiini;>  t-xlemling  in  irregular  passages  through  the  rock.  These 
afford  ideal  homes  for  skunks  and  rattlesnakes,  while  the  larger  caves  are  ap- 
propriated by  mountain  lions.  The  skunk  is  a  handsome  animal,  and  is  also  quite 
friendly  and  fearless.  When  not  attacked  they  are  harmless.  Although  moonlight 
nights  were  their  favorite  excursion  hours,  they  often  came  around  the  house 
and  under  the  house  in  the  day  time  without  any  fear  and  usually  inspected  the 
remains  of  food  thrown  out  from  the  kitchen,  ^^'e  finally  killed  three  or  four 
and  smoked  out  a  whole  colony  in  the  rocks,  after  which  they  quit  us.  If  their 
skins  had  been  as  valuable  then  as  now.  I  could  have  started  a  skunk  farm  and 
been  rich  enough  probably  to  start  a  peace  expedition  to  Europe  bv  this  time. 
Mountain  lions  were  quite  plentiful  up  the  canyon  and  many  were  killed  within  a 
mile  or  two  of  our  cabin. 

THE   LOST   CABIN   GOLD   PLACERS 

The  Lost  Cabin  mines  of  ^\■yoming  have  long  been  the  subject  of  much  con- 
jecture and  romantic  fiction.  The  true  history  of  this  famous  find  and  the  ac- 
companying adventures  of  those  who  participated  in  it  was  given  me  when  I  was. 


140  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

living  in  Washington  in  1894,  by  Charles  Clay,  one  of  Wyoming's  prominent  and 
honored  frontiersmen. 

Mr.  Clay  was  one  of  the  pioneers  and  like  Judge  Gibson  Clark  and  John 
Hunton  was  at  one  time  employed  at  the  post  trader's  store  at  Fort  Laramie  as 
clerk  and  assistant.  Afterward  he  engaged  in  freighting.  When  the  town  of 
Douglas  was  located  he  opened  a  general  store  and  for  several  years  did  the 
leading  business  there.  Later  he  was  elected  county  treasurer  for  two  or  three 
terms.  He  came  to  Washington,  D.  C.  with  a  view  of  pushing  a  claim  of  losses 
sustained  by  Indian  depredations,  and  having  access  to  the  Government  departments 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  giving  him  some  assistance.  We  spent  several  evenings 
together,  and  as  I  was  becoming  interested  in  mining  ventures  and  he  was  familiar 
with  the  placer  grounds  worked  by  the  old  gold  miners,  our  conversation  drifted 
that  way.     One  evening  just  before  he  left  Washington  he  said  to  me: 

"I  am  going  to  tell  you  what  I  know  about  the  Lost  Cabin  mines.  I  have 
kept  the  story  to  myself  for  nearly  forty  years  expecting  to  go  personally  and 
locate  the  place,  but  something  has  always  come  up  to  prevent  giving  it  my  time 
and  money.    I  think  you  can  find  it,  and  all  I  ask  is  give  rne  a  show  in  the  find." 

I  have  kept  the  story  sub  rosa  for  twenty  years  but  now  release  it,  trusting  the 
directions  given  will  enable  some  prospector  to  locate  these  rich  placers,  and  I 
leave  it  entirely  to  him  as  to  whether  he  owes  me  anything  for  the  information. 
This  is  the  story  : 

The  Lost  Cabin  gold  placers  were  discovered  in  the  fall  of  1865,  and  were 
worked  three  days  by  seven  men  from  the  Black  Hills  country.  Five  of  the  seven 
men  were  killed  by  the  Indians.  Two  escaped  and  brought  away  seven  thousand 
dollars  in  coarse  gold.  Since  that  time  no  effort  for  the  discovery  of  the  place  has 
been  successful  although  many  attempts  have  been  made  by  small  and  large  parties 
to  reach  these  wonderfully  rich  placers  where  the  gold  could  almost  literally  be 
picked  up  from  the  ground.  Under  a  treaty  made  by  the  Government  with  the 
powerful  Indian  tribes  then  occupying  this  territory  they  were  given  undisturbed 
possession  of  this  area  for  many  years  and  all  white  men  were  warned  not  to 
invade  their  hunting  grounds. 

Mr.  Clay  said  that  the  two  men  who  escaped  came  into  Fort  Laramie  and  as 
soon  as  they  got  in  went  to  the  Sutler's  store  and  asked  him  to  put  their  gold 
in  the  safe.  In  doing  this  they  confided  to  him  the  story  of  the  find  and  the 
fortunes  of  the  expedition.  This  was  in  October,  1865.  Early  in  that  month 
the  two  men  reached  old  Fort  Reno  at  the  point  which  is  now  the  crossing  of 
Powder  River.  They  arrived  there  in  a  terribly  weak  and  exhausted  condition. 
They  explained  that  they  had  belonged  to  a  party  of  seven  gold  prospectors  who 
went  into  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  on  their  eastern  slope  from  the  Black  Hills 
of  Dakota.  They  traveled  along  the  base  of  the  range  in  a  southwestern  direction, 
prospecting  and  testing  the  ground  at  all  points  where  the  streams  came  down 
from  the  mountains  until  they  reached  a  park  surrounded  by  heavy  timber  through 
which  ran  a  bold  and  swift  mountain  stream,  and  which  a  few  yards  below  joined 
a  larger  stream.  Here  they  found  rich  signs  of  the  yellow  metal  and  on  digging 
down  struck  bed  rock  at  a  depth  of  three  or  four  feet  where  gold  was  ver>'  plentiful 
and  coarse,  with  many  good  sized  nuggets. 

They  immediately  went  into  camp  having  tools  and  grub  in  addition  to  the  wild 
game  they  had  hunted  which  was  then  very  plentiful.    They  had  brought  two  pack 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  141 

animals  to  carry  their  tools  and  supplies.  Among  the  tools  was  a  big  log  saw 
especially  valuable  to  gold  miners,  and  they  soon  sawed  the  logs  they  needed  to 
construct  a  flume.  In  two  days  by  almost  continuous  hard  work  they  also  built 
a  substantial  log  cabin.  They  then  began  to  dig  and  wash  out  the  gold  in  good 
earnest. 

Late  one  afternoon  on  the  third  day  they  were  suddenly  surprised  and  attacked 
by  Indians.  It  seemed  to  be  a  large  band  but  they  were  almost  concealed  by  the 
surrounding  timber.  The  men  fought  as  best  they  could  until  nightfall,  but 
being  in  the  open  were  at  such  disadvantage  that  five  of  their  number  were  killed. 
The  Indians  would  not  expose  themselves.  The  night  was  cloudy  and  as  it  soon 
became  very  dark  the  two  men  who  had  not  been  hurt  gathered  up  the  gold  and 
succeeded  in  escaping  without  being  seen  by  the  Indians. 

In  addition  to  the  gold,  they  carried  their  arms  and  some  grub.  Traveling 
on  foot  they  put  as  much  distance  as  they  could  between  themselves  and  their 
foes  during  the  first  night  and  in  the  morning  hid  themselves  among  the  trees 
where  they  remained  until  night  came  on.  They  then  continued  their  journey  not 
knowing  where  they  were  going.  After  three  nights  of  continuous  walking  they 
reached  Fort  Reno,  where  there  was  a  small  garrison  of  United  States  soldiers 
stationed  to  protect  the  old  trail  and  furnish  a  camp  for  settlers  driven  out  by  the 
Indians.  They  told  their  story  to  the  lieutenant  in  command,  but  he  did  not 
credit  it  fully.  About  that  time  there  had  been  a  number  of  desertions  of  soldiers 
who  wanted  to  hunt  for  gold  and  were  willing  to  face  dangers  in  the  quest,  so  he 
held  them  under  guard  and  sent  them  with  a  detachment  and  wagon  train  then 
about  to  leave  for  Fort  Fetterman.  When  they  reached  Fort  Fetterman,  the  com- 
manding ofificer  had  them  under  investigation  and  becoming  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  their  story  allowed  them  to  go  to  Fort  Laramie  with  the  next  military 
wagon  train  departing  for  that  point. 

AT   FORT  L.XRAMIE 

The  two  men  spent  the  winter  at  Fort  Laramie.  When  they  brought  the  gold 
to  Mr.  Clav  at  the  post  trader's  store  it  was  in  three  baking  powder  cans.  He 
put  it  in  the  safe  where  it  remained  until  their  departure  from  the  fort.  The 
men  were  Swedes  and  spoke  broken  English.  They  were  practically  ignorant  of 
the  country  they  passed  through  so  far  as  the  names  of  mountains  and  streams  were 
involved,  but  could  describe  the  topography  and  general  aspect  of  the  region 
through  which  they  had  traveled.  As  spring  approached  they  determined  to  go 
back  and  brave  new  dangers  to  find  their  lost  cabin  and  gold  field.  In  order 
to  insure  success  in  their  search,  they  decided  to  go  back  to  the  Black  Hills  and 
start  anew  over  the  same  route  they  first  took.  Mr.  Clay  says  they  organized  a 
new  party  in  the  Black  Hills  and  started  out  on  the  old  trail  but  that  nothing  was 
heard  from  them  after  they  had  reached  the  mountains  of  Wyoming  and  in  all 
probability  they  were  killed  by  the  Indians. 

OTHER    EXPEDITIONS    FORMED 

As  the  knowledge  of  the  famous  discovery  spread  through  Fort  Laramie  and 
among  the  settlers  in  the  vicinity  one  of  those  big  gold  excitements  characteristic 


142  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  pioneer  days  resulted  and  many  plans  were  formed  by  different  parties  to  start 
prospecting  expeditions  to  search  for  the  lost  cabin.  The  largest  party  was 
organized  by  Colonel  Bullock,  at  that  time  post  trader  at  the  fort.  Fort  Laramie 
was  then  the  most  important  post  in  the  great  northwest  and  was  the  headquarters 
of  a  large  number  of  frontiersmen,  hunters,  trappers,  scouts,  army  contractors 
and  their  employees,  in  addition  to  the  army  garrison.  It  was  the  midway  resting 
place  of  numerous  caravans  of  emigrants  following  the  great  Overland  Trail  to 
California  and  from  these  sources  Colonel  Bullock  raised  a  company  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  who  were  duly  enlisted  and  officered.  All  preparations  were 
made  to  start  when  the  project  came  to  the  notice  of  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  department  at  Omaha.  In  view  of  the  impending  Indian  wars  an  order  was 
issued  forbidding  the  expedition  and  if  necessary  ordering  but  the  military  forces 
to  stop  it. 

For  the  next  twelve  or  thirteen  years  it  was  unsafe  for  any  party  to  go  into 
that  region  as  the  Indians  were  very  numerous  and  powerful,  as  well  as  generally 
hostile,  so  that  the  mystery  that  hung  over  the  Lost  Cabin  mines  was  not  lifted 
and  hangs  over  them  to  this  day,  with  the  exception  of  this  rift  of  light  that  comes 
from  Charley  Clay's  narrative. 

JOHN   HUNTON  AND  FORT  L.ARAMIE 

To  have  lived  in  Wyoming  from  the  organization  of  the  territory  down  to  the 
present  day  is  indeed  a  rare  privilege.  John  Hunton  of  Fort  Laramie,  who  came 
into  this  state  with  a  freight  train  from  Julesburg  before  Cheyenne  was  on  the 
map,  and  has  since  been  prominently  identified  with  the  various  phases  of  frontier 
development,  as  post  trader,  contractor,  ranchman  and  engineer,  has  had  that 
notable  experience.    He  is  especially  identified  with  the  history  of  Fort  Laramie. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  put  into  cold  type  the  interesting  episodes  of  his  life 
and  of  the  early  settlers  who  were  in  his  group  of  comrades,  like  Colin  Hunter. 
Hi  Kelley,  E.  W.  Whitcomb,  Dan  McUlvan  and  Gibson  Clark,  but  his  story  is 
so  typical  of  early  days  in  Wyoming  that  the  writer  journeyed  to  Fort  Laramie 
in  May,  1918,  to  get  from  his  own  lips  a  relation,  that  only  he  could  give. 

Mr.  Hunton  was  born  in  Madison  County,  Ya..,  in  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountain. 
June  18,  1839.  His  father  and  mother,  .Alexander  and  Elizabeth  (Carpenter) 
Hunton,  were  among  the  oldest,  historic  families  of  the  South  and  it  was  natural 
that  John  should  be  among  the  first  to  join  the  Confederate  army  and  remain  in  its 
ranks  as  a  fighting  man  till  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  Even  before  the  Ci\il 
war,  Mr.  Hunton,  as  one  of  the  Mrginia  State  Guards,  was  on  duty  at  Charlestown. 
"\"a.,  eight  miles  from  Harpers  Ferry  with  four  thousand  of  the  guard,  when 
John  Brown  was  hung.    Later,  he  was  in  Pickett's  famous  charge  at  Gettysburg. 

He  left  home  in  the  early  spring  of  1867,  and  went  to  Julesburg,  Colo.  From 
there  he  went  to  Fort  Russell  with  a  freight  train  carrying  finished  lumber  to 
use  in  building  Fort  Russell,  then  a  military  camp  established  to  protect  the  men 
engaged  in  building  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  The  camp  had  been  started  with 
the  construction  of  log  buildings  and  when  the  Government  had  decided  to 
establish  the  fort,  finished  lumber  and  imjjroved  equipment  was  freighted  in.  This 
was  before  Cheyenne  was  started. 


JOHN  HUNTON 


144  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  June,  young  Hunton  went  to  Fort  Laramie  and  was  employed  at  the  sutler's 
store  as  a  roustabout  by  Seth  E.  Ward,  who  was  then  post  trader.  Later  on  he  en- 
gaged as  clerk,  freighter  and  contractor,  continuing  at  the  fort  under  the  sutlership 
of  William  G.  Bullock,  who  had  Benjamin  B.  Mills  as  his  chief  clerk  in  charge  of 
the  business.  At  this  time  Gibson  Clark  and  Charles  Clay  were  also  employed 
as  clerks  and  assistants.  In  those  early  days  Fort  Laramie  was  one  of  the  im- 
portant Indian  trading  posts  of  the  west,  being  the  favorite  center  of  traffic  of 
numerous  tribes,  and  of  the  most  noted  hunters  and  fur  traders  of  that  whole 
region.  It  was  the  headquarters  of  Bordeaux,  Bissonett,  Rishaw  (Richard) 
Brothers,  Fourier,  Little  and  Big  Bat  (Baptiste)  Jim  Bridger,  and  other  noted 
scouts.  The  Sioux  and  Cheyennes  ranged  all  over  the  country  from  north  of  the 
Platte  to  Cache  La  Poudre  in  Colorado.  Many  of  the  furs  and  hides  were 
shipped  to  Robert  Campbell  who  had  a  large  establishment  at  St.  Louis  and  was 
one  of  the  most  noted  fur  traders  of  that  day.  When  in  the  West,  Campbell  made 
Fort  Laramie  his  headquarters. 

Mr.  Hunton  knew  personally  some  of  the  most  famous  Indian  chiefs  of  that 
day,  such  as  Red  Cloud,  Otter  Tail,  American  Horse,  Spotted  Tail  and  Young- 
man-Afraid-of-his-Horse.  and  attended  many  of  their  conferences  and  treaty 
councils.  In  the  famous  Treaty  of  1868,  Mr.  Hunton  was  a  witness  to  the  names 
of  the  Indian  chiefs,  their  signatures  being  a  cross  mark.  Mr.  Hunton  remained 
at  the  fort  till  October,  1870.  For  several  months  while  there  he  roomed  with  Jim 
Bridger,  the  famous  guide  and  scout.  In  1874  he  established  the  S.  O.  Ranch  and 
put  in  a  herd  of  cattle  at  a  point  where  the  Overland  Trail  crossed  the  Box  Elder, 
about  twelve  miles  west  of  Fort  Fetterman.  This  ranch  passed  through  various 
hands  till  it  was  finally  sold  to  Judge  Carey  and  has  since  become  one  of  the 
great  farm  and  ranch  establishments  of  the  state. 

At  various  times  Mr.  Hunton  engaged  in  contracting  with  the  Government 
for  hay,  wood  and  beef  at  Fort  Laramie.  Fort  Fetterman  and  Fort  McKinney, 
finally  located  a  home  ranch  at  Bordeaux  and  engaged  extensively  in  the  cattle 
business  in  that  section.  For  several  years  "Hunton's,"  as  the  place  was  known 
then,  being  on  the  Fort  Laramie  and  Black  Hills  Trail,  accommodated  travelers, 
stock  men,  cowboys,  Black  Hills  gold  hunters,  soldiers  and  Government  freighters 
with  meals  and  supplies  as  a  road  station  and  stopping  place. 

Roving  bands  of  Indians  remained  in  that  section  till  1877,  stealing  stock  and 
occasionally  "sniping"  a  settler.  While  at  Bordeaux,  Mr.  Hunton's  brother 
James,  was  killed  by  the  Indians.  That  was  in  1876.  About  this  time  the  road 
agents  and  horse  thieves  became  numerous  on  the  Black  Hills  road  and  the 
treasure  coaches  with  their  passengers  were  frequently  held  up  and  robbed.  These 
were  exciting  times  and  the  Cheyenne-Fort  Laramie  Road  was  the  most  frequented 
and  best  traveled  route  in  the  Mountain  West. 

In  1888  Mr.  Hunton  was  appointed  post  trader  at  Fort  Laramie  succeeding 
John  London.  Fle  held  that  position  till  the  order  was  issued  abandoning  the  fort, 
the  last  Government  troops  leaving  the  garrison  April  20,  1890.  The  order  of 
abandonment  was  issued  in  March,  1890,  and  shortly  thereafter  two  public  sales 
were  made,  one  in  March  of  the  army  material  accumulated  there,  and  one  in 
April  of  the  Government  buildings.  The  reservation  lands  excepting  forty  acres 
where  Mr.  Hunton  had  his  sutler's  store,  his  residence  and  various  other  buildings 
he  had  erected  at  his  own  expense  were  thrown  open  to  homestead  settlement. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  145 

A  special  act  of  Congress  granted  him  the  privilege  of  purchasing  this  forty 
acre  tract  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre. 

The  reservation  lands  covered  an  area  of  six  miles  east  and  west  by  nine  miles 
north  and  south,  or  fifty-four  square  miles.  The  best  portion  of  this  land  was 
soon  taken  up  by  homestead  settlements  and  Mr.  Hunton  by  homesteading  and 
purchase  of  choice  land  at  the  center  of  the  post  secured  several  hundred  acres 
through  which  a  canal  was  built  making  a  beautiful  ranch  home  with  fertile  lands 
and  the  picturesque  scenes  of  his  early  life  in  Wyoming. 

Mr.  Hunton  also  acquired  the  Bullock  Ranch,  one  of  the  most  valuable  ranches 
on  Laramie  River,  which  is  now  known  as  "Gray  Rocks."  In  the  meantime  Mr. 
Hunton  and  his  wife  have  made  their  home  at  Fort  Laramie  where  all  around 
them  a  rich  agricultural  region  is  being  developed  under  the  Interstate  and 
Laramie  canals  recently  constructed  by  the  United  States  Reclamation  Service,  on 
each  side  of  Platte  River,  from  the  Whalen  Dam  about  five  miles  above  Fort 
Laramie.  Mr.  Hunton  has  the  distinction  as  an  engineer,  of  individually  making 
the  original  survey  for  the  Whalen  Dam  and  Canal  System  which  became  the 
basis  of  a  Government  reclamation  project  that  cost  over  eleven  million  dollars, 
including  the  Nebraska  canals. 

He  sold  his  survey  notes,  filings  and  water  rights  to  Lingle  &  Company  who 
began  the  construction,  but  they  afterward  sold  to  the  United  States  Government 
which  has  completed  here  one  of  the  great  irrigation  enterprises  of  the  West  with 
canals  extending  into  Nebraska  and  watering  one  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  Wyoming  and  much  more  in  Nebraska. 

Among  other  pioneers  and  builders  of  Wyoming  who  were  contemporary 
with  Mr.  Hunton  and  often  connected  with  him  in  business  enterprises,  were 
Colin  Hunter,  E.  W.  Whitcomb,  H.  B.  Kelley,  and  Dan  McUlvan.  Hunter  and 
Whitcomb  have  crossed  the  divide  within  the  past  two  years,  but  Kelley  and 
McUIvan  are  still  living  and  in  vigorous  health  at  the  time  of  this  writing. 

E.   W.   WHITCOMB 

E.  W.  Whitcomb  came  to  Wyoming  in  i86S  from  New  England.  Being  of  a 
fearless  and  venturesome  disposition  he  went  out  on  the  old  California  Trail 
where  it  crosses  Horse  Shoe  Creek,  east  of  the  present  Town  of  Glendo  and 
started  a  trading  station.  About  as  soon  as  he  got  in  his  supplies,  built  his  cabin, 
Slade's  men  robbed  his  store  and  burned  up  everything  except  a  team  and  wagon 
he  had  up  the  creek.  He  then  went  to  Box  Elder  Creek  and  settled  there  for 
several  years  along  in  the  '"o's.  At  one  time  Whitcomb  and  Hi  Kelley  went  to 
Elk  Mountain  where  a  railroad  supply  and  lumber  camp  had  been  established  and 
engaged  in  business  there.  Afterward  he  took  up  a  land  claim  on  Crow  Creek  a 
few  miles  above  Cheyenne.  He  also  built  a  ranch  on  the  Chugwater  and  engaged 
largely  in  the  cattle  business.  Later  he  sold  out  his  interests  on  the  Chugwater 
and  established  ranches  on  the  Belle  Fourche. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  built  a  fine  residence  at  Cheyenne,  where  he  made 
his  home  with  his  family.  After  reaching  the  age  of  eighty-five  years  he  was 
killed  by  lightning  while  on  a  visit  to  his  Belle  Fourche  Ranch.  While  living  in 
Cheyenne  he  was  elected  one  of  the  commissioners  of  Laramie  County.  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  ability  and  honor  and  in  every  respect  a  fine  example  of  the 
character  of  our  best  pioneers. 


U6  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

COLIN    HUNTER 

Many  of  the  most  sturdy  and  enterprising  pioneers  of  Wyoming  were  Scotch- 
men. Robert  Campbell,  the  great  fur  trader,  made  his  headquarters  at  Fort 
Laramie.  Colin  Hunter  came  from  Scotland  in  the  early  '60s  and  was  first  employed 
by  the  United  States  Government  at  Fort  Jackson  near  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. From  there  he  was  transferred  to  Wyoming  in  1866,  going  to  Fort 
Laramie  where  he  remained  as  a  civilian  employee  of  the  Government  till  the  fall 
of  1867.  From  Fort  Laramie  he  went  to  Elk  Mountain,  where  a  busy  lumber  and 
tie  camp  had  been  established  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  remaining  till  the  spring  of  1870,  when  he  went  to  Fort  Laramie  and 
engaged  in  hauling  wood  for  John  Hunton  who  had  a  contract  to  supply  the 
fort.  For  several  years  he  worked  teams  with  a  partner  named  Cush  Abbott  on 
Government  contracts  for  hay  and  wood.  About  the  year  1873  they  bought  one 
hundred  head  of  cattle  and  started  a  ranch  just  above  Chimney  Rock  on  the 
Chugwater,  in  the  meantime  keeping  their  freight  teams  at  work  on  Government 
contracts.  In  1877  Mr.  Hunter  sold  his  teams  to  John  Hunton  and  went  to 
Montana  to  engage  in  the  cattle  business  exclusively.  Later  he  sold  out  his 
Montana  holdings  and  came  to  Cheyenne  to  reside,  but  invested  largely  in  the 
ranch  and  cattle  business  at  various  points  in  Wyoming.  He  bought  the  Horse 
Creek  Ranch  of  Gordon  &  Campbell  and  went  into  partnership  with  John  Hunton 
at  the  Bullock  ranch  on  Laramie  River.  Mr.  Hunter  was  a  prominent  leader  in  the 
democratic  party  of  the  state.  He  held  many  positions  of  public  trust,  including 
that  of  state  senator.  He  died  at  Cheyenne  August  30,  1916,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years. 

DANIEL  MC  ULVAN 

What  Dan  McUlvan  knows  about  the  early  days  of  Wyoming  and  won't  tell, 
would  fill  a  good  sized  volume.  He  lives  in  Cheyenne  in  the  enjoyment  of  an 
ample  fortune  and  while  he  enjoys  the  memory  of  those  early  days  when  he  lived 
an  open  air  life  on  the  plains  and  in  the  mountains  as  a  roustalsout.  miner,  tie- 
cutter,  freighter,  bridge-tender,  etc.,  he  keeps  the  enjoyment  to  himself  and  cannot 
be  induced  to  talk  for  publication.  From  one  of  his  old  friends  we  learn  that 
he  came  to  Wyoming  in  1865  and  for  sometime  ran  F)ridger's  Ferry  at  a  crossing 
near  what  is  now  Orin  Junction.  In  1867,  in  company  with  a  Mr.  McFarlane, 
he  was  engaged  in  working  a  gold  mine  for  Mr.  Bullock  on  the  Horseshoe  in  the 
Laramie  Peak  region,  until  the  Indians  drove  them  out  and  they  were  obliged  to 
abandon  the  enterprise.  The  fights  they  had  ^\■ith  the  Indians  and  their  narrow 
escapes  would  make  an  interesting  story.  From  there  he  went  to  the  tie  camp  at 
Elk  ]\Iountain  and  worked  for  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  Back  to  Fort  Laramie 
in  1870,  he  engaged  with  McFarlane  in  putting  in  wood  for  Mr.  Hunton,  and  after- 
ward freighted  goods  for  the  Indian  department.  In  1872  he  went  into  the  cattle 
business  establishing  a  ranch  north  of  Chimney  Rock,  which  was  later  purchased 
by  Erasmus  Nagle.  About  1885,  he  went  to  Cheyenne  and  in  company  with 
Henry  Altman  organized  the  famous  Hereford  Ranch  on  Crow  Creek  a  few  miles 
east  of  Cheyenne,  for  the  raising  of  high  grade,  pedigreed  cattle.  In  this  business 
he  accumulated  a  fortune.    Selling  out  his  interest  a  few  years  ago  he  retired  from 


HISTORY  OF  WYOAIIXG  U7 

business  and  enjoys  a  well  earned  rest  while  still  in  possession  of  vigorous  health 
and  an  iron  constitution  gained  in  the  sunshine  and  ozone  of  a  Wyoming  climate. 

FRANK  GROUARD THE   FAMOUS   SCOUT 

The  editor  of  this  volume,  while  on  a  prospecting  trip  in  the  Laramie  mountains 
with  his  sons  in  the  summer  of  1899,  made  the  acquaintance  of  Frank  Grouard. 
We  camped  near  the  beautiful  Horse  Shoe  Park,  where  Grouard  was  in  charge  of 
a  copper  and  lead  mine.  The  evening  we  pitched  our  tent  he  came  over  and 
introduced  himself  and  offered  us  the  hospitalities  of  the  camp.  On  our  invitation 
he  spent  the  evening  with  us  smoking  and  swapping  stories,  but  principally  talking 
about  the  ores  and  mineral  prospects  in  that  vicinity.  For  the  few  days  we  were 
camped  there  we  interchanged  visits  and  took  many  meals  together.  A  few- 
months  later,  Grouard  made  us  a  week's  visit  at  our  headquarters  camp  at  Hart- 
ville  and  our  acquaintance  ripened  into  friendship. 

Grouard  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  men  that  I  have  ever  met,  and  had  the 
most  thrilling  and  adventurous  life  of  any  of  the  great  scouts  known  to  western 
history.  He  had  lived  six  years  among  the  Indians  as  the  adopted  brother  of 
Sitting  Bull,  where  he  gained  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  whole  Sioux 
tribe  and  visiting  tribes,  for  his  achievements  as  hunter  and  marksman,  athletic 
powers  and  feats  of  dare-devil  bravery.  As  a  scout  and  Indian  trailer  he  never 
had  a  superior,  his  endurance  was  wonderful,  when  on  expeditions  in  pursuit  of 
Indians  he  was  always  accurate  and  unerring  in  his  knowledge  of  their  location, 
and  in  his  advice  as  to  the  best  method  of  approaching  and  fighting  them.  Generals 
Sheridan,  Crook,  Merritt  and  other  noted  commanders  have  testified  to  Grouard's 
remarkable  genius  as  a  scout,  and  various  correspondents  and  newspaper  men  like 
Gen.  James  S.  Brisbin,  Capt.  John  G.  Bourke,  Capt.  Jack  Crawford,  John 
F.  Finnerty,  have  been  on  expeditions  with  him  and  importuned  him  for  the 
story  of  his  life  without  success. 

He  was  naturally  reticent  and  as  modest  as  he  was  brave.  General  Crook,  in 
his  correspondence  with  the  war  department  in  1876,  referring  to  Grouard  and  his 
valuable  services,  said :  "I  would  sooner  lose  a  third  of  my  command  than  Frank 
Grouard.'' 

His  affection  for,  and  confidence  in,  Grouard  was  reciprocated  and  the>i\-  became 
firm  and  steadfast  friends.  During  Grouard's  stay  in  our  camp  at  different  times 
he  overcame  his  reticence  and  told  us  many  events  of  his  life.  His  ancestors 
were  French  Huguenots  who  fled  to  America  and  settled  near  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
His  father  was  born  there  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  went  to  the  South  Sea  Islands 
as  a  missionary  and  married  there  a  native  woman,  daughter  of  a  chief.  Frank 
was  the  second  son  and  was  therefore  half  French  and  half  Malay.  .\s  he  seldom 
referred  to  his  childhood,  his  companions  generally  thought  him  to  be  a  full  or  part 
Indian.  Indeed  he  might  be  mistaken  for  a  full-blooded  Sioux,  except  he  was 
handsomer  than  any  Indian.  He  was  six  feet  in  height,  weighed  two  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds,  had  broad  shoulders  and  a  heavy  growth  of  black  hair.  He  was- 
straight  and  symmetrical,  had  handsome  dark  brown  eyes.  His  habits  were 
temperate  so  that  he  retained  his  strength,  vigor  and  athletic  powers  at  all  times. 

Frank's  father  brought  his  family  to  California  where  his  wife  left  him  and 
returned  to  the  Islands.    Frank  was  left  in  the  family  of  Addison  Pratt  at  Beaver, 


148  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Utah.  He  ran  away  from  the  Pratts  and  got  a  job  as  bull-whacker,  hauling 
freight  from  San  Bernardino  to  Helena,  Mont.  This  was  in  1865  when  he  was 
about  fifteen  years  of  age.  A  few  years  later  he  got  a  job  breaking  horses  for 
the  Holliday  Stage  Company  and  soon  after  was  put  in  the  Pony  Express  service 
from  Diamond  City  to  Fort  Hall  on  the  Missouri  River.  On  his  fourth  trip  the 
Indians  captured  him.  He  was  suddenly  surrounded  by  twenty  Blackfeet  who 
pulled  him  oR  his  horse  and  stripped  him  entirely  naked  and  told  him  to  go  back. 
Then  they  began  to  lash  him  with  quirts  following  him  for  several  miles  as  he 
ran  over  a  country  covered  with  patches  of  cactus.  He  was  not  long  in  reaching 
Fort  Hall,  seventy  miles  away. 

He  was  next  put  on  the  mail  line  from  Fort  Hall  to  Fort  Peck  at  the  mouth  of 
Milk  River.  He  was  then  a  boy  nineteen  years  of  age.  The  Sioux  were  getting 
ugly  and  committing  depredations  throughout  that  region.  It  was  winter  time  and 
while  making  a  trip,  going  through  a  gulch  in  a  snow  storm,  without  thought  of 
anyone  being  near  he  was  suddenly  hit  on  the  back  of  the  head  and  knocked  from 
his  horse.  A  band  of  Sioux  warriors  surrounded  him  and  began  to  quarrel  over 
him,  as  to  who  should  have  his  guns,  his  fur  coat,  gloves  and  leggings.  During 
the  quarrel  another  Indian  rode  up.  He  seemed  to  have  great  authority.  He 
stopped  the  quarrel  and  knocked  down  the  one  who  had  taken  the  rifle.  He  then 
took  Grouard  to  the  Indian  Village.  During  the  three  days  travel  before  reaching 
the  hostile  camp  he  learned  that  his  captor  was  the  famous  Indian  Chief,  "Sitting 
Bull,"  who,  on  arriving  took  Grouard  to  his  own  tent  and  motioned  him  to  sit 
down  on  a  pile  of  buffalo  robes.  He  fell  asleep  from  pure  exhaustion,  although 
he  fully  expected  to  be  tortured  and  killed  very  soon.  While  he  slept  the  Indians 
held  a  council  to  decide  his  fate.  Chiefs  Gall  and  No-Neck  declared  for  his  im- 
mediate execution  and  they  had  a  majority  of  the  tribe  with  them.  Sitting  Bull 
almost  alone  refused  to  consent  to  Grouard's  deatli  and  he  declared  he  would 
make  him  his  "brother."  His  public  adoption  into  Sitting  Bull's  family  saved  him 
from  a  cruel  death.  The  chief  had  taken  a  great  fancy  to  Grouard,  named  him 
"Standing  Bear,"  and  called  him  brother.  The  name,  Standing  Bear,  was  soon 
known  to  all  the  surrounding  tribes.  This  name  was  given  him  because  when 
captured  he  wore  a  heavy  fur  coat,  fur  leggings,  cap  and  gloves,  and  was  so 
bundled  up,  prepared  for  the  storm,  that  he  resembled  a  bear. 

He  lived  with  Sitting  Bull  for  six  years,  during  which  time  he  became 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  their  language  and  traditions,  their  manners  and 
customs  in  war  and  peace  and  he  so  excelled  the  best  of  them  in  athletic  exercises, 
markmanship,  running  and  wrestling  that  he  was  looked  upon  with  superstitious 
fear  as  a  superior  being.  He  studied  and  made  notes  of  the  legends  and  mythology 
of  the  Sioux  tribes  and  had  prepared  a  very  complete  history  which  was  destroyed 
in  a  fire  which  burned  his  residence  near  Buffalo,  Wyo. 

He  described  the  torture  test  he  had  to  undergo  as  a  Sioux  warrior.  All  the 
village  was  assembled.  He  was  taken  by  four  chiefs  and  stripped  naked.  His 
flesh  was  raised  by  pricking  him  with  needles.  Pieces  about  the  size  of  a  pea 
were  cut  out  with  sharp  knives,  from  each  arm,  in  all  over  four  hundred 
pieces.  They  pulled  out  his  eyebrows  and  eyelashes  one  by  one.  They  set  fire  to 
pieces  of  the  pith  of  the  sunflower  which  burned  like  punk,  and  held  them  against 
his  wrist  until  they  bumed  out.  Although  he  endured  untold  agony  he  did  not 
flinch  and  gave  no  sign  of  his  distress.    The  ceremonies  lasted  four  hours  and  he 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  149 

was  declared  a  good  Indian.  Then  he  was  put  through  the  "sweat"  as  a  sort  of  a 
healing  process.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  captivity  he  was  entrusted  with  peace 
negotiations  and  on  account  of  Sitting  Bull  breaking  his  agreement  with  him 
and  the  whites  he  determined  to  give  up  his  Indian  life. 

For  a  long  time  he  had  been  allowed  his  freedom  and  on  one  trip  he  went  to 
visit  a  white  friend  on  Snake  River,  Neb.  An  expedition  against  the  Indians 
was  being  organized.  Orders  were  sent  out  for  scouts  who  knew  the  country  and 
he  was  persuaded  to  go  to  the  camp  where  the  troops  were  gathered.  They  told 
him  to  go  and  see  General  Crook,  who  was  then  at  Fort  Laramie,  ninety  miles 
away.  He  started  at  night  and  reached  there  the  next  morning.  Crook  questioned 
him  very  closely  about  the  chance  of  getting  at  the  Indians,  engaged  him  as  a 
scout  at  $125  a  month,  and  they  went  back  to  the  Red  Cloud  Agency.  They 
went  on  an  expedition  to  Tongue  River  and  camped  at  the  present  site  of  Dayton. 
Here  he  assisted  in  making  a  treaty  with  Crazy  Horse,  for  which  service  the 
Government  paid  him  $500.  It  was  three  months  before  he  could  talk  good 
English.  During  this  period  he  wore  Indian  costume  and  long  hair  and  to  all 
appearances  was  a  genuine  Indian.  He  then  had  his  hair  cut  and  adopted  a  white 
man's  dress  and  customs. 

After  that  he  was  made  chief  of  scouts  and  accompanied  General  Crook  on 
his  various  expeditions,  and  was  also  with  General  MacKenzie,  General  Merritt 
and  General  Sheridan  at  different  periods.  He  was  with  Crook's  command  in  the 
campaign  which  resulted  in  the  Custer  massacre,  was  on  the  Custer  battlefield 
the  next  morning  after  the  fight  and  saw  the  bodies  of  the  newly  slain  men. 
Grouard  says  Custer  must  have  killed  himself  as  his  body  was  not  harmed.  The 
Indians  will  not  touch  the  body  of  a  suicide.  He  rode  around  their  villages  and 
estimated  that  they  had  nine  thousand  fighting  men.  He  was  with  Merritt  in  the 
Nez  Perce  campaign,  took  a  prominent  part  in  suppressing  the  ghost  dance  and 
Messiah  outbreaks  at  the  Pine  Ridge  Agency,  and  made  all  the  plans  for  the 
arrest  of  Sitting  Bull  which  practically  ended  the  Indian  troubles  of  that  time. 

He  was  given  a  life  position  by  the  United  States  Government  with  a  good 
salary  whether  on  duty  or  not,  but  he  was  too  proud  to  accept  pay  when  he  was 
rendering  no  service,  and  early  in  the  '90s  resigned  and  went  into  business  for 
himself.  He  settled  near  Buffalo,  Wyo.,  engaged  in  ranching  and  mining  and  while 
employed  in  the  latter  occupation  we  made  his  acquaintance.  The  details  of  his 
life  and  adventures  have  been  told  in  an  interesting  volume  written  by  Joe  De 
Barth,  a  well  known  writer  and  newspaper  man  of  Buffalo  where  Grouard  spent 
his  later  years. 

SACAJAWE.^ 

The  name  of  Sacajawea,  enrolled  as  a  pathfinder  on  the  pages  of  the  early 
history  of  the  Northwest,  has  given  an  added  lustre  to  the  womanhood  of  the 
Indian  race.  A  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Wyoming  Legislature  in  February, 
1907,  appropriating  $500  to  mark  the  grave  of  this  remarkable  Indian  girl,  who 
with  singular  fidelity,  keen  insight  and  unsurpassed  endurance  and  bravery,  guided 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  across  the  western  continent  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  same  year  the  North  Dakota  Legislature  appropriated  $15,000  for  a  founda- 
tion and  pedestal  upon  which  to  erect  a  statue  in  her  honor  to  be  erected  at 


150  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Bismarck,  the  design  to  be  made  by  Leonard  Crunille.  Tiiere  is  also  a  project 
being  undertaken  in  Montana  to  erect  a  monument  to  Sacajawea  at  Three  Forks. 
It  is  a  tine  thing  even  after  more  than  a  hundred  years  have  elapsed  that  the  busy, 
money-making  people  of  this  generation  have  at  last  begun  to  recognize  the 
greatness  of  her  achievement  and  desire  to  do  honor  to  her  memory. 

Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard,  of  the  Wyoming  State  University,  in  her  very 
interesting  account  of  Sacajawea's  services,  says:  "It  was  an  epoch-making  jour- 
ney, a  journey  that  moved  the  world  along;  that  pushed  the  boundary  of  the 
United  States  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific ;  that  gave  us  the  breadth 
of  the  hemisphere  from  ocean  to  ocean;  the  command  of  its  rivers  and  harbors; 
the  wealth  of  the  mountains,  plains  and  valleys — a  domain  rich  enough  for  the 
ambition  of  kings." 

Sacajawea  was  a  Shoshone  Indian  girl,  the  wife  of  Toissant  Charbonneau. 
She  was  engaged  as  guide  by  Lewis  and  Clark  when  they  reached  the  Mandan 
Indian  village  where  she  resided.  Her  husband,  Charbonneau  was  first  em- 
ployed as  an  interpreter.  He  had  two  wives,  the  youngest  being  Sacajawea,  who 
was  sold  to  him  as  a  slave  when  about  fourteen  years  old.  The  following  year, 
1805,  she  gave  birth  to  a  child  and  this  child  she  took  with  her  on  the  long  jour- 
ney, strapped  to  her  back.  The  babe  grew  up  to  become  a  skilled  guide  and 
scout  and  was  known  as  "Baptiste."  Before  this  time  Sacajawea  had  been  a 
captive  for  five  years  and  had  accompanied  her  captors  over  much  of  the 
ground  over  which  tlie  expedition  went,  and  so  by  her  knowledge  and  natural 
instinct  in  selecting  trails  she  led  the  explorers  on  their  way.  That  summer  the 
party  camped  on  the  exact  spot,  at  the  junction  of  the  Madison,  Jeft'erson  and 
-Gallatin  rivers,  where  as  a  child  captive  she  had  camped  and  played  years  be- 
fore. She  was  the  one  who  found  the  pass  through  the  mountains  and  saved 
•fhe  party  from  long  wanderings  in  an  unknown  wilderness. 

Many  dramatic  incidents  attended  the  trip.  On  one  occasion  when  crossing 
■a.  swollen  stream  one  of  their  boats  containing  their  valuable  records  was  over- 
turned and  the  records  were  floating  away  when  she  plunged  into  the  dangerous 
stream  and  rescued  the  papers  before  they  sank.  On  another  occasion  she 
found  a  brother  who  had  been  separated  from  the  family  many  years  had  be- 
come an  Indian  chief.  Neither  recognized  the  other  until  the  family  relations 
were  explained  when  they  had  a  most  affectionate  reunion.  The  brother  gave 
much  assistance  to  the  party  in  purchasing  horses  and  supplies.  She  even  assisted 
her  husband  in  interpreting  as  she  knew  some  Indian  dialects  better  than  he  did. 
When  starvation  threatened  them  she  collected  artichokes  and  other  nutritious 
plants  and  seeds  which  kept  them  alive  till  they  reached  places  where  better  food 
could  be  had. 

Lewis  and  Clark  reached  the  coast  December  7,  1805,  and  remained  till 
March,  1806,  when  they  began  to  retrace  their  journey  to  Mandan  which  they 
reached  in  August.     Referring  to  Sacajawea,  Lewis  and  Clark's  Journal  says ; 

"We  found  Charbonneau's  wife  particularly  useful.  Indeed  she  endured  with 
a  patience  truly  admirable  the  fatigues  of  so  long  a  route  incumbered  with  an 
infant  now  only  nineteen  months  old.  She  was  very  observant,  remembering 
locations  not  seen  since  her  childhood. 

"In  trouble  she  was  full  of  resources,  plucky  and  determined.  With  her 
helpless  infant  she  rode  with  the  men,  guiding  us  unerringly  through  mountain 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  151 

passes  and  lonely  places.  Intelligent,  cheerful,  resourceful,  tireless  and  faithful, 
she  inspired  us  all." 

No  better  eulogium  could  be  written  of  her  personal  character  of  the  great 
service  she  rendered  not  only  to  the  explorers  but  through  them  to  our  country. 
Her  name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  Sac,  a  canoe  or  raft,  a — the,  jawea,  launcher — 
a  launcher  or  paddler  of  canoes. 

She  was  short  of  stature  and  was  handsome  in  her  girlhood  days.  She  spoke 
French  as  well  as  several  Indian  tongues.  She  lived  to  a  great  age  and  during 
her  whole  life  was  wonderfully  active  and  intelligent.  She  died  at  the  Shoshone 
Agency  near  Lander,  April  9,  1884,  and  was  buried  in  the  burial  ground  of  the 
agency  where  her  grave  was  marked  by  a  small  slab.  The  grave  has  been 
identified  by  her  children  and  grandchildren,  a  fact  ascertained  and  certified  to, 
by  Rev.  John  Roberts,  who  was  a  missionary  at  the  reservation  from  1883  to 
1906.  If  the  State  of  Wyoming  ever  becomes  mindful  of  its  patriotic  and  historic 
obligations  it  will  erect  a  fitting  memorial  monument  to  Sacajawea,  the  brave 
pathfinding  Indian  girl,  and  also  one  to  Chief  Washakie,  the  greatest  of  Indian 
warriors  and  statesmen. 


CASPAR  COLLINS,   THE    HERO   OF  OLD  PLATTE  BRIDGE 

The  management  of  the  State  Industrial  Convention  held  at  Casper  in  Sep- 
tember, 1905,  offered  a  prize  for  the  best  poem  on  Caspar  Collins.  The  award 
was  made  to  I.  S.  Bartlett  of  Cheyenne,  who  contributed  the  following: 

Ah,  sad  the  need  and  sad  the  day. 
When  Caspar  Collins  rode  away 
And  in  the  battle's  fiery  breath 
Rode  undismayed  and  captured  death. 

With  courage  rare  his  brave  young  heart 
Impelled  to  take  a  soldier's  part 
And  save  his  comrades  on  the  trail. 
He  counted  no  such  word  as  fail. 

He  rode  to  death  nor  cared  to  know 
The  fearful  numbers  of  his  foe, 
How  great  the  odds,  how  sure  his  fate; 
He  rode  to  lead  and  not  to  wait. 

Where  Casper's  church  spires  pierce  the  ambient  air 
And  the  young  city  rises  proud  and  fair. 
Where  children's  voices  mingle  with  the  bells 
And  sound  of  happy  industry,  that  tells 
The  storj'  of  a  new  and  better  life. 
We  turn  our  memory  to  red-blooded  strife, 
The  toilsome  march,  the  ambuscade,  the  yell 
Of  painted  savages  and  battle's  hell. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

That  made  our  pioneers  a  sturdy  race 
Of  iron  blood  and  nerves  of  steel,  to  face 
The   storms  and  dangers  of  the  wilderness, 
A  future  race,  a  future  land  to  bless. 

We  tread  historic  ground;  Casper's  old  fort 
And  old  Platte  Bridge,  were  once  resort 
Of  men  who  braved  the  perils  of  the  trail 
And  perished  there  with  none  to  tell  the  tale; 
Hunters  and  trappers.  Uncle  Samuel's  troops. 
Gold  seekers.  Mormons,  men  in  motley  groups 
With  prairie  schooners,  mounts  and  caravans. 
Trailed  o'er  the  plains;  'twas  in  the  Almighty's  plans 
For   they   were   empire  builders,   who   should   rear 
The  splendid  commonwealth  that  we  find  here; 
Thus  Casper  in  the  path  of  empire  lies 
Bound  to  old  memories  with  historic  ties. 

In  'sixty-five  one  July  day 

Near  Casper's  site  the  old  fort  lay; 

Thousands  of  Indians  swarmed  around. 

The  hills  near  by  with  yells  resound ; 

Few  were  the  garrison  but  brave. 

Hemmed  in  they  sought  all  means  to  save 

Their  little  band ;  but  worse  than  all 

A  wagon  train  was  due  that  day 

And  even  then  was  on  its  way 

From  Sweetwater  with  twenty  men ; 

How  could  they  reach  the  fort?  'twas  then 

A  terror  new  burst  on  their  view ; 

Could  they  be  saved?    Oh,  who  would  dare 

To  fight  2,000  Indians  there? 

Their  force  was  small  and  great  their  fear, 
But  five  and  twenty  volunteer 
To  march  at  once,  to  do  or  die ; 
But  who  will  lead  them  was  the  cry ; 
Old  officers  declined;  too  late 
They  said,  to  challenge  fate. 

Young  Caspar  Collins,  a  mere  boy. 
Stepped  to  the  front  with  courage  grand 
And  volunteered  to  lead  the  band, 
The  mission  to  him  was  a  joy. 

"Trot,  gallop,  charge,"  the  order  came, 
The  troopers  rode  to  death  and  fame, 
They  dashed  across  the  old  Platte  Bridge 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  153 

But  met  upon  the  frowning  ridge 
Two  thousand  Indians  swarming  there; 
With  yells  resounding  through  the  air 
They  sprang  from  many  an  ambuscade 
And  overwhelmed  the  cavalcade. 
Hot  raged  the  battle;   it  was  hell 
Transferred  to  earth  and  none  could  tell 
What  man  alone  could  save  his  life 
In  that  unequal,  maddening  strife. 
They  fought  retreating  to  the  fort 
To  reach  there  with  a  good  report, 
But  Collins  turned  to  help  a  man 
Wounded  and  dying  in  the  van, 
Alas  for  him,  alas  the  fate 
That  made  his  effort  all  too  late. 
He  rode  with  courage  undismayed 
Into  the  Indian  bands,  arrayed 
In  mad  revenge;  and  met  his  death 
Fighting  alone  to  his  last  breath. 

Thus  Caspar  Collins  in  the  thrilling  fray 

Died  gloriously  and  left  a  name 

Written  in  letters  bright  as  day 

Upon  the  annals  of  Wyoming  fame. 

While  Casper  Mountain  shadows   fall  at  night, 

Or  the  keen  lances  of  the  morning  light 

Dart  o'er  the  foothills,  or  the  light  breeze  blows 

Along  the  valley  where  the  North  Platte  flows. 

The  name  of  Caspar  Collins  will  abide. 

Written  with  those  who  grandly  strove  and  died 

To  save  their  fellowmen  and  build  a  state 

Of  happy  homes,  proud,  prosperous  and  great. 


LUKE  VOORHEES  AND  EARLY  STAGE  COACH  DAYS 

No  story  of  the  frontier  days  of  Wyoming  and  the  Mountain  West  would  be 
complete  without  a  sketch  of  the  life  and  experiences  of  Luke  Voorhees,  now 
receiver  of  the  United  States  land  office  at  Cheyenne.  Probably  no  man  living 
could  give  such  a  rich  store  of  personal  experiences  and  adventures  pertaining 
to  the  pioneer  days  of  the  western  wilderness. 

He  was  bom  at  Belvidere,  N.  J.,  November  29,  1838,  and  the  next  year  his 
parents  moved  to  Michigan  where  he  lived  till  1857.  On  March  lOth  of  that 
year,  his  spirit  of  adventure  and  thirst  for  "the  wild,"  led  him  to  start  for 
Leavenworth,  Kan.,  as  he  expresses  it,  "to  hunt  buffalo,  scalp  Indians  and  get 
a  piece  of  land  to  farm." 

He  first  reached  Wyoming  in  October,  1859,  passing  over  what  is  now  Chey- 
enne nearly  eight  years  before  the  town  came  into  existence.     In  a  recent  edition 


154  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  the  Cheyenne  Leader,  Mr.  Voorhees  gives  a  history  of  the  Overland  Stage 
Company,  organized  in  1857,  which  is  replete  with  thrilling  incidents.  The  main 
historical  facts  are  given  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Speaking  of  the  perils  they 
encountered,  he  relates  the  following  incidents : 

A   BLACK    FACE  SKINNED 

In  March,  1862,  as  if  every  Indian  in  the  country  had  been  especially  instructed 
(the  Shoshones  and  Bannocks  in  the  western  mountains  and  the  Sioux  on  the 
plains),  simultaneously  pounced  upon  every  station  between  Bridger's  Ferry  and 
Bear  River  (about  where  Evanston,  Wyo.,  now  stands).  They  captured  the 
horses  and  mules  on  that  division  of  the  Overland  route.  The  stages,  passengers, 
and  express  were  left  standing  at  stations.  The  Indians  did  not,  on  that  raid, 
kill  anyone  except  at  Split  Rock  on  the  Sweetwater.  Holliday  being  a  little 
stylish  had  brought  out  from  Pennsylvania  a  colored  man  who  had  been  raised 
in  that  state  and  who  could  only  talk  Pennsylvania  Dutch.  The  Indians  when 
they  reached  Split  Rock  called  on  Black  Face,  as  they  called  him,  to  make  heap 
biscuit,  heap  coff  (meaning  coffee),  heap  shug.  Black  Face  said,  nix  come  roush. 
They  then  spoke  to  Black  Face  in  Mexican.  The  colored  man  shook  his  head 
and  said,  nixey.  Whereupon  they  tried  a  little  French  half-breed  talk.  Black 
Face  again  said  "nix  fershta."  In  the  meantime  the  colored  man  seemed  about 
to  collapse.  Things  looked  serious  for  him.  After  a  consultation  they  concluded 
to  skin  him  alive  and  get  heap  rawhide.  Then  they  said  heap  shoot.  So  they 
killed  the  poor  fellow,  helped  themselves  to  the  grub  and  left. 

In  the  year  1857,  Mr.  \'oorhees  made  the  trip  from  Lawrence,  Kan.,  up  the 
Kansas  River  to  the  confluence  of  the  Smoky  Hill  and  Republican  and  thence 
west  on  the  plains  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  and 
later  in  1859,  made  a  trip  up  the  Arkansas  River  via  Bent's  Old  Fort  to  "Pikes 
Peak  or  bust,"  camped  where  Denver  now  stands  and  went  over  the  country 
from  the  South  Platte  to  Pawnee  Buttes.  On  this  trip  he  saw  buffalo  herds 
covering  the  plains  for  200  miles  and  he  says  that  the  word  "millions"  would 
not  express  their  number.  He  saw  one  of  the  greatest  herds  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pine  Bluffs,  about  forty  miles  east  of  Cheyenne,  now  the  Golden  Prairie  district, 
where  many  dry  farmers  are  getting  rich  raising  wheat,  oats  and  live  stock.  He 
also  on  this  trip  passed  over  the  present  site  of  Cheyenne.  His  early  recollec- 
tions of  the  city  which  are  very  interesting  appear  in  other  parts  of  this  history. 
(Jne  incident  is  mentioned  of  a 

NOVEL    WEDDING    ANNOUNCEMENT 

An  important  occurrence  was  the  advent  of  a  velocipede  on  January  23, 
1868,  which  the  cowboys  named  a  two-wheeled  jackrabbit.  About  the  same  time 
a  rather  impromptu  wedding  occurred  and  it  was  announced  in  the  Leader  in 
this  way:  "On  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  twenty-two 
(22).  township  twenty-one  (21),  north  of  range  eleven  (11)  east,  in  an  open 
sleigh  and  under  open  and  unclouded  canopy  by  the  Rev.  J-  F.  Mason,  James  B., 
only  son  of  John  Cox  of  Colorado,  and  Ellen  C.  eldest  daughter  of  Major  O. 
Harrington  of   Nebraska." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


STAGE   EXPERIENCES 


Speaking  of  the  depredations  of  the  Indians  and  the  hold-ups  by  the  road 
agents  on  the  Overland  route  from  1861  to  1867,  Mr.  Voorhees  refers  as  follows 
to  one  trip  made  by  Ben  HoUiday  and  his  wife :  "In  June,  1863,  Ben  Holliday 
concluded  to  make  a  personal  trip  over  the  line  with  Mrs.  Holliday  from  Sac- 
ramento, Cal.,  to  Atchison,  Kan.  He  telegraphed  his  intention  to  do  so,  with 
strict  orders  that  no  one  but  the  division  superintendents  should  know  of  his 
trip  at  that  time  but  to  have  extra  horses  at  the  relay  stations  so  as  to  make 
record  time.  He  desired  the  utmost  secrecy  for  the  reason  that  he  was  taking 
$40,OCX3  in  gold  with  him  to  New  York  (gold  at  that  time  being  worth  $2.40  in 
greenbacks).  He  had  a  false  bottom  securely  built  in  the  coach  where  he 
packed  the  gold,  so  that  should  he  be  held  up,  no  road  agent  would  suspect 
the  money  being  in  any  other  place  than  the  treasure  box  which  was  always 
carried  in  the  front  boot  of  the  stage.  The  United  States  mail  was  carried  in 
the  hind  boot. 

"At  that  date  it  was  a  rare  thing  to  have  any  of  the  Overland  stages  held  up 
by  any  one  but  the  Indians.  However,  on  this  special  trip  of  Ben  Holliday  it 
really  happened.  For  between  Green  River  stage  station  and  Salt  Wells  on 
Bitter  Creek,  Wyoming,  three  men  suddenly  sprang  from  a  ravine,  each  armed 
with  a  double-barreled  shotgun  and  two  dragoon  revolvers,  calling  to  the  drivers 
to  halt,  which  order  was  quickly  obeyed.  The  road  agents  ordered  all  passen- 
gers— 'hands  up  high!'  On  seeing  a  lady  passenger  in  the  coach  they  said  she 
need  not  get  out  as  they  (the  robbers)  were  gentlemen  of  the  first  water  and 
never  molested  a  lady.  But  they  warned  Mr.  Holliday  to  keep  his  hands  above 
his  head.  During  the  search  through  the  treasure  box  and  mail,  Ben  Holliday's 
heavy,  bristly  mustache  began  tickling  his  nose.  It  became  so  acute  and  unbear- 
able that  he  finally  made  a  move  to  scratch  it.  Instantly  the  road  agent  ordered 
his  hands  up  high.  "My  God !'  said  Ben,  T  must  scratch  my  nose,  I  can't  stand 
it.'  'You  keep  your  hands  up  where  I  told  you,'  said  the  agent,  'I  will  attend 
to  the  nose  business.'  So  he  proceeded  to  rub  Ben's  nose  with  the  muzzle  of 
the  shotgun.     Thus  relieved  he  held  up  his  hands  until  the  search  was  finished. 

However,  the  false  bottom  in  the  coach  was  a  success  for  it  sa\-ed  the  gold 
which  Mr.  Holliday  carried  safely  through  to  New  York  where  he  changed  it 
into  greenbacks  clearing  the  handsome  sum  of  $56,000. 

SALT   LAKE    CITY   INCIDENTS 

During  the  winter  of  1866,  Mr.  \'oorhees  made  a  trip  by  stage  from  the 
gold  camp  (now  Helena),  Montana,  to  Salt  Lake  City.  At  that  time  he  had 
been  gold  placer  mining  for  three  years  in  various  camps  in  the  Northwest  and 
had  about  two  hundred  pounds  of  gold  dust  which  he  took  to  an  assay  office  to 
be  run  into  ingots  and  sold  for  currency,  gold  being  worth  then  about  $2.40  in 
greenbacks.  It  was  there  he  met  a  notorious  western  character  known  as  "Yeast 
Powder  Bill"  who  claimed  to  be  a  partner  of  Sam  Clemens  ( ;\Iark  Twain).  He 
said  he  and  Sam  had  been  prospecting  together  for  silver  in  Nevada,  that  Clem- 
ens claimed  to  be  a  pilot  (sagebrush  pilot)  but  they  had  got  lost,  which  proved 
he  was  no  good  and  he  had  quit  him. 


156  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

After  he  had  got  cleaned  up,  "Yeast  Powder"  started  for  a  drink.  "They 
brew  a  native  drink  out  of  wheat  and  potatoes  called  'valley  tan.'  I  never  tried 
it  but  those  who  did  said  it  was  the  stuff.  It  would  make  a  man  fight  a  Sierra 
grizzly  bear  or  his  grandmother.  Bill  bought  one  drink  for  fifty  cents  and  it 
created  such  an  increase  in  his  estimate  of  the  mines  that  he  and  Clemens  didn't 
discover,  that  he  bought  another.  The  world  looked  brighter  after  taking  the 
second  drink  and  he  wanted  a  square  meal. 

"He  was  directed  to  Salt  Lake  House.  Bill  laid  off  his  belt  and  two  navy 
revolvers  so  he  could  eat  comfortably.  The  landlord  said  the  dinner  was  $3,  pay 
in  advance.  Yeast  Powder  said  it  seemed  steep  but  he  always  tried  to  play 
the  game  to  the  limit  so  he  paid  the  $3  and  entered  the  dining  room.  The  menu 
was  not  a  printed  one,  but  verbal.  Little  Mollie,  the  waitress,  or  head  waiter, 
was  a  very  good  looking  little  English  (Mormon)  girl.  Bill  told  her  to  call  the 
roll  for  $3  worth  of  grub,  as  he  wanted  to  chaw  worse  than  a  California  grizzly 
wanted  to  chaw  a  Digger  Indian.  Mollie  called  over  the  grub  as  she  thought  of 
it.  She  said  'carrots,  biled  beef,  cabbage,  taters,  turnips,  tea,  hog  meat  and 
beans  (Brigham  cautioned  his  people  to  say  hog  meat,  not  pork),  dried  apple 
pie,  stewed  calves'  liver  and  curlew.'  'Curlew!  what  the  hell  is  curlew?"  asked 
Bill.     Mollie  said  it  was  a  bird  that  could  fly  away  up  and  whistle.     Well,  Bill 

said,  any  d d  thing  that  could  fly  and  whistle  and  would  stay  in  this  country, 

he  did  not  want  to  tackle,  so  he  took  tea,  hog  meat  and  beans,  taters,  calves'  liver 
and  dried  apple  pie." 

Among  Mr.  Voorhees'  thrilling  experiences  with  Indians  and  stage  robbers, 
were  the  incidents  connected  with  his  starting  and  managing  the  Cheyenne  and 
Black  Hills  Stage  Line.  He  organized  the  company  in  February,  1876,  and  soon 
had  stages  running.  At  that  time  the  wonderful  stories  of  the  rich  gold  placers 
of  the  Black  Hills  caused  a  stampede  to  the  Hills,  most  of  the  rush  being  by 
way  of  Cheyenne.  The  magnitude  of  the  enterprise  of  running  a  stage  line  to 
say  nothing  of  its  dangers,  is  shown  by  his  first  orders  for  equipment  of  thirty 
Concord  coaches  and  600  head  of  horses.  The  line  was  kept  up  till  1882,  and  the 
hair-raising  experiences  with  Indians  and  stage  robbers  during  that  time,  could 
fill  a  volume.  He  had  seven  stage  drivers  killed  by  stage  robbers  and  Sioux  In- 
dians. 

On  giving  up  the  stage  line  business  Mr.  Voorhees  engaged  extensively  in  the 
cattle  business  and  has  made  Cheyenne  his  home.  He  has  occupied  the  position 
of  state  treasurer  and  other  prominent  official  positions  and  is  enjoying  a  green 
old  age,  in  robust  health  and  active  life,  loved  and  respected  by  all. 

STORIES  OF  A  FRONTIER  PREACHER 

The  following  stories  are  told  by  Rev.  W.  B.  D.  Gray,  who  was  one  of  the 
early  missionaries  to  Wyoming.  His  biography  which  appears  in  another  part 
of  this  history  is  replete  in-vthrilling  incidents  and  scenes  of  pioneer  days.  Mr. 
Gray  is  something  of  a  sportsman,  using  the  term  in  its  best  sense.  He  is  one 
of  the  best  riflemen  in  the  state,  and  he  attained  distinction  before  coming  to 
Wyoming,  as  a  bowman,  having  won  several  prizes  at  National  Archery  Tourna- 
ments as  the  best  shot  at  different  distances.  He  is  six  feet  and  one  inch  in  height, 
straight  as  an  Indian  and  weighs  230  pounds.       Many  a  ranchman  in  Wyoming 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  157 

and  South  Dakota  has  been  provided  with  venison  as  a  resuh  of  the  preacher's 
rifle  practice. 

The  character  of  the  material  out  of  which  the  nervy,  self-rehant  men  and 
women  of  the  mountain  and  plateaus  of  our  great  Northwest  are  made,  is  shown 
in  the  unusual  brightness  of  the  children  born  and  reared  in  the  high  altitudes 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  of  which  the  men  and  women  are  the  finished  product. 
This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  incident : 

In  a  little  frontier  village,  nestling  close  under  one  of  the  mighty  Rocky 
Mountain  ranges,  down  which,  through  a  picturesque  canyon,  came  rushing  and 
tumbling  a  beautiful  stream,  a  Christian  lady  gathered  the  children  on  Sunday 
afternoons  to  tell  Bible  stories  and  impart  to  their  eager  ears  some  instruction 
from  the  Holy  Book.  One  Sunday  she  told  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan, 
in  which  the  children  were  very  much  interested.  The  next  Sunday  she  asked 
them  if  they  could  remember  what  the  last  lesson  was  about.  Hands  went  up 
in  all  directions.  In  front  of  her  sat  a  little  boy,  who,  in  his  eagerness,  rose  to 
his  feet,  holding  up  both  hands — 

"T  know,  ma'am ;  I  know  all  about  it.  It  was  "The  Hold-up  in  Jericho  Can- 
yon.' " 

"No!  no!  Johnnie,"  replied  the  teacher;  "it  was  a  Bible  story  that  I  told 
you." 

"Yes,  ma'am!    I  know  it;  I  can  tell  the  kids." 
So  Johnnie  stood  up  and  told  the  story. 

"Why,  ma'am,"  he  said,  "a  chap  was  goin'  up  the  canyon  and  some  fellers 
came  out  of  the  brush  and  slugged  him,  put  him  to  sleep,  took  away  his  wad, 
and  left  him  lying  in  the  trail  all  covered  with  blood  and  dirt.  Pretty  soon,  a 
doctor  feller  came  along  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  said,  'He  ain't  none  of  my 
medicine,'  and  hit  the  trail  and  went  up  the  canyon. 

"Then  a  preacher  feller  came  along,  and  he  saw  him,  and  said,  T  ain't  goin' 
to  monkey  with  him,'  and  he  hit  the  trail  and  followed  the  doctor. 

"Then  a  cowboy  came  along  on  his  bronc;  just  a  good,  honest  cowboy. 
When  he  saw  him,  he  lit  off  and  felt  him.  He  wa'n't  dead !  He  looked  again. 
They'd  got  his  wad  and  left  him  sure  in  bad  shape.  So  he  pulled  off  his  wipe, 
rubbed  the  blood  off  the  feller's  face,  picked  him  up  and  put  him  on  the  bronc 
and  took  him  up  the  trail  till  he  came  to  a  road  house.  Then  he  called  out,  'Hi, 
Bill !  Come  out  here ;  here's  a  chap  I  found  down  the  canyon.  They've  slugged 
him,  got  his  wad,  and  left  him  in  bad  shape.  You  must  take  him  in  and  take 
care  of  him.  Here's  my  wad  and  if  there  ain't  enough  to  pay  you,  when  I  come 
back  from  the  round-up,  I'll  bring  you  some  more.'  " 

It  was  in  a  region  of  the  Northwestern  country  unsurpassed  for  beauty  and 
magm'ficence  of  scenery.  The  afternoon's  sun  was  slowly  sinking  behind  the 
mountains,  when  suddenly  upon  the  summit  of  one  of  the  foothills  appeared  two 
horsemen,  their  figures  strongly  outlined  against  the  evening  sky.  As  they  stood 
there  the  strokes  of  an  ax  could  be  distinctly  hea*|d  coming  from  a  bunch  of 
timber  in  a  bend  of  the  stream  below.  Evidently  the  sound  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  quondam  trappers,  for  after  securing  their  horses  in  a  dense 
thicket  they  made  their  way  noiselessly  to  a  point  where  a  good  view  of  the  op- 
posite bank  could  be  had. 

Before  them  lay  a  secluded  plateau  almost  hidden  by  the  heavy  timber  sur- 


158  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

rounding  it.  Close  to  its  edge  a  band  of  rough-looking  men  were  busily  engaged 
in  felling  trees  and  building  a  long,  low  cabin  and  stable  of  heavy  logs.  Near 
by,  almost  hidden  by  underbrush,  could  be  seen  an  opening  into  a  cave  of  no 
mean  proportions,  to  which  the  men  could  retreat  in  case  of  necessity.  Tied  to 
trees  were  a  number  of  horses  saddled  and  bridled  for  instant  use,  and  the  ever 
ready  "Winchesters"  were  close  at  hand.     This  was  the  James'  gang. 

"Thar's  my  game  by  all  that's  lovely,"  whispered  Bill.  "Now  that  I've  run 
'em  down,  let's  get  out  of  here." 

As  the  shadows  of  a  moonless  night  fell  upon  mountain  and  plain  the  two 
men  might  be  seen  cooking  their  supper  over  a  camp  fire.  The  younger  of  the 
two,  evidently  the  leader,  was  a  man  of  medium  size,  with  a  mass  of  long, 
curly,  brown  hair,  black  eyes  and  a  pleasant  face,  dressed  in  a  suit  of  buckskin, 
with  a  soft  felt  hat  placed  jauntily  upon  his  head.  About  his  waist  was  a  belt 
full  of  cartridges,  to  which  was  suspended  a  bowie  knife  and  revolver  of  large 
size,  while  by  his  side  lay  a  rifle  that  showed  signs  of  wear. 

His  companion,  larger  in  size  and  less  attractive  in  feature,  was  similarly 
armed.  The  former,  though  scarcely  thirty  years  of  age,  was  a  gtiide  already 
known  and  respected  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  country,  going  by  the  cognomen 
of  "Young  Bill."  His  known  honesty  and  bravery  had  long  before  attracted 
the  attention  of  those  whose  business  it  was  to  hunt  down  criminals,  and  of  late 
he  had  added  to  his  profession  that  of  "detective";  though  it  was  not  known 
to  any  except  those  who  employed  him.  \Mien  the  hastily  prepared  supper 
v.-as  disposed  of  and' all  traces  of  the  fire  obliterated,  the  elder  man  said  to  his 
companion : 

"Wall,  Bill,  I  don't  know  what  )'er  plans  ar',  but  this  ere  is  gettin'  too  un- 
comfortably hot  to  suit  me,  and  I'm  goin'  to  pull  over  the  divide  and  hunt  more 
congenial  companions.  If  ye  want  ter  gather  in  that  James  gang  lone-handed, 
all  right ;  but  as  fer  me,  I  prefer  to  trap  varmints  which  have  more  'fur'  and  less 
'fire'." 

The  hand  of  the  younger  man  dropped  naturally  and  suggestively  to  his 
belt  as  he  softly  replied :  "Ye'll  stay  where  ye  be  and  help  build  me  a  cabin  and 
start  a  ranch  alongside  my  game,  and  then  ye  can  get  out  as  soon  as  ye  please.  I 
ain't  afeared  to  play  this  game  lone-handed  if  I  know  myself." 

Two  years  elapsed.  The  cabin  the  road  agents  built  and  occupied  as  their 
northern  retreat  when  hard  pressed  by  the  officers  of  the  law  still  stands,  but 
thanks  to  "Bill"  and  other  daring  officers,  the  gang  is  broken  up.  Upon  the 
same  plateau  stood  the  detective's  cabin  and  near  it  a  "dugout"  in  which  he  spent 
his  nights  while  hunting  down  the  road  agents.  Midway  between  the  two  cabins 
a  prosperous  town  has  sprtmg  up,  comprising  a  hotel,  blacksmith  shop,  two 
saloons,  and  several  dwellings  known  as  "Black  Canon  City." 

It  was  a  beautiful  day;  our  friend,  the  detective,  was  just  finishing  his  noonday 
meal  when  the  sound  of  a  horse's  footfall  broke  the  stillness,  followed  by  the  usual 
announcement  of  an  arrival:  "Hello,  inside.''  "Hello,  yourself,"  came  the  quick 
response. 

"Is  this  town  Black  Canon  City?" 

"You  bet  it  are,  stranger." 

"Do  you  have  any  preaching  hereabouts  ?" 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  159 

"Nary." 

"I'm  a  preacher  and  would  like  to  make  an  appointment  if  it  is  agreeable  to  the 
citizens  of  this  growing  berg." 

"See  here,  mister,  I  don't  know  how  much  nerve  3-e've  got,  or  how  preachin' 
will  take,  but  I  like  yer  spirit  and  I'll  back  ye  in  this  thing;  and  when  'Bill'  backs 
a  feller  he  don't  have  no  trouble  and  the  thing  goes.  Get  down  and  rest  yer 
saddle  while  yer  eat." 

When  the  physical  necessities  of  the  preacher  had  been  met  the  detective  con- 
tinued: "I  haint  got  much  of  a  cabin,  ye  see,  but  it's  about  as  big  as  any  in  the 
town ;  so  if  ye  can  get  along  with  the  dirt  floor  ye  can  preach  here  and  I'll  rustle 
ye  up  a  crowd.'' 

Thus  began  a  work  for  the  Master  in  one  of  the  outposts  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  districts.  Later  in  the  season  a  Sunday  School  was  started  in  the 
same  cabin,  to  be  removed  afterward  to  a  little  log  schoolhouse  which  the  settlers 
built.  When  the  day  arrived  for  the  removal  of  the  Sunday  School  from  the 
detective's  cabin,  a  friend  of  the  enterprise  went  to  one  of  the  saloons  and  spoke 
thus : 

"See  here,  fellers,  the  people  of  this  'ere  camp  ar'  goin'  to  start  a  Sunday  School 
today  over  in  the  school  house.  They  are  goin'  over  now ;  money's  scarce  with 
them  and  I  propose  we  give  "em  a  boost." 

"That's  the  talk,"  said  the  saloon  keeper,  "and  this  'ere  shop  is  goin'  to  close 
until  that  ar'  thing  is  over :  we'll  all  go  acrost  and  give  'em  a  starter ;  but  mind 
ye,  boys,  nothin'  smaller  than  'cartwheels'  (dollars)  go  into  the  hat  today." 

The  other  saloon  would  not  be  outdone.  As  a  result  it  was  a  "goodly"  if  not 
"Godly"  crowd  which  filled  the  rear  seats  of  the  little  log  schoolhouse,  and  the 
Sunday  School  had  more  money  that  afternoon  than  ever  before  in  its  history. 

From  these  beginnings,  and  this  Sunday  School,  sprang  a  Congregational 
Church  which  has  had  much  to  do  with  shaping  the  character  of  the  town  and 
nearby  country.  The  detective  still  lives,  honored  and  respected ;  his  cabin  has 
been  destroyed,  but  the  entrance  to  both  his  and  the  James  brothers'  caves  can 
still  be  seen.     The  old  preacher  has  gone  to  his  eternal  reward. 

THE   C0WC0Y'.S    PR.WER 

O  Lord,  I've  never  lived  where  churches  grow : 

I've  loved  creation  better  as  it  stood 
That  day  you  finished  it.  so  long  ago, 

And  looked  upon  your  work  and  called  it  good. 

Just  let  me  live  my  life  as  I've  begun ! 

And  give  me  work  that's  open  to  the  sky; 
Make  me  a  partner  of  the  wind  and  sun, 

And  I  won't  ask  a  life  that's  soft  or  high. 

Make  me  as  big  and  open  as  the  plains ; 

As  honest  as  the  horse  between  my  knees ; 
Clean  as  the  wind  that  blows  behind  the  rains ; 

Free  as  the  hawk  that  circles  down  the  breeze. 


160  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Just  keep  an  eye  on  all  that's  done  and  said; 

Just  right  me  sometimes  when  I  turn  aside; 
And  guide  me  on  the  long,  dim  trail  ahead — 

That  stretches  upward  towards  the  Great  Divide. 

— Author  Unknozmi. 


CHAPTER  XI 
TERRITORIAL  HISTORY 

EARLV    NAMES   APPLIED    TO    WYOMING THE    PERIOD    OF    SETTLEMENT — OPENING    OF 

THE    MINES INFLUENCE    OF    THE    UNION     PACIFIC    RAILRO.VD BEGINNING    OF 

CHEYENNE VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE THE    ASHLEY    BILL THE   ORGANIC    ACT 

GOVERNOR  FAULK's  MESSAGE GOVERNMENT  ORGANIZED CAMPBELl's  ADMINIS- 
TRATION  FIRST  ELECTION FIRST  LEGISLATURE TERRITORIAL  SEAL LEGISLA- 
TURE OF    187I THIRD  LEGISLATURE THAYER's  ADMINISTRATION LEGISLATIVE 

SESSIONS HOYT's  ADMINISTRATION LEGISLATURE  OF  1879 SEVENTH  LEGIS- 
LATURE  rale's  ADMINISTRATION — EIGHTH  LEGISLATURE WARREN's  ADMIN- 
ISTRATION  RIOT  AT  ROCK  SPRINGS — NINTH  LEGISLATURE — CAPITOL  BUILDING 

PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS — BAXTEr's  ADMINISTRATION MOONLIGHT'S  ADMINISTRA- 
TION  TENTH      LEGISLATURE — CAPITOL      BUILDING      AGAIN WARREN's      SECOND 

ADMINISTRATION LAST    TERRITORIAL    LEGISLATURE. 

When  the  Nineteenth  Century  was  in  its  infancy,  the  first  fur  traders  and 
trappers  came  into  the  country  that  now  forms  the  State  of  Wyoming.  From 
that  time  until  1868  the  region  was  known  by  various  names,  such  as  the  "North 
Platte  Country,'  the  ''Sweetwater,"  the  "Wind  River  Valley,"  the  "Big  Horn  Coun- 
try," etc.  Inuring  this  period  of  half  a  century  the  trappers  and  traders  were  the 
only  white  inhabitants  of  the  entire  Rocky  Mountain  country.  Their  occupancy 
was  not  of  a  permanent  character,  as  they  migrated  from  place  to  place  in  pursuit 
of  fur-bearing  animals.  Even  trading  posts  that  one  year  bore  all  the  evidences 
of  stablility  were  abandoned  the  next.  Official  reports  of  Lewis  and  Clark. 
Fremont,  and  other  Government  explorers,  called  attention  to  the  character  and 
possibilities  of  the  Northwest,  but  even  then  years  were  permitted  to  elapse  before 
the  first  actual  settlements  were  attempted  within  the  present  limits  of  the  state. 

THE  PERIOD   OF   SETTLEMENT 

"The  L^tah  Handbook  of  History"  says  that  John  Nebeker,  Isaac  Bullock 
and  fifty-three  others  settled  at  Fort  Supply,  in  the  Green  River  Valley,  in 
November,  1853,  ^"d  credits  these  persons  with  being  the  first  actual  settlers 
in  Wyoming.  The  place  where  this  settlement  was  established  was  at  old  Fort 
Bridger,  in  what  is  now  Uinta  County.  Bridger  sold  his  fort  there  to  the  Mor- 
mons, who  in  1855  changed  the  name  of  the  post  to  Fort  Supply,  the  object  being 
to  carry  a  full  line  of  supplies  for  emigrants  on  their  way  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
It  was  abandoned  about  two  years  later,  when  a  detachment  of  United  States 
troops  under  Col.  E.  B.  Alexander  marched  against  the  Mormon  fort,  and  the 
161 


162  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

buildings  were  destroyed  by  the  soldiers.     Colonel  Alexander's  command  formed 
part  of  the  Utah  expedition,  commanded  by  Col.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston. 

In  1867  a  party  of  prospectors,  among  whom  were  Henry  Riddell,  Richard 
Grace,  Noyes  Baldwin,  Frank  Marshall,  Harry  Hubbell  and  others  afterward 
known  as  Wyoming  pioneers,  discovered  the  Carisa  lode  and  made  their  first 
locations  at  South  Pass,  in  the  southern  part  of  Fremont  County.  News  of  the 
discovery  of  gold  soon  reached  Salt  Lake  City  and  a  party  of  thirty  men,  under 
the  lead  of  a  man  named  Lawrence,  left  that  place  prepared  to  spend  the  winter 
in  the  new  gold  fields.  On  the  way  to  Wyoming  the  party  was  attacked  by 
Arapaho  Indians,  with  the  result  that  Lawrence  and  one  other  man  were  killed. 
The  others  were  pursued  by  the  savages  for  some  distance,  when  the  Indians 
withdrew,  probably  because  they  were  afraid  to  follow  the  prospectors  into  the 
Shoshone  country. 

South  Pass  City  was  laid  out  in  October,  1867,  and  before  cold  weather  came 
the  town  had  a  population  of  about  seven  hundred  people.  A  sawmill  was  built 
and  a  number  of  houses,  of  the  most  primitive  character,  were  erected.  Then 
the  Atlantic  Ledge,  six  miles  northeast  of  South  Pass  City,  and  Miners  Delight, 
two  miles  northeast  of  the  Atlantic  Ledge,  were  opened  and  there  was  an  influx 
of  gold  seekers  to  those  fields.  Other  mines  were  the  Summit,  King  Solomon's, 
Northern  Light,  Lone  Star  State,  Jim  Crow,  Hoosier  Boy.  Mahomet,  Copper- 
opolis.  Elmira,  Scott  &  Eddy,  and  the  Dakota  Gulch,  on  Willow  Creek,  each 
having  a  population  of  one  hundred  or  more. 

As  these  miners  were  miles  away  from  the  nearest  established  local  govern- 
ment, and  feeling  the  need  of  some  authority  to  enforce  the  laws,  they  established 
a  county  called  "Carter,"  for  W.  A.  Carter  of  Fort  Bridger.  Its  western  boundary 
was  the  present  western  boundary  of  Sweetwater  County  and  it  extended  east- 
ward for  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  The  action  of  the 
miners  was  legalized  by  the  Dakota  Legislature  in  a  bill  approved  on  December 
27,  1867,  and  the  county  was  organized  on  January  3.  1868,  with  John  Murphy 
as  the  first  sheriff,  upon  whom  devolved  the  duty  of  maintaining  order  in  a  com- 
munity composed  in  the  main  of  rather  turbulent  individuals,  though  there  were 
some  who  were  always  ready  to  assist  in  enforcing  the  laws. 

About  the  middle  of  February,  1868,  John  Able,  Jeff  Standifer,  H.  A.  Thomp- 
son, L  F.  Staples,  Louis  and  Peter  Brade,  James  Leffingwell,  Frank  McGovern, 
Moses  Sturman,  John  Eaves,  John  Holbrook,  George  Hirst,  the  Alexander  broth- 
ers, William  Matheney,  Christopher  Weaver  and  a  few  others  left  Salt  Lake 
City  and  struggled  through  the  winter  snows,  in  order  to  be  among  the  early 
arrivals  of  that  year  in  the  new  mining  districts.  Colonel  Morrow,  commandant 
at  Fort  Bridger,  heard  of  their  coming  and  published  a  special  order  warning 
such  parties  that  they  must  not  expect  to  purchase  supplies  at  the  fort,  for  the 
reason  that  the  stock  on  hand  there  was  barely  sufficient  to  subsist  the  garrison 
until  traffic  opened  in  the  spring. 

In  April,  1868,  a  new  mining  town  of  about  three  hundred  prospectors  was 
founded  on  Rock  Creek,  some  four  miles  from  South  Pass  City,  in  the  midst 
of  a  gold-bearing  quartz  district,  and  Hamilton,  another  mining  center,  was 
established  about  four  miles  farther  north.  H.  G.  Nickerson  discovered  and 
opened  the  Bullion  mine  at  Lewiston  a  little  later  in  the  year.  Louis  P.  Vidal 
located  the  Buckeye  mine  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1869. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  163 

In  P'ebruary,  1868,  Warren  &  Hastings  began  the  publication  of  a  newspaper 
called  the  Sweetwater  Miner,  at  Fort  Bridger,  which  circulated  reports  that  had 
a  tendency  to  encourage  immigration.  The  first  merchant  in  the  Wyoming  gold 
fields  was  Worden  Noble.  He , was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  1847  and 
came  to  Fort  Laramie  in  1866  as  a  bookkeeper  for  the  firm  of  Coffee  &  Caney. 
In  the  spring  of  1868  he  opened  a  store  at  South  Pass  City,  which  he  conducted 
for  about  one  year,  after  which  he  was  the  contractor  for  Camp  Stambaugh 
(afterward  a  permanent  post)  for  about  seven  years.  He  then  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  stock  raising,  and  was  one  of  the  county,  commissioners  of  Sweetwater 
County  from  1871  to  1877,  when  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislative 
Council  of  the  territory. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  PACIFIC 

One  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  bringing  actual  settlers  into  Wyoming  was 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  In  July,  1867,  the  railroad  company  established 
a  land  office  where  the  City  of  Cheyenne  now  stands  and  began  the  sale  of  lots. 
The  first  house  in  Cheyenne  was  built  about  that  time  by  a  man  named  Larimer. 
Among  the  first  settlers  there  were  J.  R.  Whitehead,  Robert  M.  Beers.  Thomas 
E.  McLeland  and  three  others,  who  came  with  their  families  on  the  same  day. 
In  July.  1867.  the  first  two-story  house  in  the  city  was  commenced  by  J.  R. 
\A'hitehead. 

Morton  E.  Post,  another  early  settler  at  Cheyenne,  purchased  two  lots  from 
the  railroad  land  agent  and  then  started  back  to  a  claim  he  had  on  the  Platte 
River,  about  seventy-five  miles  below  Denver.  On  the  way,  and  when  only 
a  few  miles  from  Cheyenne,  he  met  a  man  who  had  discovered  a  coal  mine,  but 
who  was  afraid  to  visit  the  place  because  of  Indians.  Post  agreed  to  accompany 
him  to  the  mine,  which  they  found  only  sixteen  miles  from  Cheyenne  and  staked 
off  their  claim.  In  August.  1867.  Mr.  Post  opened  a  store  on  the  corner  of 
Seventeenth  and  Ferguson  streets  (Ferguson  Street  is  now  Carey  Avenue).  When 
he  bought  his  two  lots  from  the  railroad  company  he  paid  $600  for  them,  and 
before  the  close  of  the  year  sold  part  of  them  for  $5,600.  In  1872  he  was  elected 
one  of  the  county  commissioners  of  Laramie  County,  and  in  1877  he  established 
the  first  quartz  mill  at  Deadwood,  Dakota  Territory.  The  next  year  he  was 
one  of  the  firm  that  opened  the  banking  house  of  Stebbins,  Post  &  Company  at 
Deadwood.  In  1878  he  was  elected  to  the  upper  house  of  the  Wyoming  Legisla- 
ture and  in  1880  was  chosen  delegate  to  Congress.  He  was  reelected  delegate 
in  1882.  and  declined  a  nomination  for  a  third  term  in  i88d. 

VIGIL.ANCE  COMMITTEE 

When  the  L-nion  Pacific  Railroad  reached  Cheyenne  in  1867,  that  town 
remained  the  terminus  until  work  was  resumed  the  following  spring.  The  new 
town  filled  up  with  outlaws  and  disorderly  characters,  with  which  the  civil 
authorities  seemed  powerless  to  cope.  In  this  emergency  a  number  of  citizens 
got  together  and  organized  a  vigilance  committee.  The  first  act  of  the  com- 
mittee occurred  on  January  11,  1868.  Three  men — drier,  St.  Clair  and  Brown- 
ville — were  under  bonds  to  appear  before  the  court  for  robbery  on  January  14. 


164  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

1868.  The}'  were  bound  together  and  a  canvas  fastened  to  them  bearing  their 
names  and  the  following  legend:  "$900  stolen;  $500  returned;  city  authorities 
please  not  interfere  until  10  o'clock  A.  M.  Next  case  goes  up  a  tree.  Beware 
of  the  Vigilance  Committee.'' 

On  the  night  of  the  20th,  Charles  Martin  and  Charles  Morgan  were  hanged 
by  the  committee,  the  former  for  killing  Andrew  Harris  in  a  quarrel  and  the 
latter  for  horse  stealing.  The  summary  punishment  meted  out  to  offenders  by 
the  committee  had  a  salutary  effect  on  the  community,  and  with  the  extension 
of  the  railroad  westward  a  majority  of  the  undesirables  left  the  town.  (See 
chapter  entitled  "The  Story  of  Cheyenne"  for  a  full  account  of  the  vigilance 
committee.) 

During  the  year  1868  the  railroad  was  completed  to  the  western  boundary 
of  the  state,  bringing  with  it  hundreds  of  homeseekers.  By  the  close  of  the 
year  some  enthusiastic  persons  estimated  the  population  of  \\'yoming  at  fifty 
thousand,  or  even  more,  an  estimate  that  proved  to  be  entirely  too  high,  as  was 
shown  by  the  first  authorized  census  the  following  year,  when  the  territorial 
government  was  established. 

THE  ASHLEY  BILL 

In  1865  James  M.  Ashley,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio,  introduced  in 
the  national  House  of  Representatives  a  bill  "to  provide  a  temporary  government 
for  the  Territory  of  Wyoming."  This  was  the  first  move  toward  the  formation 
of  a  new  territory  in  the  Big  Horn  country,  and,  so  far  as  is  shown  by  the  records, 
it  was  the  first  suggestion  of  the  name  "Wyoming"  for  such  a  territory.  The 
word  "Wyoming"  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Delaware  Indian  name 
"Waugh-mau-wa-ma"  (meaning  large  plains),  a  name  applied  by  them  to  the 
broad,  beautiful  valley  they  once  inhabited  in  Pennsylvania.  The  writer  has 
been  unable  to  ascertain  who  first  proposed  the  name  for  a  territory  in  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region  that  was  never  seen  by  a  Delaware  Indian,  or  how  it  came  to 
be  selected.  In  the  "large  plains"  sense  the  name  is  certainly  applicable  to  the 
State  of  Wyoming.  This  fact  may  have  influenced  Mr.  Ashley,  who  came  from 
a  state  once  claimed  by  the  Delawares,  to  adopt  the  name,  but  that  is  purely  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  The  Ashley  bill  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  terri- 
tories, which  failed  to  report  it  back  to  the  house  for  final  action,  and  there 
the  subject  slumbered  for  more  than  two  years. 

On  September  27,  1867,  the  citizens  of  Cheyenne  and  the  settlers  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  held  a  meeting  at  the  city  hall  to  consider,  among  other  things, 
the  question  of  a  territorial  organization.  H.  M.  Hook  presided  at  this  meeting 
and  J.  R.  Whitehead  was  chosen  secretary.  A  resolution  was  adopted  to  hold 
an  election  for  a  delegate  to  Congress  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  October.  Accord- 
ingly, on  October  8,  1867,  J.  S.  Casement  was  elected  delegate.  He  went  to 
Washington  immediately  after  his  election,  but  was  not  admitted  because  he 
represented  no  organized  territory.  He  was  able,  however,  to  refresh  the  memory 
of  the  committee  on  territories,  with  the  result  that  the  Ashley  hill  was  resur- 
rected and  brought  before  the  house. 

About  the  same  time,  W.  W.  Brookings,  a  member  of  the  Dakota  Legislature, 
introduced  in  that  body  a  memorial  asking  for  the  organization  of  a  territory,  to 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  165 

be  called  "Lincoln,''  from  the  southwestern  part  of  Dakota.  The  memorial  was 
adopted  by  the  Legislature  and  forwarded  to  Congress,  but  the  only  effect  it 
had  was  to  indicate  that  the  people  of  Dakota  were  willing  that  the  territory 
should  be  divided.  Early  in  the  year  1868  a  petition  praying  for  a  territorial 
organization  was  presented  to  Congress,  signed  "H.  Latham,  agent  for  the  people 
of  Wyoming."  The  work  of  Mr.  Casement,  the  Brookings  memorial,  and  the 
petition  of  Mr.  Latham  finally  bore  fruit.  The  Ashley  bill,  modified  in  some 
particulars,  passed  the  house  and  was  sent  to  the  senate.  There  a  spirited  dis- 
cussion occurred  over  the  name,  a  number  of  the  senators  favoring  "Cheyenne," 
rather  than  "Wyoming,"  but  in  the  end  the  latter  was  adopted  and  the  bill  "to 
provide  a  temporary  government  for  the  Territory  of  Wyoming"  was  approved 
bv  President  Andrew  Johnson  on  July  25,  1868. 

THE  ORGANIC  ACT 

"Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled :  That  all  that  part  of  the 
United  States  described  as  follows — Commencing  at  the  intersection  of  the 
twenty-seventh  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Washington  with  the  forty- 
fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  running  thence  west  to  the  thirty-fourth  meri- 
dian of  west  longitude;  thence  south  to  the  forty-first  degree  of  north  latitude; 
thence  east  to  the  twenty-seventh  meridian  of  west  longitude,  and  thence  north 
to  the  place  of  beginning,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  organized  into  a  temporary 
government  by  the  name  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming ;  Provided,  That  nothing 
in  this  act  shall  be  construed  to  impair  the  rights  of  persons  or  property  now 
pertaining  to  the  Indians  in  said  territory,  so  long  as  such  rights  shall  remain 
unextinguished  by  treatv  between  the  United  States  and  such  Indians ;  Pro- 
\ided  further.  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  inhibit 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  from  dividing  said  territory  into  two  or 
more  territories,  in  such  manner  and  at  such  times  as  Congress  shall  deem  con- 
venient and  proper,  or  from  attaching  any  portion  thereof  to  any  other  territory 
or  state. 

"Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  executive  power  and  authority 
ill  and  over  said  Territory  of  Wyoming  shall  be  vested  in  a  governor,  who  shall 
hold  office  for  four  years,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be  appointed  and  qualified, 
unless  sooner  removed  by  the  President  of  the  Ignited  States,  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  governor  shall  reside  within  said  territory,  shall 
be  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia  thereof,  shall  perform  the  duties  and  receive 
the  emoluments  of  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  shall  approve  all  laws 
passed  by  the  Legislative  Assembly  before  they  shall  take  effect,  unless  the 
same  shall  pass  by  a  two-thirds  vote  as  provided  by  section  six  of  this  act;  he 
may  grant  pardons  for  ofifienses  against  the  laws  of  said  territory,  and  reprieves 
for  offenses  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  until  the  decision  of  the  Presi- 
dent can  be  made  known  thereon ;  he  shall  commission  all  officers  who  shall  be 
appointed  to  ofifice  under  the  laws  of  said  territory,  and  shall  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed. 

"Section  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  there  shall  be  a  secretary  of 
said  territory,  who  shall  reside  therein  and  hold  his  ofifice  for  four  years,  unless 


166  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

sooner  removed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate;  he  shall  record  and  preserve  all  the  laws  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  hereinafter  constituted,  and  all  acts  and  proceedings  of 
the  governor  in  his  executi\e  department ;  he  shall  transmit  one  copy  of  the  laws 
and  one  copy  of  the  executive  proceedings  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  December 
in  each  year  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  at  the  same  time,  two 
copies  of  the  laws  to  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Senate  for  the  use  of  Congress;  and  in  case  of  death,  removal, 
resignation  or  other  necessary  absence  of  the  governor  from  the  territory,  the 
secretary  shall  have,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  execute  and 
perform,  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  governor  during  such  vacancy  or 
absence,  or  until  another  governor  shall  be  appointed  to  fill  such  vacancy. 

"Section  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  legislative  power  and 
authority  of  said  territory  shall  be  vested  in  the  governor  and  Legislative  Assem- 
bly. The  Legislative  Assembly  shall  consist  of  a  council  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. The  council  shall  consist  of  nine  members,  which  may  be  increased 
to  thirteen,  having  the  qualifications  of  voters  as  hereinafter  prescribed,  whose 
term  of  service  shall  continue  two  years.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall 
consist  of  thirteen  members,  which  may  be  increased  to  twenty-seven,  possessing 
the  same  qualifications  as  prescribed  for  members  of  the  council,  and  whose 
term  of  service  shall  continue  one  year.  An  apportionment  shall  be  made  by 
the  governor  as  nearly  equal  as  practicable  among  the  several  counties  or  dis- 
tricts for  the  election  of  the  council  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  giving 
to  each  section  of  the  territory  representation  in  the  ratio  of  their  population 
(excepting  Indians  not  taxed),  as  nearly  as  may  be,  and  the  members  of  the 
council  and  House  of  Representatives  shall  reside  in  and  be  inhabitants  of  the 
districts  for  which  they  may  be  elected,  respectively.  Previous  to  the  first 
election  the  governor  shall  cause  a  census  or  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  several  counties  or  districts  of  the  territory  to  be  taken,  and  the  first  election 
shall  be  held  at  such  times  and  places,  and  be  conducted  in  such  manner  as  the 
governor  shall  appoint  and  direct,  and  he  shall  at  the  same  time  declare  the 
number  of  members  of  the  council  and  House  of  Representatives  to  which  each 
of  the  counties  or  districts  shall  be  entitled  under  this  act.  The  number  of 
persons  authorized  to  be  elected,  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  in  each 
of  the  said  council  districts  for  members  of  the  council,  shall  be  declared  by  the 
governor  duly  elected  to  the  council ;  and  the  person  or  persons  authorized  to 
be  elected  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  the  House  of  Representatives 
equal  to  the  number  to  which  each  county  or  district  shall  be  entitled,  shall  be  , 
declared  by  the  governor  to  be  elected  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives ; 
Provided,  That  in  case  of  a  tie  between  two  or  more  persons  voted  for,  the  gov- 
ernor shall  order  a  new  election  to  supply  the  vacancy  made  by  such  tie  vote. 
And  the  persons  thus  elected  to  the  Legislative  Assembly  shall  meet  at  such 
place  and  on  such  day  as  the  governor  shall  appoint ;  but  thereafter  the  time, 
place  and  manner  of  holding  elections  by  the  people,  and  the  apportioning  the 
representation  in  the  several  counties  or  districts  to  the  council  and  House  of 
Representatives,  according  to  the  population,  shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  as  well 
as  the  dav  of  the  commencement  of  the  regular  sessions  of  the  Legislative  Assem- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  l67 

bly:  Jr'rovided,  That  no  one  session  shall  exceed  the  term  of  forty  days,  except 
the  first,  which  may  be  extended  to  sixty  days,  but  no  longer. 

"Section  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  every  male  citizen  of  the  United 
States  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  (including)  persons  who  shall 
have  declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  shall 
have  been  residents  of  the  said  territory  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  this  act, 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  the  first  and  all  subsequent  elections  in  the  territory, 
and  shall  be  eligible  to  hold  any  office  in  said  territory.  And  the  Legislative 
Assembly  shall  not  at  any  time  abridge  the  right  of  suffrage,  or  to  hold  office, 
on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude  of  any  resident  of 
the  territory;  Provided,  That  the  right  of  suffrage  and  of  holding  office  shall 
be  exercised  only  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  those  who  shall  have 
declared  on  oath  before  a  competent  court  of  record  their  intention  to  become 
such,  and  shall  have  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  and  Government 
of  the  United  States. 

"Section  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  legislative  power  of  the 
territory  shall  extend  to  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation  consistent  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  provisions  of  this  act;  but  no  law  shall 
be  passed  interfering  with  the  prirnary  disposal  of  the  soil;  no  tax  shall  be 
imposed  upon  the  property  of  the  United  States,  nor  shall  the  lands  or  other 
property  of  non-residents  be  taxed  higher  than  the  lands  or  other  property  of 
residents,  nor  shall  any  law  be  passed  impairing  the  rights  of  private  property, 
nor  shall  any  unequal  discrimination  be  made  in  taxing  different  kinds  of  prop- 
erty, but  all  property  subject  to  taxation  shall  be  taxed  in  proportion  to  its  value. 
Every  bill  which  shall  have  been  passed  by  the  council  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  said  territory  shall,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  presented  to  the  governor 
of  the  territorv".  If  he  approves,  he  shall  sign  it;  but  if  not,  he  shall  return  it 
with  his  objections,  to  the  house  in  which  it  originated,  who  shall  enter  the 
objections  at  large  upon  their  journal  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If,  after 
such  reconsideration,  two-thirds  of  that  house  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it 
shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  house,  by  which  it  shall 
likewise  be  reconsidered;  and  if  it  be  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that  house  it 
shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be 
determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  to  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house,  respec- 
tively. If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  governor  within  five  days  (Sundays 
excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  become  a  law 
in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it.  unless  the  Assembly,  by  adjournment,  prevent 
its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  become  a  law. 

"Section  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  all  township,  district  and  county 
officers,  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  shall  be  appointed  or  elected,  as  the 
case  may  be.  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  the  governor  and  Legislative 
Assembly  of  the  territory.  The  governor  shall  nominate  and,  by  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  council,  appoint  all  officers  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for, 
and  in  the  first  instance  the  governor  alone  may  appoint  all  such  officers,  who 
shall  hold  their  offices  until  the  end  of  the  first  session  of  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly; and  he  shall  lay  off  the  necessary  districts  for  members  of  the  council  and 
House  of  Representatives,  and  all  other  officers. 

"Section  8.     And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  member  of  the  Legislative 


168  ^  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Assembly  shall  hold  or  be  appointed  to  any  office  which  shall  have  been  created, 
or  the  salary  or  emoluments  of  which  shall  have  been  increased  while  he  was 
a  member,  during  the  term  for  which  he  was  elected,  and  for  one  year  after  the 
expiration  of  such  temi;  and  no  person  holding  a  commission  or  appointment 
under  the  United  States,  except  postmasters,  shall  be  a  member  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  or  shall  hold  any  office  under  the  government  of  said  territory. 

"Section  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  judicial  power  of  said  terri- 
tory shall  be  vested  in  a  Supreme  Court,  District  courts,  Probate  courts  and  justices 
of  the  peace.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  a  chief  justice  and  two  asso- 
ciate justices,  and  two  of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  and  who  shall  hold 
a  term  at  the  seat  of  government  of  said  territory  annually,  and  they  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  four  years,  unless  sooner  removed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  said  territory  shall  be  divided  into  three  judicial  districts 
and  a  District  Court  shall  be  held  in  each  of  the  said  districts  by  one  of  the 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  prescribed  by 
law;  and  said  judges  shall,  after  their  appointments,  respectively,  reside  in  the 
districts  which  shall  be  assigned  them.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  several  courts 
herein  provided  for,  both  appellate  and  original,  and  that  of  the  Probate  courts 
and  of  the  justices  of  the  peace,  shall  be  limited  by  law :  Provided,  That  justices 
of  the  peace  shall  not  have  jurisdiction  of  any  matter  in  controversy  when  the 
title  or  boundaries  of  land  may  be  in  dispute,  or  where  the  debt  or  sum  claimed 
shall  exceed  one  hundred  dollars ;  and  the  said  Supreme  and  District  courts, 
respectively,  shall  possess  chancery  as  well  as  common  law  jurisdiction  and 
authority  for  the  redress  of  all  wrongs  committed  against  the  Constitution  oi* 
laws  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  territory  affecting  persons  or  property. 
Each  District  Court,  or  the  judge  thereof,  shall  appoint  its  clerk,  who  shall  also 
be  register  in  chancery,  and  shall  keep  his  office  where  the  court  may  be  held. 
Writs  of  error,  bills  of  exception,  and  appeals  shall  be  allowed  in  all  cases  from 
the  final  decisions  of  said  District  courts  to  the  Supreme  Court  under  the  regu- 
lations as  may  be  prescribed  by  law,  but  in  no  case  removed  to  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  trial  by  jury  be  allowed  in  said  court.  The  Supreme  Court,  or  the 
justices  thereof,  shall  appoint  its  own  clerks,  and  every  clerk  shall  hold  his 
office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  court  for  which  he  shall  have  been  appointed.  Writs 
of  error  and  appeal  from  the  final  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  be  allowed 
and  may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  manner 
and  under  the  same  regulations  as  from  the  Circuit  courts  of  the  United  States, 
where  the  value  of  property  or  the  amount  in  controversy,  to  be  ascertained  by 
the  oath  or  affirmation  of  either  party,  or  other  competent  witness,  shall  exceed 
one  thousand  dollars :  and  each  of  the  said  District  courts  shall  have  and  exercise 
the  same  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  arising  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States  as  is  vested  in  the  Circuit  Court  and  District  courts  of  the  United 
States;  and  the  said  Supreme  and  District  courts  of  the  said  territory,  and  the 
respective  judges  thereof,  shall  and  may  grant  writs  of  habeas  corpus  in  all  cases 
in  which  the  same  are  grantable  by  the  judges  of  the  United  States  in  the  District 
of  Columbia  :  and  the  first  six  days  of  every  term  of  said  courts,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  shall  be  necessary,  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  trial  of  causes  arising 
under  said  Constitution  and  laws ;  and  writs  of  error  and  appeal  in  all  such  cases 
shall  be  made  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  said  territory,  the  same  as  in  other  cases. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  169 

The  said  clerk  shall  receive  in  all  such  cases  the  same  fees  which  the  clerks  of 
the  District  courts  of  Dakota  Territory  now  received  for  similar  services. 

"Section  lo.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  there  shall  be  appointed  an 
attorney  for  said  territory,  who  shall  continue  in  office  for  four  years,  unless 
sooner  removed  by  the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  who  shall 
receive  the  same  fees  and  salary  as  is  now  received  by  the  attorney  of  the  United 
States  for  the  Territory  of  Dakota.  There  shall  also  be  a  marshal  for  the  terri- 
tory appointed,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years,  unless  sooner  removed 
by  the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  who  shall  execute  all 
processes  issuing  from  the  said  courts  when  exercising  their  jurisdiction  as  Cir- 
cuit and  District  courts  of  the  United  States;  he  shall  perform  his  duties,  be 
subject  to  the  same  regulations  and  penalties,  and  be  entitled  to  the  same  fees 
as  the  marshal  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  present  Terri- 
tory of  Dakota,  and  shall,  in  addition,  be  paid  two  hundred  annually  as  compen- 
sation for  extra  services. 

"Section  ii.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  governor,  secretary,  chief 
justice  and  associate  justices,  attorney  and  marshal  shall  be  nominated,  and,  by 
and  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  The  governor  and  secretary  to  be  appointed  as  aforesaid  shall,  before 
they  act  as  such,  respectively,  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  before  the  district 
judge,  or  some  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  limits  of  said  territory  duly  authorized 
to  administer  oaths  and  affirmations  by  the  laws  now  in  force  therein,  or  before 
the  chief  justice  or  some  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  faithfully  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  which  said  oaths  when  so  taken  shall 
be  certified  by  the  person  by  whom  the  same  shall  have  been  taken ;  and  such 
certificates  shall  be  received  and  recorded  by  the  secretary  among  the  executive 
proceedings,  and  the  chief  justice  and  associate  justices,  and  all  other  civil 
officers  in  said  territory,  before  they  act  as  such,  shall  take  a  like  oath  or  affirma- 
tion before  the  governor  or  secretary,  or  some  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace  of 
the  territory,  who  may  be  duly  commissioned  and  qualified,  which  said  oath  or 
affirmation  shall  be  certified  and  transmitted  by  the  person  taking  the  same  to 
the  secretary  to  be  recorded  by  him  as  aforesaid,  and  afterwards  the  like  oath  or 
affirmation  shall  be  taken,  certified  and  recorded,  in  such  manner  and  form  as 
may  be  prescribed  by  law.  The  governor  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $2,000 
as  governor  and  $1,000  as  superintendent  of  Indian  afifairs;  the  chief  justice  and 
associate  justices  shall  each  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $2,500,  and  the  secretary 
shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $i,Soo.  The  said  salaries  shall  be  payable 
quarter-yearly  at  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  The  members  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  $4  each  per  day  during  their 
attendance  at  the  sessions  thereof,  and  $3  for  every  twenty  miles'  travel  in 
going  to  and  returning  from  the  said  sessions,  estimating  the  distance  by  the 
nearest  traveled  route.  There  shall  be  appropriated  annually  the  sum  of  $1,000, 
to  be  expended  by  the  governor  to  defray  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  terri- 
tory. There  shall  also  be  appropriated  annually  a  sufficient  sum,  to  be  expended 
by  the  secretary,  and  upon  an  estimate  to  be  made  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
of  the  United  States,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  the 
printing  of  the  laws,  and  other  incidental  expenses ;  and  the  secretary  of  the  ter- 


170  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ritory  shall  annually  account  to  the  secretatry  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States  for  the  manner  in  which  the  aforesaid  sum  shall  have  been  expended. 

"Section  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Legislative  Assembly  of 
the  Territory  of  Wyoming  shall  hold  its  first  session  at  such  time  and  place  in 
said  territory  as  the  governor  thereof  shall  appoint  and  direct ;  and  at  said 
first  session,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  they  shall  deem  expedient,  the  governor 
and  Legislative  Assembly  shall  proceed  to  locate  and  establish  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment for  said  territory  at  such  place  as  they  may  deem  eligible ;  which  place, 
however,  shall  thereafter  be  subject  to  be  changed  by  the  said  governor  and 
Legislative  Assembly. 

"Section  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  a  delegate  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States,  to  serve  during  each  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  may  be  elected  by  the  voters  qualified  to  elect  members  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  who  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  are  exercised 
and  enjoyed  by  the  delegates  from  the  several  other  territories  of  the  United 
States  in  the  said  House  of  Representatives.  The  first  election  shall  be  held 
at  such  time  and  places,  and  conducted  in  such  manner,  as  the  governor  shall 
appoint  and  direct ;  and  at  all  subsequent  elections,  the  time,  place  and  manner 
of  holding  elections  shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  of  the  qualified  electors  as  hereintofore  provided,  shall  be 
declared  by  the  governor  to  be  elected,  and  a  certificate  thereof  shall  be  accord- 
ingly given. 

"Section  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  sections  numbered  sixteen  and 
thirty-six  in  each  township  in  said  territory  shall  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby, 
reserved  for  the  purpose  of  being  applied  to  public  schools  in  the  state  or  states 
hereafter  to  be  erected  out  of  the  same. 

"Section  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  temporarily  and  until  other- 
wise provided  by  law  the  governor  of  said  territory  may  define  the  judicial 
districts  of  said  territory,  and  assign  the  judges  who  may  be  appointed  for  the 
said  territory  to  the  several  districts,  and  also  appoint  the  times  and  places  of 
holding  courts  in  the  several  counties  or  subdivisions  in  such  of  said  judicial 
districts  by  proclamation  to  be  issued  by  him ;  but  the  Legislative  Assembly,  at 
their  first  session,  may  organize,  alter  or  modify  such  judicial  districts  and 
assign  the  judges  and  alter  the  times  and  places  of  holding  the  courts  as  to  them 
shall  seem  proper  and  convenient. 

"Section  16.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  Constitution  and  all  laws 
of  the  United  States  which  are  not  locally  inapplicable,  shall  have  the  same 
force  and  efifect  within  the  said  Territory  of  \^'yoming  as  elsewhere  within  the 
LTnited  States. 

"Section  17.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  this  act  shall  take  efifect  from 
and  after  the  time  when  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  herein  provided  for 
shall  have  been  duly  appointed  and  qualified :  Provided,  That  all  general  terri- 
torial laws  of  the  Territory  of  Dakota  in  force  in  any  portion  of  said  Territory 
of  Wyoming  at  the  time  this  act  shall  take  effect  shall  be  and  continue  in  force 
throughout  the  said  territory  until  repealed  by  the  legislative  authority  of  said 
territory,  except  such  laws  as  relate  to  the  possession  or  occupation  of  mines 
or  mining  claims." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMLXG  171 

GON'ERXOK  FAULK's   MESSAGE 

Several  months  elapsed  after  the  passage  of  the  above  act  before  the  Terri- 
tory of  Wyoming  was  organized.  The  reasons  for  this  delay,  as  well  as  the 
conditions  then  existing  in  the  territory,  are  thus  set  forth  in  the  message  of 
Governor  A.  J.  Faulk  to  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Dakota  which  assembled 
in  December,  1868: 

"The  courts  have  been  open  for  the  redress  of  wrongs  and  found  adequate, 
except  perhaps  in  that  portion  of  the  territory  known  in  our  statutes  as  Laramie 
and  Carter  counties.  There,  in  those  recently  organized  counties,  on  account  of 
their  remoteness  from  the  established  judicial  districts  of  the  territory,  a  state 
of  society  bordering  on  anarchy  has  for  a  time  existed ;  and  which,  from  unavoid- 
able circumstances,  has  been  temporarily  and  imperfectly  relieved  by  the  action 
of  the  Legislature  during  its  last  session,  by  the  passage  of  an  act  embracing 
those  counties  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Second  Judicial  District  and  author- 
izing his  honor,  the  chief  justice,  to  hold  a  term  of  court  at  the  City  of 
Cheyenne. 

"Owing  to  the  rich  discoveries  of  gold  and  other  valuable  minerals  in  that 
vicinity,  and  the  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  through  the  southern 
portion  of  those  counties,  a  large  population  was  soon  collected,  which  embraced, 
among  others,  many  turbulent  and  lawless  individuals,  who  were  practically 
beyond  the  control  of  civil  law,  and  whose  crimes  were  of  such  a  startling  char- 
acter as  to  compel  the  better  class  of  citizens  to  resort  to  measures  deemed 
unavoidably  necessary  for  the  protection  of  society,  to  reduce  such  refractory 
spirits  to  submission.  The  authority  exercised  under  such  circumstances,  by 
vigilance  committees,  finds  many  apologists — but  to  my  judgment  it  is  greatly 
to  be  deprecated — and  it  is  most  earnestly  hoped  that  the  time  is  past  when  a 
resort  to  such  measures  can  be  in  any  degree  palliated  or  justified. 

"In  my  last  annual  message  I  alluded  to  this  subject  and  favored  on  that 
occasion  the  organization  of  those  counties,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  into  separate 
territory  as  the  only  practicable  or  effectual  remedy  for  existing  and  apprehended 
social  evils.  In  this  I  was  cordially  sustained  by  the  Legislature  and  by  the 
unanimous  voice  of  the  people.  In  accordance  with  our  wishes,  an  act  creating 
a  temporary  government  for  Wyoming,  which  embraced  those  two  counties,  was 
passed  by  Congress  and  approved  July  25,  1868,  but,  unfortunately,  has  not  yet 
gone  into  practical  operation,  on  account  of  the  failure  of  Congress  to  make 
the  necessary  appropriation  to  defray  the  expenses,  and  the  non-appointment 
and  confirmation  of  territorial  officers.  This  evil,  however,  is  but  tempor.-iry. 
But  a  short  time  can  yet  elapse  until  the  machinery  of  a  separate  government 
will  be  in  full  operation  in  Wyoming,  when,  through  the  regular  application 
of  the  civil  laws,  faithfully  and  speedily  administered,  crime  will  be  suppressed 
and  the  law-abiding  citizens  will  finally  be  relieved  from  the  social  disorders 
which  have  afflicted  them.  Under  such  auspicious  circumstances,  in  view  of  the 
railroad  facilities  possessed  by  the  territory,  and  the  vast  beds  of  coal  and 
deposits  of  precious  metals,  which  ha\e  already  been  developed,  we  may 
reasonably  anticipate  for  Wyoming  a  career  of  prosperity  which  Eastern  Dakota, 
with  all  its  advantages,  might  well  envy." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


GOVERNMENT  ORGANIZED 


The  session  of  Congress  which  began  in  December,  1868,  remedied  the 
omission  of  the  preceding  one  and  made  the  necessary  appropriations  for  the 
inauguration  of  the  territorial  government  of  Wyoming.  Early  in  the  year 
1869,  the  following  territorial  officers  were  appointed  by  President  Grant:  John 
A.  Campbell,  governor;  Edward  M.  Lee,  secretary;  Joseph  M.  Carey,  United 
States  attorney;  Silas  Reed,  surveyor-general;  Edgar  P.  Snow,  assessor  of  inter- 
nal revenue;  Thomas  Harlan,  collector  of  internal  revenue;  Charles  C.  Crowe, 
register  of  the  land  office;  Frank  Wolcott,  receiver  of  public  moneys;  John  W. 
Donnellan,  treasurer;  Benjamin  Gallagher,  auditor;  John  H.  Howe,  chief  justice; 
William  T.  Jones  and  John  W.  Kingman,  associate  justices  ;  Church  Howe,  United 
States  marshal. 

The  governor  and  secretary  took  the  oath  of  office  on  April  15,  1869,  and 
the  justices  of  the  territorial  Supreme  Court  on  the  19th  of  the  month  following. 
The  latter  date  really  marks  the  beginning  of 

Campbell's  administr.\tion 

John  A.  Campbell,  the  first  governor  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming,  was 
born  at  Salem,  Ohio,  October  8,  1835.  After  attending  the  public  schools  in 
his  native  town  he  learned  the  newspaper  business  and  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  war  was  employed  as  an  editorial  writer  on  the  Cleveland  (Ohio) 
Leader.  In  April,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private,  was  promoted  to  second  lieu- 
tenant and  assigned  to  duty  on  the  stafif  of  Gen.  A.  D.  McCook.  On  November 
26.  1862.  he  was  promoted  to  major  and  assistant  adjutant-general,  and  from 
1863  to  the  close  of  the  war  he  served  on  the  stafif  of  Gen.  John  M.  Schofield. 
Among  the  engagements  in  which  he  participated  were  Rich  Mountain,  Shiloh, 
Perryvflle,  Stone's  River,  most  of  the  actions  incident  to  the  Atlanta  campaign 
in  1864,  Franklin,  Nashville  and  a  number  of  minor  skirmishes.  In  1865  he 
was  promoted  to  colonel  and  brevet  brigadier-general.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
he  was  offered  a  commission  in  the  regular  army,  but  declined.  He  then  served 
as  assistant  secretary  of  war  until  appointed  governor  of  Wyoming  and  super- 
intendent of  Indian  affairs  in  1869.  As  the  first  governor,  he  organized  the 
territorial  government,  established  the  first  judicial  districts,  etc.  In  1873  he 
was  reappointed  for  a  second  term  and  served  as  governor  until  1875,  when 
he  resigned  to  accept  the  appointment  of  third  assistant  secretary  of  state.  Later 
in  the  same  year  he  accepted  the  consulship  to  Basle,  Switzerland,  in  the  hope 
that  a  change  of  climate  would  prove  beneficial  to  his  health.  But  he  found  the 
climate  of  Switzerland  too  severe  and  in  a  short  time  returned  to  the  I'nited 
States.    His  death  occurred  on  July  15,  1880.  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

On  May  19,  1869,  the  day  the  territorial  justices  qualified.  Governor  Camp- 
bell issued  his  first  proclamation,  dividing  the  territory  into  three  judicial  dis- 
tricts, and  fixing  the  times  and  places  of  holding  courts  therein.  (See  chapter 
on  the  Bench  and  Bar.)  His  next  oflficial  act  was  to  order  a  census  of  the 
territory  taken  in  accordance  with  section  4  of  the  organic  act.  This  order 
was  issued  on  May  28,  1869,  but  the  marshal  met  with  serious  delay,  on  account 
of  the  failure  of  some  of  the  enumerating  officers  to  perform  their  duties,  and 
the  census  was  not  completed  until  the  30th  of  July. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIx\G 


FIRST  ELECTION 


Another  proclamation  by  Governor  Campbell,  issued  on  August  3,  i86g,  called 
an  election  for  delegates  to  Congress  and  members  of  the  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture, said  election  to  be  held  on  Thursday,  September  2,  1869.  The  proclamation 
also  divided  the  territory  into  council  and  representative  districts.  Laramie 
County  constituted  the  first  council  district,  Albany  and  Carbon  counties  the 
second,  and  Carter  County  the  third.  Each  district  was  directed  to  elect  three 
members  of  the  upper  branch  of  the  Legislature.  The  representatives  were 
apportioned  as  follows :  Territory  at  large,  one ;  Laramie  County,  four ;  Albany 
County,  three;  Carbon  County,  one;  Carter  County,  three;  that  portion  of  the 
territory  taken  from  Utah  and  Idaho,  one. 

At  the  election  the  total  number  of  votes  cast  was  5,266.  For  delegate  to 
Congress,  Stephen  F.  Nuckolls  received  3,930  and  W.  W.  Corlett  received  1,965. 
Members  of  the  council— T.  D.  Murrin,  James  R.  Whitehead,  T.  W.  Poole,  W. 
H.  Bright,  W.  S.  Rockwell,  George  Wardmen,  Frederick  Laycock,  James  W. 
Brady  and  George  Wilson.  Representatives — J.  C.  Abney,  Posey  S.  Wilson. 
Howard  Sebree,  Herman  Haas,  Louis  Miller,  J.  N.  Douglas,  William  Herrick, 
Benjamin  Sheeks.  James  Menefee,  J.  C.  Strong,  John  Holbrook,  J.  M.  Freeman 
and  S.  M.  Curran. 

Stephen  F.  Nuckolls,  the  first  delegate  to  Congress,  was  born  in  Grayson 
County,  Virginia,  August  16,  1825.  About  the  time  he  v,-as  twenty-one  years 
of  age  he  went  to  Missouri  and  in  1854  removed  to  Nebraska,  where  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  Nebraska  City,  and  was  elected  to  the  Territorial  Legis- 
lature. While  in  ]\Iissouri  and  Nebraska  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
but  in  i860  went  to  Denver,  where  he  was  interested  in  mining  operations.  After 
a  short  residence  in  Denver,  he  went  to  New  York  and  remained  there  until 
1867.  when  the  call  of  the  West  brought  him  to  Wyoming.  Mr.  Nuckolls  was 
a  man  of  good  education  and  during  his  one  term  as  delegate  was  infiuentia! 
in  securing  the  enactment  of  laws  to  promote  the  material  interests  of  Wyoming. 

FIR.ST  LEGISL.\TURE 

On  September  22.  1869,  Governor  Campbell  issued  a  proclamation  convening 
the  Legislative  ."Assembly  "in  the  City  of  Cheyenne,  on  the  12th  day  of  October 
next."  Pursuant  to  this  proclamation,  the  members  elect  of  the  two  branches 
of  the  Legislature  assembled  in  Cheyenne  on  Tuesday,  October  12,  1869.  The 
council  organized  by  electing. W.  H.  Bright,  president;  Edward  Orpen.  secretary; 
Mark  Parrish,  assistant  secretary;  J.  R.  Rockwell,  enrolling  clerk;  William  B. 
Hines,  engrossing  clerk ;  C.  FT.  IMoxley,  sergeant  at  arms. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  S.  M.  Curran,  of  Carbon  County,  was 
chosen  speaker :  L.  L.  Bedell,  chief  clerk ;  William  C.  .Stanley,  assistant  clerk : 
George  E.  Talpey,  enrolling  clerk  ;  E.  ^IcEvena,  engrossing  clerk  :  \\'illiam  Baker, 
sergeant  at  arms. 

Governor  Campbell  delivered  his  first  message  to  a  joint  session  of  the  two 
houses  on  the  i.^th.  In  it  he  reviewed  what  had  been  done  in  the  establishment 
of  the  territorial  srovernment,  the  trouble  with  the  Indians  in  the  ^^'infl  River 


174  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

X'alley  and  the  mining  settlements,  and  recommended  the  enactment  of  a  militia 
law  for  the  better  protection  of  the  frontier.  On  December  8,  1869,  the  gov- 
ernor approved  a  memorial  asking  Congress  to  establish  a  penitentiary  at  Laramie 
City,  and  to  appropriate  for  that  purpose  a  sum  not  less  than  sixty  thousand 
dollars.  The  same  day  he  approved  an  act  providing  for  the  acquisition  of  a 
site  for  the  prison  at  or  near  Laramie  City.  The  laws  of  Dakota  Territory  were 
repealed  on  December  10,  1869,  so  far  as  they  applied  to  Wyoming;  the  name 
of  Carter  County  was  changed  to  Sweetwater ;  the  County  of  Uinta  was  estab- 
lished and  the  county  seat  temporarily  located  at  Fort  Bridger;  and  a  law  was 
enacted  giving  women  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  oiSce.  The  Legislature  was  in 
session  for  sixty  days.  Concerning  its  work  it  has  been  said :  "The  first  Legis- 
lature adopted  and  perfected  a  code  which,  with  the  example  of  the  several  new 
territories  to  guide  them,  was  an  admirable  foundation  on  which  to  construct 
a  perfect  state  in  the  future.  Had  no  omissions  been  made,  there  need  have 
been  no  more  legislation.'' 

Probably  the  most  important  acts  of  the  session  were  those  establishing  a 
public  school  system,  providing  for  the  opening  of  certain  territorial  highways, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  civil  and  criminal  codes  above  mentioned. 

TERRITORI.XL  SEAL 

At  the  opening  of  the  session  Governor  Campbell  submitted  a  design  for  a 
territorial  seal.  On  December  9.  1869,  he  approved  a  bill  for  a  seal,  the  design 
for  which  was  that  proposed  by  him,  with  some  modifications.  As  described  in 
the  act,  the  seal  was  to  consist  of  "a  Norman  shield  on  the  upper  half  of  which 
is  emblazoned  a  mountain  scene,  with  a  railroad  train,  the  sun  appearing  above 
the  horizon,  the  figures  '1868'  below  the  middle  point  of  the  top  of  the  shield. 
On  the  first  quarter  below,  on  a  white  ground,  a  plow,  a  pick,  a  shovel  and  a 
shepherd's  crook ;  on  the  next  quarter,  namely :  the  lower  part  of  the  shield,  on  a 
red  ground,  an  arm  upholding  a  drawn  sword ;  the  shield  to  be  surmounted  by 
the  inscription  'Cedant  Arma  Toga,'  and  the  entire  design  surrounded  by  the 
words  'Territory  of  Wyoming,  Great  Seal.'  " 

LEGISLATURE  OF   187I 

The  second  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  began  at  Cheyenne  on  Tues- 
day, November  7,  1871,  and  continued  until  Saturday,  December  i6th.  The  terri- 
torial officers  at  this  time  were  as  follows :  John  A.  Campbell,  governor ;  Herman 
Glafcke.  secretary;  Joseph  W.  Fisher,  chief  justice;  John  W.  Kingman  and 
Joseph  M.  Carey,  associate  justices ;  Edward  P.  Johnson,  attorney ;  Church  Howe, 
United  States  marshal ;  William  T.  Jones,  delegate  in  Congress. 

The  principal  acts  of  this  session  were  those  providing  for  the  organization 
of  the  territorial  militia :  exempting  certain  property  from  sale  upon  execution 
or  other  process;  lien  laws  for  the  protection  of  miners  and  mechanics;  an  act 
for  the  protection  of  live  stock ;  the  establishment  of  a  territorial  library ;  pro- 
viding for  the  opening  of  a  number  of  wagon  roads  ;  and  a  memorial  was  addressed 
to  Congress  asking  for  the  establishment  of  postal  routes  through  the  territory. 


HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG  175 

THIRD  LEGISLATURE 

As  the  sessions  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  were  held  biennially,  the  third 
Assembly  convened  on  Thursday,  November  4,  1873.  The  principal  territorial 
officials  at  that  time  were  John  A.  Campbell,  governor;  Jason  B.  Brown,  secre- 
tary; Joseph  W.  Fisher,  chief  justice;  Joseph  M.  Carey  and  E.  A.  Thomas, 
associate  justices;  Edward  P.  Johnson,  attorney;  Frank  Wolcott,  marshal;  VV. 
R.  Steele,  delegate  in  Congress. 

This  was  the  last  session  of  the  Assembly  under  Governor  Campbell's  admin- 
istration. It  was  in  session  for  forty  days  and  enacted  a  number  of  laws  amenda- 
tory of  those  passed  by  previous  Legislatures.  Acts  were  also  passed  regulating 
the  branding  and  herding  of  live  stock;  establishing  a  board  of  immigration  to 
encourage  settlement  of  various  parts  of  the  territory;  defining  the  judicial  dis- 
tricts ;  and  providing  for  a  fiscal  year  to  begin  on  the  first  of  October  annually. 

th.wer's  administration 

John  AI.  Thayer,  the  second  territorial  governor  of  Wyoming,  was  born  at 
Bellingham,  Alass.,  where  he  attended  the  public  schools  and  studied  law.  About 
the  time  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  was  organized, 
and  in  November,  1854,  he  located  at  Omaha,  crossing  the  Missouri  River  in  an 
old  canoe  in  company  with  Thomas  O'Connor  and  another  Irishman  named  Boyle. 
In  1859  he  commanded  an  expedition  against  the  Pawnee  Indians.  The  same 
year  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  at  Bellevue.  which  organized  the  repub- 
lican party  in  Nebraska.  He  was  nominated  by  that  convention  for  delegate  to 
Congress,  but  was  defeated  by  a  Air.  Daily.  In  i860  he  was  again  the  republican 
candidate  for  congressional  delegate,  but  was  again  defeated.  He  was  then 
elected  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  but  resigned  before  the  expiration 
of  his  term  to  accept  a  commission  as  colonel  of  the  First  Nebraska  Infantry. 
In  1862  he  was  promoted  to  brigadier-general.  At  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  he 
returned  to  Nebraska.  In  1867  he  was  elected  one  of  the  first  United  States  sena- 
tors from  Nebraska.  He  was  appointed  governor  of  Wyoming  by  President  Grant 
and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  office  on  February  10,  1875.  His  administra- 
tion lasted  until  April  10,  1878,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  John  W.  Hoyt.  Gov- 
ernor Thayer  then  went  back  to  Omaha  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. In  1886  he  was  elected  governor  of  Nebraska  and  was  reelected  in  1888. 
He  died  in  Omaha  on  March  19,  1906. 

About  the  time  Governor  Thayer  came  into  office  a  number  of  changes 
were  made  in  the  list  of  territorial  officials.  George  W.  French  succeeded  Jason 
B.  Brown  as  secretary;  Jacob  B.  Blair  took  the  place  of  Joseph  M.  Carey  as 
associate  justice;  W.  F.  Sweesy  was  appointed  LTnited  States  marshal;  Orlando 
North,  auditor;  A.  R.  Converse,  treasurer;  and  J.  J.  Jenkins,  district  attorney. 
W".  R.  Steele  was  reelected  delegate  to  Congress  in  1874. 

legislative  sessions 

Two  sessions  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  were  held  while  Thayer  was  gov- 
ernor.    On  November  2,   1875,  the   fourth  session  was  convened  at   Cheyenne 


176  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

and  Governor  Thayer  delivered  his  first  message  on  the  4th.  It  was  an  exhaustive 
document,  deaHng  with  practically  every  subject  of  territorial  interest,  and  showed 
a  familiarity  with  Wyoming  conditions  that  was  surprising,  coming  from  one  who 
had  been  in  the  territory  only  a  few  months. 

At  this  session  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  a  revision  of  the  territorial 
laws.  W.  L.  Kuykendall,  C.  W.  Bramel,  Orlando  North,  Michael  Murphy, 
George  W.  Ritter  and  C.  M.  White  were  appointed  a  committee  "to  make  all 
necessary  arrangements  and  contracts  for  the  compilation  and  publication  of  all 
laws,  including  those  of  the  fourth  Legislative  Assembly."  The  committee  selected 
James  R.  Whitehead  to  superintend  the  work  and  the  first  edition  of  the  "Com- 
piled Laws  of  Wyoming"  was  printed  by  Herman  Glafcke,  former  territorial 
secretary,  in  1S76. 

The  fifth  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  began  on  November  7,  1877, 
and  continued  for  forty  days.  Several  important  laws  were  enacted  during  this 
session,  to-wit :  Regulating  the  practice  of  medicine ;  limiting  the  mdebtedness 
of  counties;  fixing  the  fees  and  salaries  of  public  ofificials,  and  providing  for 
the  opening  and  improvement  of  certain  highways.  On  November  22,  1877, 
Governor  Thayer  approved  a  memorial  to  Congress  protesting  against  a  division 
of  the  territory,  a  subject  which  some  people  were  just  then  agitating,  and 
recommending  the  annexation  of  the  Black  Hills  country  to  Wyoming.  The 
memorial  may  have  had  some  influence  in  preventing  the  division  of  the  territory, 
but  the  annexation  recommended  was  never  made. 

hoyt's  .\dministration 

John  W.  Hoyt,  the  third  territorial  governor  of  Wyoming,  was  born  near 
\\'orthington,  Ohio,  October  31,  1831.  When  about  eighteen  years  of  age  he 
graduated  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University  and  immediately  afterward  began 
the  study  of  medicine.  In  1853  he  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  from  the 
Ohio  Medical  College.  Four  years  later  he  removed  to  Madison,  Wis.,  where 
for  ten  years  he  was  engaged  in  business  as  an  editor  and  publisher.  He  can- 
vassed the  Northwest  in  the  interests  of  the  Morrill  Agricultural  College  Bill 
when  that  measure  was  pending  in  Congress.  In  1874  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Wisconsin  Railroad  Commission.  Governor  Hoyt  was  a  commissioner  to 
several  of  the  world's  greatest  industrial  expositions,  viz :  London,  1862 ;  Paris, 
1867;  Vienna.  1873;  the  Centennial  at  Philadelphia,  1876;  and  the  Columbian 
Exposition  at  Chicago,  1893.  In  1877  he  declined  an  appointment  as  minister 
to  Spain,  but  soon  afterward  accepted  the  governorship  of  Wyoming  Territory. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  governor  he  remained  for  some  time  in  Wyo- 
ming and  aided  materially  in  developing  the  territory's  educational  system.  He 
was  the  first  president  of  the  State  University:  a  member  of  the  constitutional 
convention  in  1889:  was  president  of  the  Wyoming  Development  Company  for 
five  years ;  established  and  published  for  a  short  time  the  Wyoming  Journal  at 
Laramie,  and  was  otherwise  connected  with  the  advancement  of  the  material 
interests  of  Wyoming.  In  1891  he  went  to  Washington.  D.  C,  where  he  passed 
the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  literary  work.  He  was  the  author  of  several 
books  relating  to  education,  agriculture  and  railway  afifairs. 

Governor  Hoyt's  administration  as  governor  of  the  territors'  began  on  April 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  177 

lo,  1878,  and  continued  until  August,  1882.  During  the  time  he  held  the  office 
the  population  increased  more  than  100  per  cent.  x\t  the  beginning  of  his  term 
the  principal  territorial  offices  were  filled  by  the  following  incumbents:  A. 
Worth  Spates,  secretary;  J.  B.  Sener,  chief  justice;  Jacob  B.  Blair  and  William 
Ware  Peck,  associate  justices ;  C.  H.  Layman,  United  States  attorney ;  Gustave 
Schnitger.  marshal:  J.  S.  Xason,  auditor;  Francis  E.  \\'arren.  treasurer;  Stephen 
W.  Downey,  delegate  in  Congress. 

LEGISLATURE  OF    18/9 

The  first  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  held  after  Governor  Hoyt  was 
inducted  into  office  began  at  Cheyenne  on  Tuesday,  November  4,  187Q.  During 
the  session  acts  were  passed  authorizing  certain  counties  to  issue  bonds  in  aid 
of  railroad  companies :  amending  the  civil  and  criminal  codes  of  the  territorj' ; 
regulating  the  manner  of  conducting  elections ;  prohibiting  lotteries ;  and  declar- 
ing the  following  legal  holidays:  January  ist  (New  Year's  day),  February  226 
(George  Washington's  birthday),  July  4th  (Independence  day),  any  day  set 
apart  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  as  a  day  of  annual  thanksgiving,  and 
December  25th   (Christmas). 

SEVENTH    LEGLSLATITRE 

The  Legislature  of  1879  was  the  sixth  to  be  held  after  the  organization  of 
the  territory.  No  more  sessions  were  held  until  January  10,  1882,  when  the 
seventh  Legislature  was  convened  at  Cheyenne.  Governor  Hoyt  was  still  in 
office,  but  several  changes  had  been  made  in  the  roster  of  territorial  officials 
since  the  preceding  session.  E.  S.  N.  Morgan  had  succeeded  A.  W.  Spates  as 
secretary ;  Samuel  C.  Parks  had  been  appointed  associate  justice  in  place  of 
William  W.  Peck;  M.  C.  Brown  was  now  L'nited  States  attorney;  Morton  E. 
Post,  delegate  in  Congress ;  Jesse  Knight,  territorial  auditor ;  and  Francis  E. 
\^'arren  still  held  the  office  of  territorial  treasurer. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  organic  act,  the  Legislature  of 
1882  increased  the  number  of  members  in  the  council  to  twelve  and  the  number 
of  representatives  to  twenty-four.  The  territory  was  divided  into  five  council 
districts  and  apportioned  to  each  district  the  number  of  members,  to-wit :  First 
district,  Laramie  County,  four  mernbers ;  Second  district,  Albany  County,  three 
members ;  Third  district.  Carbon  and  Johnson  counties,  two  members ;  Fourth 
district,  Sweetwater  County,  one  member;  Fifth  district,  Uinta  County,  two 
members. 

For  representative  purposes  the  territory  was  divided  into  six  districts,  which, 
with  the  number  of  members  apportioned  to  each,  were  as  follows :  First,  Lara- 
mie County,  eight  members ;  Second,  Albany  County,  five  members ;  Third,  Car- 
bon County,  four  members;  Fourth,  Johnson  County,  one  member:  Fifth,  Sweet- 
water County,  three  members ;  Sixth,  LHnta  County,  three  members. 

Other  acts  of  this  session  were  those  providing  for  the  better  organization 
of  the  territorial  militia ;  authorizing  the  secretary  of  the  territory  to  procure 
a  suitable  block  of  granite,  have  it  properly  inscribed  and  forward  it  to  Wash- 
ington to  be  placed  in  the  Washington  Monument  as  Wyoming's  memorial  stone ; 


178  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

and  amending  the  act  relating  to  the  territorial  seal.     The  joint  resolution  of  the 
two  branches  of  the  Legislature  requested  the  reappointment  of  Governor  Hoyt. 

male's  administration 

William  Hale,  the  fourth  governor  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming,  succeeded 
John  W.  Hoyt  on  August  3.  1882.  He  was  born  in  the  Town  of  New  London, 
Henry  County,  Iowa,  November  18,  1837.  He  received  a  liberal  education, 
studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  at  Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  soon  after  he 
reached  his  twenty-first  birthday  anniversary.  He  began  practice  at  Glenwood, 
Iowa;  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  that  state  in  1863  and  served  as  repre- 
sentative for  four  years ;  was  presidential  elector  on  the  republican  ticket  for 
the  Fifth  Congressional  district  in  1868;  and  on  July  18,  1882,  was  appointed 
governor  of  Wyoming  by  President  Arthur.  Soon  after  he  took  up  the  reins 
of  government,  Montana,  through  representatives  in  Congress,  sought  to  obtain 
jurisdiction  over  the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  Governor  Hale,  although  in 
failing  health  and  suffering  from  physical  pain,  journeyed  over  two  thousand  miles 
to  reach  the  park  and  establish  there  the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  Wyo- 
ming Territory.  This  and  other  acts  demonstrated  his  loyalty  to  the  territory 
of  which  he  had  been  appointed  governor  and  so  endeared  him  to  the  people  of 
Wyoming  that,  when  his  administration  was  brought  to  an  end  by  his  untimely 
death  on  January  13,  1885.  The  Legislative  Assembly  appropriated  $500  toward 
defraying  his  funeral  expenses  and  erecting  a  monument  to  his  memory,  the 
appropriation  being  made  by  an  act  approved  on  March  12,   1886. 

The  territorial  officers  at  the  beginning  of  Hale's  administration  were :  E.  S. 
N.  Alorgan,  secretary;  John  C.  Perry,  chief  justice;  J.  B.  Blair  and  Samuel  C. 
Parks,  associate  justices;  J.  A.  Riner,  United  States  attorney;  Gustave  Schnitger, 
marshal;  P.  L.  Smith,  auditor;  Francis  E.  Warren,  treasurer;  E.  C.  David, 
surveyor-general;  E.  W.  Mann  and  Charles  H.  Priest,  registers  of  the  land  office; 
W.  S.  Hurlburt  and  E.  S.  Crocker,  receivers  of  public  moneys;  M.  E.  Post, 
delegate  in  Congress. 

EIGHTH    LEGISLATURE 

Only  one  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  was  held  while  Hale  was  gov- 
ernor, viz.,  the  eighth,  which  was  convened  at  Cheyenne  on  Tuesday,  January 
8,  1884.  Among  the  more  important  acts  of  this  session  was  the  appointment  of 
W.  W.  Corlett,  Isaac  P.  Caldwell  and  Clarence  D.  Clark  commissioners  to_  revise 
and  codify  the  territorial  laws.  Other  acts  were  those  authorizing  county  com- 
missioners to  appropriate  funds  for  sinking  artesian  wells ;  to  encourage  the 
organization  of  volunteer  fire  companies  in  towns  and  cities;  creating  Fremont 
County;  and  to  provide  for  the  education  and  training  of  juvenile  delinquents. 

Upon  the  death  of  Governor  Hale,  Secretary  Morgan  became  acting  governor 
and  served  in  that  capacity  until  February  27,  1885,  when  Francis  E.  Warren, 
treasurer  of  the  territory,  was  appointed  governor. 

w.\rren's  .\dministr.\tion 

Francis  E.  Warren,  fifth  territorial  governor  of  W\'oming.  was  born  at  Hins- 
dale. Mass..  June  20.   1844.     His  ancestor.  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  was  one  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  179 

first  men  in  the  American  colonies  to  advocate  independence.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolutionary  war  he  was  commissioned  general  and  was  in  command  of 
the  colonial  forces  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  where  he  fell  fighting  for  the 
liberty  of  his  countrymen.  Francis  E.  Warren  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  at  Hinsdale  Academy.  In  1861  he  left  school  to  enlist  as  a  private 
in  Company  C,  Forty-ninth  Massachusetts  Infantry.  His  regiment  was  sent 
to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  and  while  at  New  Orleans  he  was  promoted  to 
corporal.  At  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson  he  won  a  medal  of  honor  for  gallant 
conduct.  In  the  spring  of  1868  he  came  to  Iowa  as  foreman  of  a  construction  gang 
on  the  Rock  Island  Railroad.  From  Iowa  he  came  to  Cheyenne,  where  he  engaged 
in  merchandising.  In  1871  he  formed  a  partnership  with  A.  R.  Converse,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Converse  &  Warren.  In  1878  Mr.  Converse  retired  from  the 
firm  and  the  business  was  then  carried  on  under  the  name  of  F.  E.  Warren  &  Com- 
pany for  a  few  years,  when  Mr.  Warren  turned  his  attention  to  the  live  stock 
business.  He  was  president  of  the  Warren  Live  Stock  Company  and  erected 
several  buildings  in  Cheyenne. 

From  the  time  he  became  a  resident  of  Cheyenne  Governor  Warren  took  a 
commendable  interest  in  public  affairs.  In  1872  he  was  one  of  the  trustees  of 
Cheyenne  and  the  same  year  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature. 
He  served  as  president  of  the  council  in  the  Legislative  Assembly  and  was 
treasurer  of  the  territory  for  about  six  years.  In  1885  he  was  elected  mayor  of 
Cheyenne  and  in  February  of  that  year  was  appointed  governor  of  the  territory 
by  President  Arthur.  He  was  removed  by  President  Cleveland  in  the  fall  of 
1886,  but  was  again  appointed  governor  by  President  Harrison  in  March,  1889. 
When  Wyoming  was  admitted  as  a  state  in  1890  Governor  Warren  was  elected  the 
first  governor  of  the  new  state,  but  served  as  such  only  two  weeks,  when  he  was 
elected  one  of  the  first  L'nited  States  senators  from  Wyoming.  His  term  expired 
in  1893  and  the  Legislature  of  that  year  failed  to  elect  a  senator,  so  that  the  state 
had  but  one  senator  in  Congress.  In  1895  Mr.  W'arren  was  again  elected  and  has 
served  in  the  United  States  senate  continuously  since  that  time.  His  present 
term  expires  on  March  4,  1919. 

RIOT    AT   ROCK    SPRINGS 

In  August,  1885,  about  six  months  after  Governor  Warren  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  the  ofifice,  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  brought  several  hundred 
Chinese  laborers  into  the  territory,  to  work  in  the  coal  mines  at  Evanston,  Rock 
Springs,  Carbon  and  other  places  along  the  railroad.  The  white  laborers  claimed 
that  the  Chinese  coolies  had  usurped  their  places  in  the  mines  by  working  for 
lower  wages  than  the  white  miners  would  accept.  On  September  2,  1885,  about 
two  hundred  armed  men  assembled  at  Rock  Springs  and  attacked  the  Chinese. 
Several  shots  were  fired  and  the  Chinamen  took  to  the  hill,  with  their  assailants 
in  close  pursuit.  About  fifty  of  the  coolies  were  killed,  after  which  the  rioters 
returned  to  the  coal  camp  and  destroyed  the  property  of  the  coolies.  Fifty 
houses  belonging  to  the  railroad  company  were  also  destroyed,  and  some  of  the 
miners  wanted  to  burn  the  Chinamen  with  the  buildings.  Chinese  in  the  other 
coal  camjis,  when  they  learned  of  the  affair  at  Rock  Springs,  did  not  wait  for 
further  developments,  but  left  the  country  at  once. 


180  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

As  soon  as  Governor  Warren  heard  of  the  trouble  at  Rock  Springs  (having 
no  organized  territorial  militia  that  could  be  depended  on)  he  telegraphed  Gen. 
O.  O.  Howard,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Platte,  for  troops  to  pre- 
serve order.  General  Howard  promised  to  send  a  force  sufficient  for  military 
protection,  but  he  was  slow  in  carrying  the  promise  into  execution  and  the  gov- 
ernor appealed  to  the  secretary  of  war.  Troops  finally  arrived  in  time  to  prevent 
another  massacre.  Governor  \\'arren  was  severely  criticized  at  the  time  for 
giving  protection  to  the  imported  laborers,  but  after  the  excitement  died  out  it 
was  generally  recognized  that  he  did  the  only  thing  he  could  do  and  be  true  to 
his  oath  of  office  as  governor. 

NINTH    LEGISLATURE 

(jn  January  12,  1886.  the  ninth  legislative  session  began  at  Cheyenne.  This 
was  the  only  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  held  during  Governor  Warren's 
first  administration.  The  territorial  officers  at  this  time  were:  E.  S.  X.  Morgan, 
secretary;  John  W.  Lacey,  chief  justice;  Jacob  B.  Blair  and  Samuel  T.  Corn, 
associate  justices ;  Anthony  C.  Campbell,  United  States  attorney ;  Thomas  J. 
Carr,  marshal :  Mortimer  X.  Grant,  auditor ;  \\'illiam  P.  Gannett,  treasurer : 
Joseph  M.  Carey,  delegate  in  Congress. 

An  act  defining  the  boundaries  of  certain  counties  was  passed  at  this  session ; 
county  commissioners  were  required  by  another  law  to  see  that  veterans  of  the 
Civil  war  were  given  decent  burial ;  bounties  were  offered  for  the  destruction 
of  wild  animals  that  preyed  upon  crops  and  live  stock;  and  provision  was  made 
for  the  incorporation  of  towns  having  a  population  of  three  hundred  or  more 
bv  the  commissioners  of  the  counties  in  which  thev  were  located. 


On  Alarch  4,  1886,  Governor  Warren  approved  an  act  providing  that  "A 
capitol  building,  for  the  use  of  the  territory,  shall  be  erected  in  the  City  of  Chey- 
enne, the  capital  of  the  territory,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars." 

By  the  provisions  of  the  act  the  governor  was  to  appoint  a  building  com- 
mission of  five  members,  which  should  acquire  a  site  by  donation  or  otherwise, 
approve  plans  and  award  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  building.  Six 
per  cent  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $150,000  were  authorized  (not  more  than 
S25.000  of  which  should  be  issued  at  any  one  time),  payable' twenty-five  years 
after  date,  though  the  territory  was  given  the  option  of  redeeming  one-tenth  of 
said  bonds  at  the  expiration  of  fifteen  years  and  one-tenth  annually  thereafter 
until  all  were  paid. 

Governor  Warren  appointed  as  capitol  commissioners  Erasmus  X'agle.  Charles 
X.  Potter,  X'athaniel  R.  Davis,  Morton  E.  Post  and  Nicholas  J.  O'Brien.  This 
commission  erected  the  central  portion  of  the  capitol  according  to  plans  fur- 
nished by  D.  W.  Gibbs  &  Company.  A.  Feick  &  Company  being  awarded  the 
contract.  (See  Moonlight's  Administration  for  further  history  of  the  capitol 
building.) 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  181 

PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS 

By  the  act  of  March  9,  1886,  an  insane  asylum  was  ordered  to  be  built  at 
Evanston,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  bonds  to  that 
amount,  "or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,"  were  ordered,  with  the  pro- 
vision that  none  of  the  bonds  should  be  sold  for  less  than  their  par  value. 

Two  days  later  an  act  was  approved  establishing  an  institution  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb.  This  institution  was  to  be  located  at  Chey- 
enne, and  the  act  provided  that  "no  institute  shall  be  opened  until  there  are  twelve 
pupils  ready  who  will  enter  said  school,  and  when  the  number  of  pupils  shall 
fall  below  the  number  of  eight,  then  said  institute  shall  be  closed.''  An  appro- 
priation of  $8,000  was  made  for  the  support  of  the  school  for  the  first  two  years, 
and  the  governor  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  board  of  three  trustees,  to  be 
confirmed  by  the  legislative  council. 

The  Legislative  Assembly  of  1886  also  authorized  the  establishment  of  a 
territorial  university,  a  history  of  which  is  given  in  the  chapter  on  Educational 
Development. 

Baxter's  administration 

When  President  Cleveland  removed  Governor  Warren,  he  appointed  George 
W.  Baxter  as  his  successor.  The  story  of  Baxter's  administration  is  soon  told, 
as  its  duration  was  but  forty-five  days.  Mr.  Baxter  was  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
where  he  was  born  on  January  7,  1855.  He  was  educated  at  Sewanee,  Tenn., 
and  at  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  1878.  The  next  three  years  he  spent  as  a  lieutenant  on  the  frontier, 
and  in  1881  he  became  a  resident  of  Wyoming.  In  1884  he  purchased  50,000 
acres  of  land  from  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  He  afterward  sold 
20,000  acres  and  converted  the  remaining  30,000  into  a  cattle  range.  In  order 
to  fence  his  range  he  had  to  inclose  the  alternate  sections  belonging  to  the  United 
States.  This  he  did  in  the  spring  of  1885.  after  consulting  attorneys  as  to  his 
right  to  do  so.  and  in  August  of  that  year  President  Cleveland  issued  his  order 
prohibiting  the  fencing  of  Government  land  for  range  purposes.  Mr.  Baxter 
took  the  oath  of  office  as  governor  on  November  6,  1886,  and  soon  afterward 
it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  President  that  he  had  inclosed  land  belonging 
to  the  public  domain.  Mr.  Baxter  then  resigned  "by  request"  and  retired  from 
the  governorship  on  December  20,  1886.  He  remained  in  the  territory  for  some 
time  after  his  resignation;  was  a  delegate  from  Laramie  County  to  the  consti- 
tutional convention  in  1889,  and  the  next  year  was  the  democratic  candidate 
for  governor  at  the  first  state  election.  Not  long  after  that  he  removed  to 
Knoxville,  Tenn.  Nothing  of  importance  occurred  during  the  brief  period  that 
he  served  as  governor. 

moonlight's  administration 

Thomas  ^Moonlight,  the  seventh  territorial  governor  of  W'yoming,  was  a 
native  of  Forfarshire.  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  on  November  10,  1833. 
When  about  thirteen  years  of  age  be  ran  away  from  home  and  came  to  America 


182  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

as  a  forecastle  hand  on  one  of  the  sailing  ships  of  that  day.  The  vessel  landed 
at  Philadelphia  and  young  Moonlight  found  himself  in  a  strange  land,  penniless 
and  without  friends.  His  first  employment  in  the  United  States  was  in  a  glass 
factory  in  Xew  Jersey.  In  May.  1853.  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Fourth  United 
States  Artillery,  and  served  in  the  Seminole  war  in  Florida  and  on  the  frontier 
until  1859,  when  he  retired  from  the  army.  He  then  purchased  a  farm  in 
Leavenworth  County,  Kansas,  and  lived  there  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
war.  On  June  7,  1861,  he  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  volunteer  service 
as  captain  of  a  light  battery  which  he  had  recruited,  and  ordered  to  Missouri. 
In  September,  1862,  he  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eleventh 
Kansas  Infantry,  with  which  he  was  engaged  in  a  number  of  battles  in  Arkansas 
and  Missouri.  In  1867  President  Andrew  Johnson  appointed  him  collector  of 
internal  revenue  for  Kansas,  which  position  he  held  until  elected  secretary  of 
state  in  August,  1868.  Colonel  Moonlight  then  became  actively  identified  with 
the  political  affairs  of  Kansas.  He  was  chairman  of  the  democratic  state  con- 
vention in  1880  and  was  the  nominee  of  that  party  for  governor  in  1886,  but 
was  defeated.  On  December  20,  1886,  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Wyoming 
Territory  by  President  Cleveland  and  served  until  after  the  inauguration  of 
President  Harrison  in  March.  1889.  He  then  returned  to  Kansas,  where  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Contemporary  with  Governor  Moonlight,  several  changes  were  made  in  the 
territorial  offices.  Samuel  D.  Shannon  was  appointed  secretary ;  \Villiam  L. 
Maginnis.  chief  justice;  M.  C.  Saufley  and  Samuel  T.  Corn,  associate  justices: 
Anthony  C.  Campbell,  United  States  attorney;  Thomas  J.  Carr,  marshal;  Morti- 
mer X.  Grant,  auditor;  Luke  \'oorhees,  treasurer;  Joseph  M.  Carey,  delegate  in 
Congress — reelected  in   1886. 

TEXTH    LECISL.VTURE 

The  tenth  session  of  the  Territorial  Legislative  Assembly  convened  at  Chey- 
enne on  January  10,  1888,  with  J.  A.  Riner  president  of  the  council  and  L.  D. 
Pease  speaker  of  the  house.  This  was  the  only  legislative  session  held  during 
Moonlight's  administration.  A  general  banking  law  was  passed  at  this  session ; 
county  commissioners  were  given  greater  power  in  the  matter  of  sinking  artesian 
wells ;  and  an  act  for  the  protection  of  grazing  lands  was  passed.  A  controvers\- 
between  the  governor  and  the  Legislature  arose  over  the  erection  of  public  build- 
ings. An  act  providing  for  the  completion  of  the  capitol  building,  the  univer?it\- 
buildings,  the  insane  asylum,  and  for  the  establishment  of  a  penitentiary  at 
Rawlins  and  a  poor  asylum  "at  or  near  Lander"  was  vetoed  by  the  governor, 
chiefly  on  the  gorunds  that  the  appropriations  therefor  were  excessive.  The 
act  was  passed  over  the  governor's  veto  on  ^March  2,  1888,  by  the  required  two- 
thirds  majority  of  each  house. 

C.-\PITOL    BUILDING 

The  appropriation  for  the  completion  of  the  capitol  building,  amounting  to 
$125,000,  seems  to  have  been  the  princijjal  "bone  of  contention."  the  governor 
claiming  that   the  additions   proposed   would  cost  much   more  than  the  amount 


184  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

appropriated,  and  that  the  building  in  its  present  condition  was  sufficient  for 
the  needs  of  the  territory  until  more  money  could  be  raised  without  placing  a 
heavy  burden  of  taxation  upon  the  people.  Nevertheless,  the  Legislature  passed 
the  bill  over  Mr.  Moonlight's  veto,  as  already  stated.  It  provided  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  new  capitol  commission,  and  after  its  passage  the  governor  appointed 
Lawrence  J.  Bresnahan,  George  W.  Baxter,  Andrew  Gilchrist,  Arthur  Poole 
and  John  C.  Baird  as  the  new  commissioners.  The  council  rejected  ex-Governor 
Baxter  and  at  first  refused  to  confirm  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Bresnahan.  Thomas 
A.  Kent  was  then  appointed  in  place  of  Mr.  Baxter.  The  commission  organized 
by  electing  Mr.  Bresnahan  chairman  and  John  C.  Baird  secretary.  D.  W.  Gibbs  & 
Company,  who  furnished  the  plans  for  the  central  portion,  also  furnished  the 
plans  for  the  east  and  west  wings,  which  were  built  under  the  auspices  of  the 
above  named  commission,  by  Moses  P.  Keefe,  contractor.  The  present  east  and 
west  wings  were  not  completed  until  191 7. 

Time  demonstrated  that  there  was  some  reason  in  the  governor's  objections 
to  the  bill.  The  institutions  named  were  finally  completed  according  to  the 
original  designs,  but  the  expense  proved  a  heavy  burden  for  a  young  state  to 
carry,  the  bonds  issued  having  been  assumed  by  the  State  of  Wyoming  when 
it  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  A  history  of  all  these  institutions  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 


WARREN  S    SECOND    .ADMINISTR.KTION 

Francis  E.  Warren  was  reappointed  governor  by  President  Benjamin  Har- 
rison on  March  27,  1889,  to  succeed  Governor  Monnlight,  and  his  second  admin- 
istration proved  to  be  the  last  under  the  old  territorial  regime.  The  Legislature 
of  1888  had  adopted  and  sent  to  Congress  a  memorial  asking  that  ^^^'oming 
be  admitted,  and  it  was  generally  conceded  that  the  prayer  of  the  memorialists 
was  to  be  granted.  An  act  of  Congress,  admitting  the  state,  was  approved  by 
President  Harrison  on  July  10,  1890,  but  the  territorial  government  continued 
in  force  until  the  following  October. 

ELEVENTH    LEGISLATURE 

The  eleventh  and  last  session  of  the  Territoriar Legislature  began  at  Cheyenne 
on  January  10,  1890.  The  territorial  officers  at  that  time  were  as  follows: 
Francis  E.  Warren,  governor;  John  W.  Meldrum,  secretary;  Willis  Van  Devan- 
ter.  chief  justice;  M.  C.  Saufley  and  Clarence  D.  Clark,  associate  justices;  Ben- 
jamin F.  Fowler,  United  States  attorney ;  Thomas  J.  Carr,  marshal ;  Mortimer 
N.  Grant,  auditor;  Luke  Voorhees,  treasurer;  Joseph  M.  Carey,  delegate  in 
Congress. 

The  members  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  at  this  session  seemed  to  realize 
that  the  admission  of  the  state  was  a  certainty.  Consequently  a  number  of  acts 
passed  were  in  the  nature  of  "setting  the  house  in  order"  for  the  new  government. 
An  election  for  state  officers  was  held  in  September,  1890,  and  on  the  nth  of 
October  the  Territory  of  Wyoming,  with  its  twenty-two  years'  eventful  career, 
passed  into  history. 


CHAPTER  XII 
.ADMISSIOX  TO  THE  UNION 

DREAMS     OF     STATEHOOD MEMORIAL     OF     1888 PRESENTED     TO     CONGRESS — BILLS 

INTRODUCED ACTION     IN'   WYOMING GOVERNOR     WARREn's     PROCLAMATION 

CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTION LIST  OF  DELEGATES    BY    COUNTIES — ACT   OF   AD- 
MISSION  CAREY    CONGRATULATED CELEBRATING   THE    EVENT FIRST    ELECTION 

FOR  STATE  OFFICERS. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  Wyoming's  existence  as  an  organized  territory, 
considerable  dissatisfaction  was  manifested  over  the  appointment  of  non-residents 
to  conduct  the  territorial  government.  After  a  while  this  dissatisfaction  disap- 
peared, at  least  so  far  as  open  e.xpression  was  concerned,  though  there  were  many 
of  the  resident  population  who  cherished  the  dream  of  the  time  to  come  when 
they  would  be  able  to  have  a  state  government  of  their  own.  The  census  of 
1880  showed  Wyoming's  population  to  be  20,789,  and  the  talk  of  asking  Congress 
to  pass  an  act  admitting  Wyoming  to  statehood  began.  Nothing  definite  was 
done,  however,  until  February  7,  1888,  when  the  following  memorial  was  intro- 
duced in  the  Territorial  Legislature : 

"Resolved  by  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Tenth  Legis- 
lative Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming,  to  memorialize  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  as  follows : 

MEMORIAL 

"The  Tenth  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming,  in  session 
assembled,  respectfully  represents  to  the  Congress  of  the  LTnited  States  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"The  organic  act  of  the  territory  was  approved  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
July,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight ;  the  organization  was  completed  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-nine;  as  organized,  the  terri- 
tory has  existed  for  nearly  nineteen  years. 

"Its  coal  fields  are  numerous  and  extensive,  have  been  much  worked,  and  are 
seemingly  exhaustless :  its  iron,  soda  and  oil  fields  are  extensive  and  rich  and  are 
seemingly  exhaustless  ;  its  native  grasses  are  various,  abundant  and  highly  nutri- 
tious;  contrary  to  former  impression,  its  capacity  for  vegetable  culture  is  remark- 
able, aided  by  irrigation. 

"An  extensive  system  of  skilled  irrigation  has  been  established,  is  rapidly 
increasing  and  admits  of  large  and  indefinite  expansion. 

"In  his  report  to  the  secretary  of  the  interior  for  1885,  the  then  governor 
(Warren)  stated  the  number  of  live  stock  in  the  territory,  consisting  of  horned 
185 


186  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

cattle,  sheep,  horses  and  mules,  at  3,100,000  head;  and  their  valuation  at  $75,- 
000,000;  and  in  his  report  to  the  secretary  for  1886,  the  number  as  increased, 
and  the  value  as  exceeding  seventy-five  million  dollars ;  the  two  years  were 
periods  of  exceptional  market  depression  in  li\e  stock  \alues,  the  last  much  more 
than  the  first. 

"The  long,  extensive  and  accurate  experience  of  that  governor  with  the 
subject,  and  his  sound  and  practical  judgment  entitle  his  statements  to  especial 
respect. 

"l"he  report  to  the  secretary  for  1887,  by  the  present  governor  (iMoonlight) 
does  not  state  the  number  or  \aluation  for  that  year ;  but  it  shows  improved 
methods  in  the  raising  of  horned  cattle  are  in  promising  progress;  and  that  horse 
and  sheep  cultures  have  become  extensive,  are  rapidly  increasing,  are  conducted 
with  superior  intelligence,  and  represent  large  investments  and  fine  breeds.  The 
unmistakable  ability  and  intelligence  evinced  by  the  report  render  it  worthy  of 
full  confidence. 

"It  is  plain  to  ordinary  observation,  that  nature  intends-  Wyoming  for  a 
great  railway  area  of  the  west  division  of  the  continent  and  a  great  railroad 
highway  for  transcontinental  traffic.  The  Union  Pacific  Railway  traverses  the 
southern  belt  of  the  territory;  another  trunk  Pacific  railway  has  been  completed 
partially  across  the  territory  ;  and  the  construction  of  a  third  has  nearly  reached 
its  eastern  boundary. 

"The  lines  finished,  lateralization  will  follow  according  to  the  inevitable  law 
of  trunk  line  development.  Other  important  railroads  are  also  operating,  and 
ordinary  observation  can  easily  foresee  that  within  the  next  fourth  of  a  century 
the  territory  will  be  gridironed  over  by  a  complete  railway  system. 

"\  free  public  and  compulsory  system  of  education  is  well  advanced  here. 

"The  above  data  are  moderately  stated,  and  prepare  the  mind  to  accept  the 
estimate  of  the  present  population  of  the  territory,  which  is  stated  in  the  gov- 
ernor's report  for  1887  at  85,000.  This  assembly  confidently  accepts  the  report 
as  correct  on  the  subject. 

"It  is  manifest  that  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  people  of  this  territory 
will  advance,  under  state  institutions,  far  beyond  what  can  be  realized  in  a  terri- 
torial condition. 

"This  Legislature  respectfully  requests  of  Congress  such  legislation  as  will 
enable  the  people  of  the  territory  to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government, 
and  for  the  admission  of  such  state  into  the  Union  of  the  United  States  of 
America  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states  thereof ;  and  that  such 
legislation  may  embrace  ample  and  gratuitous  grants  to  such  state  government 
by  the  Federal  Government  of  the  lands  of  the  latter,  lying  within  the  territory, 
for  the  support  of  common  schools,  for  the  erection  at  the  capital  of  the  state 
of  public  buildings  for  judicial  and  legislative  purposes,  or  to  promote  the  con- 
struction of  such  buildings;  and  also  for  the  erection  of  a  penitentiary  or  state 
prison,  the  donated  lands  and  the  proceeds  thereof  to  be  employed  as  the  Legis- 
lature of  such  state  government  may  direct,  in  respect  to  the  support  and  conduct 
of  the  schools  and  the  erection  or  construction  of  such  judicial,  legislative  and 
penitentiary  buildings,  and  that  such  legislation  may  further  provide  that  a  proper 
per  centum  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  all  public  lands  lying  within  said  state, 
which  shall  be  sold  by  the  LTnited  States,   subsequent  to  the  admission  of  said 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  187 

state  into  the  Union,  after  deducting  all  expenses  incident  to  the  same,  shall 
be  donated  and  paid  to  the  said  state  for  the  purpose  of  making  and  improving 
public  roads,  constructing  ditches  or  canals,  to  effect  a  general  system  of  irriga- 
tion of  the  agricultural  land  in  the  state,  as  its  Legislature  shall  direct. 

"Resolved,   That  a   duly  authenticated  copy   of   the   foregoing   resolution   be 
transmitted  to  the  governor  of  the  territory  and  that  he  stand  requested  to  take 
the  proper  steps  to  obtain  from  Congress  the  above  desired  legislation. 
"l.  d.  pease, 

"Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representati\'es. 

"jOHN    A.    RINER, 

"President  of  the  Council." 
A  copy  of  the  memorial  was  sent  to  Joseph  M.  Carey,  then  the  delegate  in 
Congress,  and  through  his  influence  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  senate  "to 
provide  for  the  formation  and  admission  into  the  Union  of  the  State  of  Wyo- 
ming and  for  other  purposes."  A  bill  was  also  introduced  in  the  house  to  enable 
Wyoming  and  certain  other  territories  to  form  constitutions  and  state  govern- 
ments. On  February  27,  1889,  the  senate  committee  on  territories  reported  the 
bill  back  to  that  body,  and  the  house  bill  was  also  favorably  reported  by  the 
committee  on  territories,  but  the  session  of  Congress  came  to  an  end  on  the  4th 
of  March  and  the  bill  failed  to  pass  for  lack  of  time  to  give  it  the  necessary  and 
customary  consideration. 

ACTION  IN   WYOMING 

The  people  of  \\'yoming,  firm  in  the  belief  that,  had  time  permitted,  the 
enabling  act  would  have  been  passed,  and  equally  firm  in  the  belief  that  the  next 
session  of  Congress  would  grant  their  request,  determined  to  proceed  as  though 
the  enabling  act  had  passed.  As  a  precedent  for  their  action  they  followed  the 
examples  of  Arkansas,  California,  Florida,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Maine,  Michigan. 
Oregon,  Vermont  and  Wisconsin,  all  of  which  states  formed  constitutions  and 
secured  their  admission  into  the  Union  without  enabling  acts  from  Congress. 

In  i88g  there  were  ten  organized  counties  in  Wyoming.  The  boards  of  county 
commissioners  in  seven  of  those  counties  adopted  resolutions  "to  put  into  opera- 
tion the  election  machinery  under  the  lawg  of  the  territory,  for  the  election  of 
delegates  to  a  constitutional  convention  and  the  submission  of  such  constitution 
as  may  be  presented  by  the  said  convention  to  the  people  of  this  county  for 
ratification  or  rejection,  if  the  governor,  chief  justice  and  secretary  of  the  terri- 
tory shall  in  their  wisdom  see  fit  to  take  the  initiatory  steps  under  the  provisions 
of  said  Senate  bill  for  calling  into  existence  a  constitutional  convention." 

As  the  several  counties  adopted  this  resolution,  the  chairman  of  the  board 
of  county  commissioners  advised  the  governor,  chief  justice  and  secretary  of  the 
territory  of  such  action,  with  the  request  that,  "if  other  counties  of  the  territory 
make  similar  pledges  and  requests,  they  shall  divide  the  territory  into  districts, 
apportion  the  number  of  delegates  to  the  several  districts  or  counties,  and  do 
such  other  acts  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  convening  of  such  constitutional 
convention  in  manner  and  form  as  is  provided  by  the  terms  of  said  Senate  bill." 

On  June  3,  1889,  resolutions  of  the  above  character  having  been  received 
from  the  commissioners  of  a  majority  of  the  counties,  the  governor,  chief  justice 


188  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

and  secretary  of  the  territory  met  at  the  capitol  in  Cheyenne  and  divided  the 
territory  into  districts  for  delegates  to  a  constitutional  convention  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  the  Senate  bill,  viz.,  "upon  the  basis  of  the  votes  cast  for 
delegate  in  Congress  at  the  last  general  election,  in  each  of  which  districts  the 
number  of  delegates  apportioned  to  such  district  shall  be  elected.  *  *  *  The 
number  of  delegates  to  said  convention  shall  be  fifty-five.'' 

The  total  number  of  votes  cast  for  delegate  in  Congress  at  the  general 
election  in  1888  was  18.010.  Governor  Warren,  Chief  Justice  Maginnis  and 
Secretary  Shannon  divided  the  territory  into  ten  districts,  each  county  being 
made  a  district,  and  apportioned  the  number  of  delegates  to  each,  after  which 
Governor  Warren  issued   the    following 

PROCL.\M,'\TION 

"Whereas.  The  Territory  of  Wyoming  has  the  population,  material  resources, 
public  intelligence  and  morality  necessary  to  ensure  a  stable  local  government 
therein ;  and 

"Whereas.  It  has  never  been  deemed  a  violation  of  their  duties  as  loyal 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  for  the  people  of  a  territory  to  form  for  them- 
selves a  constitution  and  state  government  and  to  apply  to  Congress  for  admis- 
sion to  statehood ;  and 

"Whereas,  On  the  27th  day  of  February,  1889,  a  bill,  with  amendments, 
entitled  'A  bill  to  provide  for  the  formation  and  admission  into  the  Union  of 
the  State  of  W'yoming,  and  for  other  purposes,'  was  favorably  reported  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  by  the  committee  on  territories;  and  a  bill  pro- 
viding, among  other  things,  for  the  admission  of  the  proposed  State  of  Wyoming, 
having  been  reported  favorably  to  the  House  of  Representatives  by  a  like  com- 
mittee;  and  many  members  of  the  house  and  Senate  having  expressed  opinions 
favorable  to  such  admission ;  and  it  thus  being  made  evident  that  Congress  i-; 
disposed  to  admit  Wyoming  as  a  state  whenever  a  suitable  constitution  is  adopted 
and  a  state  government  formed  preparatory  to  admission ;  and 

"Whereas,  By  the  general  expressions  of  the  citizens  thereof,  the  executive 
is  co'ivinced  that  a  very  large  majority  of  the  people  of  Wyoming  are'  desirous 
of  forming  for  themselves  a  constitution  and  state  government,  and  of  being 
admitted  into  the  Union,  and  of  exercising  the  rights  and  privileges  guaranteed 
to  a  free  and  loyal  people  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  and 

"Whereas,  The  boards  of  county  commissioners  of  several  counties  in  the 
territory  have,  by  resolution,  requested  the  governor  to  call  a  constitutional  con- 
vention, and  have  requested  the  governor,  chief  justice  and  secretary  of  the 
territory  to  divide  the  territory  into  delegate  districts,  to  apportion  the  number 
of  delegates  among  the  several  districts,  and  to  do  such  other  acts  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  convening  of  such  constitutional  convention  in  the  manner  and 
form  provided  by  the  terms  of  the  said  Senate  bill ;  and 

"Whereas,  The  governor,  chief  justice  and  secretary  of  the  territory,  on  this 
third  day  of  June,  1889,  did  convene  at  the  capitol  in  the  City  of  Cheyenne,  and 
did  apportion  the  number  of  delegates  among  the  several  districts  so  established, 
upon  the  basis  of  the  vote  cast  for  delegate  in  Congress  at  the  last  general  elec- 
tion, as  follows,  to  wit : 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  189 

"i.  The  County  of  Laramie  shall  constitute  the  First  District  and  shall  elect 
eleven  delegates. 

"2.  The  County  of  Albany  shall  constitute  the  Second  District  and  shall  elect 
eight  delegates. 

"3.  The  County  of  Carbon  shall  constitute  the  Third  District  and  shall  elect 
eight  delegates. 

"4.  The  County  of  Sweetwater  shall  constitute  the  Fourth  District  and  shall 
elect  five  delegates. 

"5.  The  County  of  Uinta  shall  constitute  the  Fifth  District  and  shall  elect 
six  delegates. 

"6.  The  County  of  Fremont  shall  constitute  the  Sixth  District  and  shall  elect 
three  delegates. 

"7.  The  County  of  Sheridan  shall  constitute  the  Seventh  District  and  shall 
elect  three  delegates. 

"8.  The  County  of  Johnson  shall  constitute  the  Eighth  District  and  shall 
elect  three  delegates. 

■■'9.  The  County  of  Crook  shall  constitute  the  Ninth  District  and  shall  elect 
four  delegates. 

"10.  The  County  of  Converse  shall  constitute  the  Tenth  District  and  shall 
elect  four  delegates. 

"Now,  Therefore,  recognizing  the  superior  and  material  advantages  of  a 
state  government  over  our  territorial  system,  and  being  desirous  of  carrying  into 
effect  the  will  of  the  people,  I,  Francis  E.  Warren,  governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Wyoming,  do  issue  this,  my  proclamation  to  the  people  of  the  territory,  recom- 
mending that  they  take  such  action  on  their  part  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure 
the  admission  of  Wyoming  into  the  Union  of  states ;  and  for  this  purpose  I  direct 
that  an  election  be  held  throughout  the  territory,  on  the  second  Monday  of  July, 
1S89,  for  the  election  of  delegates  to  a  constitutional  convention  to  convene  at 
Cheyenne,  the  capital  of  the  territory,  at  12  o'clock,  noon,  on  the  first  Monday 
of  September,  1889.  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  constitution  for  the  State  of 
Wyoming,  and  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  such  constitution  to  the  people 
thereof,  for  their  ratification  or  rejection. 

"1  suggest  that,  in  organizing  a  state  government  preparatory  to  admission, 
the  provisions  of  the  aforesaid  Senate  bill  should  be  followed,  as  nearly  as  may  be 
possible,  and  in  pursuance  thereof  the  following  recommendations  are  hereby 
made : 

"First.  The  number  of  delegates  to  such  constitutional  convention  shall  be 
fifty-five,  apportioned  among  the  several  districts  as  hereinbefore  set  forth. 

"Second.  The  delegates  apportioned  to  each  district  shall  be  elected  exclu- 
sively in  that  district. 

"Third.  Persons  who  are  qualified  by  the  laws  of  the  territory  to  vote  for 
representatives  to  the  Legislative  Assembly  thereof  are  hereby  authorized  to  vote 
for  and  choose  delegates  to  such  constitutional  convention. 

"Fourth.  The  qualifications  for  delegates  to  such  constitutional  convention 
shall  be  such  as,  by  the  laws  of  the  territory,  persons  are  required  to  possess  to 
be  eligible  to  the  Legislative  Assembly  thereof. 

"Fifth.  Such  election  shall  be  conducted,  the  returns  made,  the  result  ascer- 
tained, and  the  certificates  to  persons  elected  to  such  convention  issued,  in  the 


190  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

same  manner  as  is  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the  territory  regulating  elections 
therein  for  delegate  to  Congress. 

"Sixth.  Since  the  advantages  to  be  obtained  by  statehood  will  depend  some- 
what upon  the  judicious  action  of  the  constitutional  convention,  it  is  desirable 
that  the  delegates  should  be  representative  men,  of  character  and  ability,  whose 
work  will  be  satisfactory  to  Congress  and  beneficial  to  the  people  of  the  proposed 
State  of  Wyoming.  The  character  and  fitness  of  the  delegates  to  be  chosen  is 
in  fact  of  greater  importance  than  the  manner  of  their  selection,  and  if  the  citizens 
of  any  county  generally  prefer  to  elect  their  delegates  by  some  equitable  method 
other  than  that  hereinbefore  prescribed,  it  is  believed  that  the  delegates  so  chosen 
will  be  recognized  and  admitted  to  seats  in  the  convention. 

"Seventh.  The  constitution  formed  by  such  convention  shall  be  submitted 
to  the  people  of  the  territory  for  ratification  or  rejection  on  the  first  Tuesday 
in  November,  1889. 

"Eighth.  The  convention  should  fix  the  per  diem  and  mileage  of  its  mem- 
bers and  employees,  and  certificates  of  service  and  expenditure  should  be  made 
by  the  officers  of  the  convention  and  filed  with  the  secretary  of  the  territory,  as 
Congress  will,  without  doubt,  follow  its  own  precedents  in  providing  for  the 
payment  thereof. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  Great 
Seal  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  to  be  affixed  at  Cheyenne,  at  the  capitol,  on 
this  third  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-nine,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  one 
hundred  and  thirteenth. 

"FRANCIS   E.    WARREN. 

"By  the  Governor, 

"SAMUEL   D.    SHANNON. 

"Secretary  of  Territory.'' 

CONSTITUTION. \L  CONVENTION' 

The  election  for  delegates  to  the  constitutional  convention  was  held  accord- 
ing to  schedule  on  July  8,  1889,'  when  the  following  delegates  were  chosen  in 
the  several  counties  of  the  territory:  Albany — M.  C.  Brown,  William  E.  Chap- 
lin, S.  W.  Downey,  George  W.  Fox,  M.  N.  Grant.  John  W.  Hoyt,  John  AIcGill 
and  A.  L.  Sutherland.  Carbon— C.  W.  Burdick,  Robert  C.  Butler,  J.  A.  Casebeer, 
J.  C.  Davis,  George  Ferris,  George  C.  Smith,  W.  N.  Strobridge  and  Charles  L. 
Vagner.  Converse— M.  C.  Barrow.  J.  K.  Calkins,  W.  C.  Irvine  and  De  Forest 
Richards.  Crook — Frank  Meyer,  Thomas  H.  Moore,  R.  H.  Scott  and  Joseph 
L.  Stotts.  Fremont — Noyes  Baldwin,  D.  A.  Preston  and  H.  G.  Nick- 
erson.  Johnson — Charles  H.  Burritt,  H.  S.  Elliott  and  John  M.  ^IcCandlish. 
Laramie — George  W.  Baxter.  A.  C.  Campbell,  Henry  G.  Hay,  John  K.  Jeffrey, 
James  A.  Johnston,  E.  S.  N.  Morgan,  Caleb  P.  Organ,  Charles  N.  Potter.  Thomas 
R.  Reid,  John  A.  Riner  and  H.  E.  Teschemacher.  Sheridan — Cornelius  Boul- 
ware,  Henry  A.  Cofifeen  and  William  N.  Robinson.  Sweetwater — Asbury  B. 
Conaway,  Mark  Hopkins,  Herman  F.  Menough,  Louis  J.  Palmer  and  Edward  J. 
Morris.  Uinta— C.  D.  Clark,  C.  W.  Holden,  F.  M.  Foote,  Jonathan  Jones,  Jesse 
Knight  and  John  L.  Russell. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  191 

The  convention  met  at  noon  on  Alonday,  September  2,  1889,  and  a  temporary 
organization  was  effected  by  the  election  of  Henry  S.  ElHott  of  Johnson  County, 
chairman,  and  John  K.  Jeffrey  of  Laramie  County,  secretary.  Melville  C.  Brown 
of  Albany  County  was  chosen  president  of  the  convention  and  John  K.  Jeffrey 
was  elected  permanent  secretary.  Governor  Warren's  suggestion  that  the  dele- 
gates ought  to  be  men  "of  character  and  ability"  seems  to  have  been  generally 
followed  by  the  districts  in  electing  delegates.  In  the  convention  were  two 
ex-governors,  one  ex-secretary  of  the  territory,  three  had  held  the  office  of 
United  States  attorney,  one  the  office  of  territorial  auditor,  one  was  afterward 
elected  governor  of  the  state,  one  became  United  States  senator,  and  four  occu- 
pied seats  upon  the  Supreme  bench  of  Wyoming. 

The  constitution  was  completed  on  the  last  day  of  September,  1889,  and  was 
signed  by  forty  of  the  delegates,  the  other  memljers  of  the  convention  having  been 
obliged  to  return  to  their  homes  before  the  final  adjournment.  John  A.  Riner, 
Clarence  D.  Clark,  John  W.  Hoyt,  Henry  S.  Elliott,  William  C.  Irvine,  Henry 
A.  Coffeen,  H.  G.  Nickerson,  J.  A.  Casebeer,  E.  S.  N.  Morgan  and  Louis  J. 
Palmer  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  memorial  on  behalf  of  the 
convention  for  presentation  to  Congress,  urging  the  passage  of  an  act  admitting 
Wyoming  to  statehood.  On  November  5,  i88g,  at  an  election  held  for  the  pur- 
pose, the  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people.  It  was  a  cold,  snowy  day 
and  a  light  vote  was  polled,  but  five-sixths  of  the  votes  cast  were  in  favor  of 
ratifying  the  constitution.  The  committee  appointed  by  the  convention  then  pre- 
pared a  memorial  setting  forth  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  which  memorial  was 
presented  to  Congress  by  Joseph  M.  Carey  at  the  beginning  of  the  ensuing  session 
in  December. 

In  the  meantime  the  constitution  had  been  favorably  commented  on  by  the 
press  of  the  country,  particularly  the  clause  giving  the  right  of  suffrage  to  women, 
and  it  had  received  encomiums  from  eminent  statesmen  and  publicists,  among 
whom  were  George  W.  Curtis,  editor  of  Harper's  Weekly,  and  William  E.  Glad- 
stone, at  that  time  Great  Britain's  premier.  Through  these  favorable  comments 
and  encomiums  the  members  of  Congress  were  generally  well  acquainted  with 
the  provisions  of  the  constitution  before  they  were  called  upon  to  act  in  their 
official  capacity  for  the  admission  of  the  new  state.  Joseph  M.  Carey,  then  the 
delegate  in  Congress,  worked  early  and  late  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  bill 
admitting  Wyoming  into  the  Union.  The  bill  finally  passed  both  houses  early 
in  July,  1890.  On  the  9th  of  that  month  S.  W.  Downey  and  H.  V.  S.  Groesbeck 
telegraphed  their  congratulations  to  Mr.  Carey  upon  the  successful  termination 
of  his  efforts,  and  the  following  day  they  received  this  reply : 

"Washington,  D.  C,  July   10,   1890. 

"Accept  thanks  for  congratulations.  The  people  of  Wyoming  have  won  a 
great  victory.     The  President  made  Wyoming  a  state  at  5  130  this  afternoon. 

"j.    M.    CAREY." 
.ACT   OK    .\DM1SSI0N 

The  act  approved  by  President  Harrison  at  3:30  P.  M.,  July  10,  1890.  under 
which  the  State  of  W'yoming  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  consists  of  twenty-one 
sections,  introduced  by  the  following  preamble : 


192  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

"Whereas,  The  people  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  did,  on  the  30th  day 
of  September,  1889,  by  a  convention  of  delegates  called  and  assembled  for  that 
purpose,  form  for  themselves  a  constitution,  which  constitution  was  ratified 
and  adopted  by  the  people  of  said  territory  at  the  election  held  therefor  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  November,  1889,  which  constitution  is  republican  in  form  and 
is  in  confiirniity  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  and 

"W  licrras.  Said  convention  and  the  people  of  said  territory  have  asked  the 
admission  of  said  territory  into  the  Union  of  states  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  states  in  all  respects  whatever ;  therefore,  be  it  enacted,"  etc. 

"Section  i.  That  the  State  of  Wyoming  is  hereby  declared  to  be  a  state 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  is  hereby  declared  admitted  into  the  Union 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states  in  all  respects  whatever;  and  that 
the  constitution  which  the  people  of  Wyoming  have  formed  for  themselves  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  accepted,  ratified  and  confirmed." 

Section  2  defines  the  boundaries,  which  are  the  same  as  at  the  present  time ; 
section  3  fixes  the  representation  in  Congress  as  two  senators  and  one  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  section  4  sets  apart  the  sections  of  land  num- 
bered 16  and  36  in  each  township  for  the  support  of  a  pubHc  school  system; 
section  5  relates  to  the  same  subject ;  section  6  grants  "fifty  sections  of  the  unap- 
propriated public  lands  within  the  state  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  public  build- 
ings at  the  capital,"  etc. :  section  7  donates  5  per  cent  of  the  proceeds  of  all  sales 
of  public  lands  within  the  state  to  the  school  fund;  sections  8  to  11  relate  to  the 
land  grants  under  previous  acts  of  legislation,  for  the  penitentiary,  fish  hatchery 
and  agricultural  college,  etc.,  to-wit:  For  the  insane  asylum  in  Uinta  County, 
30,000  acres ;  for  the  penal,  reform  and  educational  institution  in  course  of 
construction  in  Carbon  County,  30,000  acres ;  for  the  penitentiary  in  Albany 
County,  30,000  acres ;  for  the  fish  hatchery  in  Albany  County,  5,000  acres ;  for 
the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  asylum  in  Laramie  County,  30,000  acres :  for  the  poor 
farm  in  Fremont  County,  10,000  acres ;  for  the  miners'  hospital,  30,000  acres ; 
for  public  buildings  at  the  capital,  75,000  acres ;  and  for  the  state  charitable, 
penal  and  reformatory  institutions,  260,000  acres,  making  a  total  of  500,000 
acres  in  addition  to  the  specific  land  grants  already  mentioned.  The  act  also 
contains  a  provision  that  none  of  the  lands  granted  should  be  sold  for  less  than 
ten  dollars  an  acre. 

The  next  three  sections  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  all  lands  granted  to 
the  state  should  be  selected.  Section  15  appropriated  $3,000  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  constitutional  convention.  Sections  16,  17  and  18  provide  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  United  States  District  Court  for  Wyoming,  and  fix  the  time  and 
place  of  holding  terms  of  the  United  States  District  and  Circuit  courts.  Section  19 
relates  to  the  election  of  United  States  senators,  and  the  last  two  sections  authorize 
the  territorial  officials  to  remain  in  office  until  a  state  election  could  be  held,  and 
declare  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States  shall  apply  to  the  State  of  Wyoming. 

CELEBR.-kTING  THE  EVENT 

Almost  as  soon  as  news  of  the  passage  of  the  act  of  admission  reached  Chey- 
enne, preparations  were  commenced  for  a  proper  observation  of  the  victory 
that  had  been  gained  by  the  people  of  Wyoming.     July  23,   1890,  was  selected 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG         .  193 

as  the  date,  and  invitations  were  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  state,  asking  the  citizens 
to  join  in  the  demonstration.  The  celebration  began  with  a  parade  at  2  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  At  the  head  of  the  procession  was  the  Seventeenth  Infantry 
IJanJ  and  a  detachment  of  troops  from  Fort  D.  A.  Russell.  The  second  division 
was  led  by  the  Union  Pacific  Band  and  the  Wyoming  National  Guard.  One  fea- 
ture of  the  parade  was  both  novel  and  instructive.  On  a  large  float,  handsomely 
decorated,  were  forty-two  young  women,  representing  the  forty-two  states  of 
the  Union.  Immediately  behind  the  float  came  a  small  carriage  draw^n  by  two 
diminutive  Shetland  ponies.  In  the  pony  carriage  were  three  little  girls — Grace 
Cowhick,  representing  the  Goddess  of  Liberty ;  Frankie  Warren,  representing 
the  State  of  Wyoming;  and  a  little  Miss  Elliott,  representing  the  State  of  Idaho. 
These  two  states  had  both  been  recognized  by  Congress,  but  had  not  yet  been 
vested  with  the  full  powers  of  statehood.  The  tableau  seemed  to  say  to  the 
occupants  of  the  float  in  front:  "You  may  look  down  upon  us  now,  but  we 
shall  be  on  the  big  wagon  by  and  by." 

In  front  of  the  capitol  a  grandstand  had  been  erected  and  here  Governor 
Warren  presided  over  the  exercises.  Mrs.  Theresa  A.  Jenkins  was  the  first 
speaker.  She  reviewed  the  struggle  in  behalf  of  woman  suffrage,  which  had 
teen  incorporated  in  the  constitution,  and  in  concluding  her  address  said :  "Bar- 
tholdi's  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World  is  fashioned  in  the  form  of 
a  woman  and  placed  upon  a  pedestal  carved  from  the  everlasting  granite  of  the 
New  England  hills ;  but  the  women  of  Wyoming  have  been  placed  upon  a  firmer 
foundation  and  hold  aloft  a  more  brilliant  torch." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mrs.  Jenkins'  address,  Mrs.  Esther  Morris,  who  has 
been  called  "the  mother  of  woman  suffrage  in  Wyoming,"  presented  to  the  State 
of  Wyoming  a  fine  flag,  bearing  forty-four  stars,  which  was  accepted  by  Governor 
Warren,  as  chief  executive,  in  a  few  well  chosen  words,  after  which  the  two 
bands  and  the  entire  audience  of  some  six  thousand  persons  joined  in  rendering 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

Mrs.  I.  S.  Bartlett  was  then  introduced  and  read  an  original  poem,  entitled 
■"The  True  Republic,"  which  is  here  reproduced  in  full. 

THE  TRUE  REPUBLIC 

The  first  republic  of  the  world 
Now  greets  the  day,  its  flag  unfurled 

To  the  pure  mountain  air; 
On  plains,  in  canyon,  shop  and  mine. 
The  star  of  equal  rights  shall  shine 
From  its  blue  folds,  with  light  divine — 

A  symbol  bright  and  fair. 

The  flashing  presence  of  today 
Startles  our  ancient  dreams  away. 

Wrapped  in  her  shadows  dim 
Old  memory  flees;  with  vivid  glance 
Today  uplifts  her  shining  lance ; 
Her  arm  is  might,  her  brow  is  light, 

Her  voice  a  thrilling  hvmn. 


194  .         HISTORY  OF  WYO-MIXG 

Shine  on,  oh  star !     Xo  flag  of  old, 
No  standard  raised  by  warrior  bold 

In  all  the  days  of  yore, 
For  chivalric  or  kingly  claim, 
For  honor  bright  or  woman's  name, 
Has  ever  shone  with  brighter    flame 

Than  peerless  forty-four. 

Fair  state  of  honor — Freedom's  pride. 
There's  none  in  all  the  world  beside 

That  wears  so  rich  a  gem. 
A  commonwealth  where  all  are  free, 
Where  all  find  true  equality, 
First  in  the  world,  the  world  shall  see 

'Tis  Freedom's  diadem. 

The  battle's  fought,  the  battle's  won, 
With  thankful  hearts  we  say  "Well  done" 

To  all  our  champions  brave. 
Xo  carnage  marked  the  earnest  fight. 
But  souls  aflame  and  nerved  with  right 
Urged  on  the  conflict  day  and  night. 

Our  statehood  cause  to  save. 

God  bless  our  State ! 
Nature  rejoices,  too;  our  mountains  high 

Above  the  clouds  arc  touched  with  brighter  light ; 
A  new  charm  fills  the  overarching  sky 

And  thrills  earth's  denizens  with  visions  bright. 

God  bless  our  State ! 
The  geysers  throw  their  splendid  watery  plumes 

Still  higher  in  their  ancient  wonderland. 
The  restless  mountain  torrent  frets  and  fumes 

More  loudly  on  its  journey  to  the  strand. 

God  bless  our  State ! 
The  very  air  with  new,  fresh  life  is  stirred. 

The  free,  exultant  birds  more  sweetly  sing. 
And  Nature's  changing  voices  ever  heard 

Unto  our  souls  new  happiness  shall  bring. 

God  bless  our  State ! 
Where'er  her  mighty  rivers  swiftly  run, 

Where'er  her  mountain  peaks  shall  pierce  the  sky, 
Where'er  her  plains  sweep  to  the  rising  sun. 

And  peaceful  valleys  in  the  shadows  lie. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  195 

God  bless  our  State ! 
Its  new  career  begun,  let  all  rejoice, 

And  man  and  woman,  hand  in  hand,  as  one 
With  energies  of  body,  heart  and  voice 

Make  it  a  happy  land  where  all  may  come. 

If  we  look  within  the  future,  our  prophetic  eyes  can  see 
Glorious  views  unfold  before  us,  of  joy,  wealth,  prosperity. 

We  can  see  the  sons  of  Science,  Alusic,  Poetry  and  Art 
Coming  to  our  grand  dominion,  in  our  growth  to  take  a  part. 

\\'e  can  see  the  iron  monster,  rushing  fiercely  to  and   fro, 
^^'e  can  see  the  sky  o'erspread  with  smoke  from  furnaces  below. 

We  can  see  Wyoming's  mountains  giving  up  their  hidden  stores, 
Tons  on  tons,  by  millions  pouring,  of  the  base  and  precious  ores. 

See  her  towns  and  cities  rising  where  the  bison  used  to  roam. 
And  along  her  streams  and  valleys  many  a  farmer's  peaceful  home. 

We  can  see  great  halls  of  learning,  well  endowed  and  nobly  planned, 
Monuments  of  taste  and  culture  for  the  children  of  our  land. 

We  can  see  the  spires  of  churches,  pointing  upward  to  our  gaze; 
Chiming  bells,  harmonious  sounding,  calling  us  to  prayer  and  praise. 

See  the  plains,  now  dry  and  barren,  where  the  sage  or  cactus  grows. 
Desert  plains,  no  longer  barren,  then  shall  "blossom  like  the  rose." 

Thirsty  lands,  no  longer  thirsty,  filled  with  moisture  wisely  stored. 
Bounteous  to  the  happy  farmer,  noble  har\ests  will  aft'ord. 

Happy  are  Wyoming's  peojjle,  happier  will  our  future  be. 
So  we  sing  today  with  gladness,  and  we  shout  for  victory. 

Let  the  bells  ring  out  more  loudly  and  the  deep-toned  cannon  roar. 
Giving  voice  to  our  thanksgiving,  such  as  never  rose  before. 

For  we  tread  enchanted  ground  today,  we're  glorious,  proud  and  great ; 
Our  independence  day  has  come — \\'yoming  is  a  State  ! 

Melville  C.  Brown,  who  had  been  president  of  the  constitutional  convention, 
then  came  forward  and  presented  Mrs,  Amelia  B.  Post,  "as  a  representative 
woman  of  Wyoming,"  with  a  copy  of  the  constitution.  Mrs.  Post  responded 
on  behalf  of  the  women  of  the  state,  thanking  Judge  Brown  and  the  convention 
for  giving  the  women  of  Wyoming  equal  civic  and  political  rights  with  men. 
Then  the  oration  of  the  day  was  delivered  by  Clarence  D.  Clark  of  Evanston, 


196  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

who  was  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  and  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee which  presented  the  final  memorial  to  Congress  praying  for  the  admis- 
sion of  the  state.  The  celebration  came  to  an  end  with  a  display  of  fireworks 
and  grand  ball  in  the  evening. 

After  the  festivities,  the  people  of  Wyoming  settled  down  to  the  more  serious 
business  of  inaugurating  their  state  government.  The  first  election  for  state 
officers  was  held  on  Thursday,  September  ii.  1890.  and  resulted  in  the  choice 
of  the  following:  Francis  E.  Warren,  governor;  Amos  W.  Barber,  secretary  of 
state;  Otto  Gramm,  treasurer  of  state;  Charles  ^^'.  Burdick,  auditor  of  state; 
Stephen  T.  Farwell,  superintendent  of  public  instruction;  Willis  Van  Devanter, 
chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  Herman  \'.  S.  Groesbeck  and  Asbury  B. 
Conaway,  associate  justices ;  Clarence  D.  Clark,  representative  in  Congress.  On 
October  11,  1890,  the  state  officers  were  installed  in  their  respective  positions 
and  the  State  of  Wyoming  took  her  place  among  her  sister  states — the  forty- 
fourth  star  in  the  American  constellation. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

WVOillXC,  THE  FIRST   EQUAL  SUEFRAGE  STATE TEXT  OF  THE  HILL — THE    MEN   WHO 

DARED NEW    STATE    PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATIVE    HISTORY    OF    THE    ACT HOUSE 

PROCEEDINGS RACY    DEBATE THE    BILL    IN    THE    COUNCIL AMENDED    IN    THE 

HOUSE APPROVED    BY    THE    GOVERNOR NEWSPAPER    COMMENT THE    COUNTRY 

SURPRISED — ATTEMPT     TO     REPEAL ITS     ACKNOWLEDGED     SUCCESS THE     FIRST 

WOMAN   JURY THE  FIRST   WOMAN   JUSTICE  OF  THE  PEACE SUFFRAGE   IN   THE 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION — NOTES  AND  COMMENTS — BILL  NYE's  HUMOROUS 
REPORT. 

Wyoming  enjoys  the  unique  distinction  of  being  the  first  territory  and  state 
to  give  women  the  full  and  unqualified  right  of  suiTrage,  including  the  right  to 
hold  office.  In  the  "wild  and  woolly'  west,  the  territorial  republic  of  Wyoming 
in  the  first  session  of  its  legislature  in  December.  1869.  enacted  a  law,  which  was 
approved  by  the  governor,  and  which  reads  as  follows : 

"Every  woman  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  residing  in  this  territory,  may. 
at  every  election,  cast  her  vote ;  and  her  right  to  the  elective  franchise  and  to 
hold  office  under  the  election  laws  of  the  territory  shall  be  the  same  as  those  of 
electors." 

Thus  from  our  primeval  mountains  and  plains  was  fired  the  first  shot  for  equal 
suffrage  "that  was  heard  around  the  world." 

THE  MEN   WHO  DARED 

When  the  brave  pioneers  and  empire  builders  of  the  territory  startled  the 
country  with  this  enactment,  Wyoming  had  less  than  cj,ooo  inhabitants.  It  was 
a  scene  of  "magnificent  distances"  between  human  habitations,  with  broad  plains, 
high  mountains  and  great  forests  intervening.  Bands  of  hostile  Indians  roamed 
over  much  of  the  territory.  The  buffalo  ranged  at  will,  and  thousands  of  antelope 
were  at  home  on  the  plains  and  foothills,  while  in  the  mountains,  immense  herds 
of  elk  were  everywhere  grazing,  as  near  neighbors  of  the  big  horn,  the  mountain 
lion  and  the  bear. 

The  adventurers  and  desperadoes  that  floated  in  with  the  incoming  settlers 
had  nothing  to  do  with  making  laws.  They  were  transients  and  pilgrims.  The 
real,  bona  fide  first  settlers  of  Wyoming  were  men  of  sterling  character,  of 
broad  vision  and  undoubted  courage.  They  were  largely  made  up  from  the  young 
veterans  of  the  South  who  fought  under  Lee  and  Jackson,  or  those  whose  mettle 
197 


198  HISTORY  OF  W'YOMIXG 

had  been  proved  in  battles  under  Grant  and   Sherman.     They  had  learned   by 
thrilling  experiences  the  lessons  of  liberty  and  equality.     They  were  unafraid. 

XEW    STATE  PROGRESSIVE 

It  seems  to  be  the  destiny  of  new  states  to  work  out  the  problems  of  a  pro- 
gressive civilization.  The  fathers  who  made  the  American  Constitution,  which 
has  been  called  "the  greatest  human  document,"  were  pioneers  and  frontiers- 
men, nurtured  by  forest  and  stream  and  mountain,  sons  of  nature,  and  therefore 
sons  of  liberty.  This  enactment,  therefore,  was  not  the  result  of  an  idle  fancy. 
nor  as  has  sometimes  been  asserted,  "a  joke."  or  a  bid  for  notoriety.  Every  step 
in  its  passage  through  the  Legislature  shows  the  grim  determination  of  its  sup- 
porters, no  matter  how  much  ridicule  nor  how  many  quips  were  thrown  at  it 
by  its  opponents. 

It  was  the  serious  and  conscientious  expression  of  a  body  of  men  who  were 
animated  by  sentiments  of  lofty  respect  and  admiration  for  women,  and  -who 
believed  that  as  a  measure  of  common  justice  they  should  be  granted  the  same 
rights  and  privileges  that  were  given  to  men.  This  is  amply  proven  by  other 
enactments  presented  and  passed  by  the  same  Legislature,  as,  for  example.  "An 
act  to  protect  women  in  their  property  rights" ;  a  provision  inserted  in  the  bill 
establishing  a  school  system,  that  "Women  school  teachers  should  receive  the 
same  pay  as  men  for  the  same  service,"  and  a  resolution  "That  the  sergeant  at 
arms  be  required*to  assign  seats  within  the  bar  of  the  house  to  ladies  who  wished 
to  attend  the  deliberations  of  this  body."  Nobody  thought  there  was  anything 
jocose  or  sensational  about  these  propositions,  although  they  represent  a  senti- 
ment half  a  century  in  advance  of  the  old  states  at  that  time. 

ITS   LEGISL.\TIVE    HISTORY 

The  proceedings  of  the  first  Legislature  of  Wyoming  Territory  will  always 
be  interesting  to  the  student  of  history  and  the  advocates  of  equal  suffrage. 
The  session  began  October  12  and  ended  December  11.  i86g. 

In  looking  over  the  house  journal,  one  wdll  find  in  the  proceedings  a  moving 
picture  the  wants  and  conditions  of  a  frontier  people.  For  instance,  a  bill  was 
introduced  to  build  a  road  south  from  Sherman  to  the  North  Park  gold  mines, 
and  a  road  north  from  the  Town  of  Wyoming  to  the  Last  Chance  gold  mines. 
This  shows  they  had  a  vision  of  the  need  of  good  roads  even  in  those  primitive 
days.  There  were  frequent  references  in  bills  to  Indian  raids  in  the  Wind  River 
\'alley  and  South  Pass.  A  memorial  to  Congress  was  passed  asking  the  removal 
of  the  headquarters  of  the  military  department  from  Omaha  to  Fort  Russell. 
These  propositions  are  all  evidence  of  the  enterprise,  public  spirit  and  farseeing 
statesmanship  of  the  noble  band  of  territorial  legislators  who  blazed  the  way  for 
woman's  suffrage  on  this  continent. 

The  organic  act  creating  Wyoming  Territory  was  passed  by  Congress  and 
approved  July  25.  186S.  The  first  governor  and  secretary  were  appointed  and 
qualified  April  15.  1869,  and  on  May  19.  1869.  the  judicial  officers  reported  for 
duty,  thus  completing  the  territorial  organization.  An  election  was  soon  ordered, 
resuhins  in  the  organization  of  the  Legislature  on  October  12,  1869. 


TABLET   PLACED  BY   THE   (  IIM  l,\ 
THE  D.  A.  R.  TO  lEARK  SITI     WIN 
OP    THE    FIRST    T1:RHIT()1;1  \L     L 
\VYOML\G       COXVEXEH,       Willi  II 
EXACTED    THE    FIRSF     \\()\l\\ 
PASSED  IN  THE   UXITED  STATED 


200  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  governor  was  John  A.  Campbell ;  the  secretary,  Edward  M.  Lee ;  United 
States  attorney,  Joseph  M.  Carey;  United  States  marshal.  Church  Howe;  and  the 
delegate  to  Congress  was  Stephen  F.  Xuckolls.  The  names  of  the  legislators  were 
as   follows : 

Council — Fred  Laycock  and  J.  W.  Brady  of  Albany  County;  W.  H.  Bright 
and  G.  W.  Wardman  of  Carter  County;  J.  R.  Whitehead,  T.  D.  Murrin  and  T. 
W.  Poole  of  Laramie  County ;  George  Wilson  of  Carbon  County ;  and  William 
E.  Darby  at  large.     Nine  members.     W.  H.  Bright,  president. 

House — J.  C.  Abney,  Posey  S.  Wilson,  Howard  Sebree  and  Herman  Haas 
of  Laramie  County;  William  Herrick,  J.  N.  Douglas  and  Louis  Miller  of  Albany 
County;  James  W.  Menefee,  Ben  Sheeks  and  John  Holbrook  of  Carter  County; 
S.  M.  Curran  and  J.  M.  Freeman  of  Carbon  County;  J.  C.  Strong  at  large. 
Thirteen  members.     S.  M.  Curran,  speaker. 

The  woman's  suffrage  bill  was  introduced  November  27th.  by  W.  H.  Bright, 
president  of  the  council,  and  was  passed  in  that  body  and  sent  to  the  house 
November  30,  1869.  The  text  of  the  bill,  being  Council  Bill  No.  70,  was  as 
follows : 

"Every  woman  of  the  age  of  eighteen  years  residing  in  this  territory,  mav,  at 
every  election  cast  her  vote ;  and  her  right  to  the  elective  franchise  and  to  hold 
office  under  the  election  laws  of  the  territory  shall  be  the  same  as  those  ot 
electors.'' 

Section  2  provided  that  "this  act  shall  take  efTect  from  and  after  its  passage." 

PROCEEDINGS   TN   THE    HOUSE 

When  the  bill  reached  the  house,  November  30th,  it  was  taken  up  and  read 
the  first  time,  and  on  motion  of  Ben  Sheeks  the  rules  were  suspended  and  the 
bill  read  a  second  time  and  referred  to  a  committee  of  the  whole  house  and 
made  a  special  order  for  7  o'clock  that  evening.  This  action  was  rushing  the 
measure  beyond  ordinary  precedent.  At  the  evening  session,  Mr.  Douglas  moved 
that  the  house  reconsider  its  action  on  Council  Bill  No.  70,  "an  act  granting  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  the  women  of  Wyoming  Territory,"  made  special  order  for 
this  hour,  and  that  it  be  referred  to  a  special  committee.  This  was  carried  and 
the  speaker  named  Messrs.  Douglas,  Menefee  and  Abney  as  such  special  com- 
mittee.    On  December  4th  this  committee  made  the  following  report: 

"Your  special  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Council  Bill  No.  70,  'An  act 
to  give  the  women  of  Wyoming  the  right  of  sufTrage,'  have  had  the  same  under 
consideration  and  report  it  back  to  the  house  recommending  its  passage." 

"J.  W.  D0UGLA.S,  Chairman." 

This  report  having  the  unanimous  support  of  the  committee,  it  will  be  seen 
between  the  lines  that  all  its  supporters  were  in  earnest  in  favoring  the  bill 
and  they  used  the  best  parliamentary  strategy  in  taking  it  safely  through  its 
different  stages,  and  especially  in  having  it  referred  to  a  favorable  committee. 
When  the  report  of  the  committee  was  taken  up  the  same  day,  ^Ir.  Sheeks 
moved  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  the  bill  indefinitely.  This  was  lost,  and 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Douglas  the  bill  was  made  special  order  for  7  o'clock  P.  M. 
At  the  evening  session,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Strong,  the  house  resolved  itself  into 
a  committee  of  the  whole  for  consideration  of  the  bill.     JNIr.  Douglas,  a  warm 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  201 

supporter  of  the  bill,  was  called  to  the  chair.     After  a  free  and  lively  discussion 
of  the  measure,  the  committee  rose  and  made  the  following  report : 

"Mr.  Speaker,  the  committee  of  the  whole  have  had  Council  Liill  No.  70,  a 
bill  for  'An  act  to  Grant  the  Women  of  Wyoming  the  Right  of  Suffrage,'  under 
consideration  and  report  the  same  back  to  the  house." 

J.  \\'.  DouGL.vs,  Chairman. 

Air.  Wilson  moved  that  the  report  be  received.     Lost. 

Air.  Sheeks  mo\ed  to  adjourn.    Lost. 

Air.  Strong  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  on  the  reception  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  the  whole  on  Council  Bill  No.  70.     Lost. 

Air.  Strong  appealed  from  the  decision  of  the  chair.    Appeal  not  sustained. 

The  house  then  proceeded  to  consider  other  business  and  left  the  committee's 
report  hanging  in  mid-air.  It  was  neither  accepted  nor  rejected — a  peculiar  par- 
liamentary situation. 

THE  R.\CY  DE1!.\TE 

The  bill  next  came  before  the  house  on  December  6th,  when  the  final  struggle 
for  its  passage  was  made.  The  speaker  called  Air.  Sebree  to  the  chair.  On  motion 
of  Mr.  Strong  a  call  of  the  house  was  had  and  absentees  sent  for.  They  were 
all  brought  in  but  two,  Freeman  and  Haas.  Sheeks  moved  to  take  a  recess.  Lost. 
From  this  time  on,  all  kinds  of  dilatory,  obstructive  and  ridiculous  motions  were 
made  by  the  opposition  and  were  promptly  voted  down.  Curran  moved,  that 
consideration  of  the  bill  be  postponed  until  July  4,  1870.  Lost.  Sheeks  moved 
to  postpone  action  on  the  bill  until  Saturday  next.  (That  time  was  after  the 
Legislature  had  adjourned.)  Lost.  Curran  moved  to  insert  in  section  2,  the 
words,  "Three  years  or  sooner  discharged."  Lost.  Sheeks  offered  an  amendment 
to  insert  the  words,  "all  colored  women  and  squaws"  in  section  2.  On  motion 
of  Aliller,  Sheeks'  amendment  was  laid  on  the  table.  Air.  Strong  oft'ered  an 
amendment  to  strike  out  the  word  "women'  and  insert  in  lieu  thereof  the  word 
"Ladies."  This  was  laid  on  the  table.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Sheeks  the  word 
"eighteen"  was  stricken  out  and  the  words  "twenty-one"  inserted  instead.  On 
motion  of  Air.  Nelson  the  rules  were  suspended,  the  bill  read  a  third  time  by  title 
,  and  put  upon  its  passage.  A  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  bill  which  passed  as 
follows : 

-Ayes — Alessrs.  Abney,  Douglas,  Herrick,  Aliller,  Alenefee,  Sebree  and  Wilson 

7- 

Nays — Alessrs.  Holbrook,    Sheeks,   Strong   and   Speaker   Curran — 4. 

In  order  to  clinch  the  passage  of  the  bill  and  prevent  any  further  filibustering. 
Air.  Wilson  moved  a  reconsideration  of  the  action  taken.  This  being  lost,  pre- 
vented any  other  member  from  making  such  a  motion. 

THE  BILL  IX  THE  COUNCn. 

Judging  from  the  Journal  very  little  debate  occurred  on  the  suft'rage  bill  in  the 
Council.  The  measure  had  a  majority  from  the  first  and  at  no  time  did  the  opposi- 
tion develop  any  fighting  propensity  or  attempt  parliamentary  obstructions.  The 
fact  that  William  H.  Bright.  President  of  the  Council,  introduced  the  measure 


202  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

may  account  in  part  for  the  courtesy  with  which  its  opponents  treated  it,  at  dif- 
ferent stages  of  the  proceedings,  from  its  introduction  to  its  final  passage.. 

Mr.  Bright  gave  notice  on  November  12,  1869,  that  he  would  "introduce  a  bill 
for  "Woman's  Rights'  on  Monday,  or  some  subsequent  day.''  The  bill  however, 
did  not  appear  until  November  27th  at  the  opening  of  the  morning  session  when 
Mr.  Bright  is  recorded  as  introducing  a  bill,  "For  an  Act  giving  to  the  \\'omen  of 
Wyoming  the  Right  of  Suffrage." 

It  was  then  read  for  the  first  and  second  time  and  referred  to  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole.  During  the  forenoon  of  that  day  the  committee  held  a  session 
and  reported  the  bill  back  to  the  Council  with  the  recommendation  that  it  be 
passed.  It  was  filed  on  the  calendar  as  Bill  No.  70.  and  three  days  later,  on 
November  30th.  it  was  read  the  third  time  and  put  upon  its  final  passage,  and  was 
passed  by  the  following  vote : 

Yeas — Brady.  Laycock,  Murrin.  Poole,  Wilson  and  Mr.  President — 6. 
Nays — Rockwell  and  Whitehead — 2. 
Absent — i. 

AMENDED   IN    THE    HOUSE 

The  bill  was  then  sent  to  the  House.  On  the  morning  session  of  December  6, 
1869,  the  Council  was  notified  by  a  message  from  the  chief  clerk  of  the  House, 
that  the  House  had  passed  Council  Bill  No.  70,  "An  Act  to  Grant  to  the  Women 
of  Wyoming  Territory  the  Right  of  Suffrage"  with  the  following  amendment: 
section  i,  second  line.  Strike  out  the  word  'Eighteen'  and  insert  the  words 
'Twenty-one.'  The  amendment  was  agreed  to  by  the  Council  by  a  vote  of  six 
to  three. 

Thus  the  bill  had  a  serene  and  uneventful  journey  through  the  Council.  Its 
passage  was  the  result  of  the  serious,  intelligent  judgment  of  that  body  and  the 
record  shows  there  were  no  factions  or  trifling  parliamentary  tactics  used  to  op- 
pose it. 

.\PPROVED   V,\    THE   GOVERNOR 

On  December  loth,  one  day  before  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature  the  fol- 
lowing message  was  received  by  the  Council, 

"Executive  Department.   W.   T., 
"Cheyenne,  December  10,  1869. 

"To  the  Honorable  President  of  the  Council, 

"I  have  the  honor  to  inform  the  Council  that  I  have  approved  "An  act  to 
grant  to  the  Women  of  ^^'yoming  Territory  the  right  of  Suflfrage  and  to  hold 
office.'' 

"\'ery  respectfully 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  A.  Campbell. 

"Governor." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  203 

LEADER  COMMENT 

On  the  day  following  the  original  passage  of  the  act  in  1809  the  Cheyenne 
Leader  commented  editorially  as  follows: 

"Governor  Campbell  yesterday  approved  the  Female  Suffrage  Bill,  thus  making 
it  a  law  of  the  territory.  We  now  expect  at  once  quite  an  immigration  of  ladies 
to  Wyoming.  We  say  to  them,  Come  on !  There  is  room  for  a  great  many  here 
yet.  When  Wyoming  gets  tired  of  such  additions  we'll  agree  to  let  the  outside 
world  know  the  fact.  Won't  the  irrepressible  Anna  D.  (Dickinson)  come  out 
here  and  make  her  home?  We'll  even  give  her  more  than  the  right  to  vote — 
she  can  run  for  Congress." 

.\TTE.MPT   TO   REPE.VL 

The  legislative  history  of  this  act  would  not  be  complete  without  noting  the 
fact  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  repeal  the  law  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature, two  years  later,  when  curiously  enough  the  alignment  of  the  two  parties 
was  reversed  on  the  proposition.  It  was  originally  passed  by  a  legislature  unani- 
mously democratic.  In  the  session  of  1871,  the  bill  to  repeal  the  act  was  supported 
by  democrats  and  opposed  by  republicans.  It  was  passed  by  both  houses  and 
sent  to  the  governor  who  vetoed  it  in  a  cogent  and  lengthy  message,  in  which  he 
argued  that  a  repeal  would  advertise  to  the  world  that  the  women  of  Wyoming 
in  their  use  of  the  franchise  had  not  justified  its  passage.  This,  he  declared  was 
an  entirely  false  imputation.  He  said  the  argument  that,  the  ability  to  perform 
'military  service  was  essential,  could  not  be  sustained,  as  a  large  part  of  male 
voters  were  exempt  from  such  service :  that  the  law  already  passed  permitting 
women  to  acquire  and  possess  property  and  be  taxed,  should  give  her  a  voice  in 
the  public  management  of  her  property ;  that  she  should  have  a  voice  in  the  man- 
agement of  our  public  schools  where  her  children  were  educated ;  that  the  act 
was  in  harmony  with  the  legislation  already  passed,  in  relation  to  the  property 
rights  of  women  and  the  law  agiiiiist  any  discrimination  in  pay  of  teachers  on  ac- 
count of  sex. 

SURPRISED   THE    CCUNTRV 

r)utside  of  Cheyenne,  throughout  the  territory  there  seems  to  have  been  no 
agitation  and  not  much  discussion  in  regard  to  equal  suffrage,  and  there  was 
little,  if  any,  expectation  that  such  a  measure  would  be  passed  by  the  Legislature. 
It  has  been  said  "Tt  is  the  unexpected  that  happens,"  and  it  so  proved  in  this 
far-reaching  act  which  blazed  the  way  for  the  woman  suft'rage  campaigns  that 
were  waged  in  every  state  for  the  next  half  a  century. 

The  passage  of  the  act,  however,  created  a  decided  sensation  throughout  the 
United  States,  and  brought  out  all  kinds  of  comments  "from  grave  to  gay  and  from 
li\-ely  to  severe."  The  old  states  were  astonished  that  the  newest  and  smallest 
territorial  sovereignty  should  have  the  boldness  and  audacity  to  break  down  the 
walls  of  exclusiveness  and  conventionalism  and  march  forth  into  the  open  of 
freedom  and  equal  rights.  It  was  hailed  with  delight  by  true  reformers  and 
thoughtful  progressives  in  the  dift'erent  political  parties. 


204  HISTORY  OF  ^^•Y0.^11XG 

111  other  countries  this  legislation  did  not  seem  so  revolutionary  or  radical,  for 
women  have  enjoyed  partial  suffrage  in  many  lands.  In  Canada  they  may  vote  for 
municipal  officers  and  they  have  that  privilege  in  other  colonies  of  Great  Britain. 
In  France  women  teachers  may  vote  for  members  of  the  boards  of  education.  In 
Russia,  women  who  are  heads  of  households  may  vote  by  proxy  at  village  and 
municipal  elections.  In  Sweden  they  have  municipal  suffrage.  In  some  states 
women  property  holders  may  vote  on  questions  pertaining  to  assessments  of 
taxes. 

THE  .\D\-.\XCING   W.WE 

The  Wyoming  idea,  put  into  practical  operation  in  i86g.  is  now,  like  an  advanc- 
ing wave  submerging  the  governments  of  the  world.  When  states  like  New  York 
adopt  woman  suffrage,  the  nationalization  of  the  reform  will  soon  be  inevitable. 
England  will  no  doubt  soon  reward  the  splendid  work  and  noble  sacrifices  of  her 
women  in  the  present  world  war,  by  investing  them  with  full  suffrage  rights. 
When  we  look  back  to  the  act  of  Wyoming's  pioneers,  we  think,  "How  far  yon 
little  candle  throws  its  beams." 

Wyoming's  EXPERixrENT 

The  writer  was  a  visitor  at  his  old,  colonial  home  in  Massachusetts  in  1Q15 
when  the  question  of  woman  suft'rage  was  at  issue.  Being  requested  to  present 
^\'yoming's  view  and  experiences,  he  said  in  part: 

"There  is  an  old  saying.  'Proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating.'  Wyoming  has 
had  woman  suffrage  for  nearly  half  a  century.  Surely  that  is  long  enough  time  to 
test  its  practical  results,  as  to  the  individual  citizen,  the  family,  the  home  and  public 
affairs.  Our  experience  therefore  is  more  important  than  any  hypothetical  argu- 
ments or  conjectures  that  the  opponents  of  equal  suffrage  may  present. 

"A  recent  canvass  of  press  opinions  throughout  the  country  made  by  the 
Literary  Digest,  shows  that  every  one  of  the  twenty-six  editors  queried  in  Wyo- 
ming, declared  in  favor  of  full  female  suffrage.  It  must  certainly  be  admitted  that 
this  is  an  expression  of  intelligent  men  versed  in  public  affairs  and  governmental 
policies,  and  we  may  add.  in  the  consensus  of  public  opinion,  the  masses  of  the 
people  of  Wyoming  are  practically  unanimous  on  this  subject. 

"If  it  be  said  that  Wyoming  is  a  wild  west  state  of  cowboys,  sheep  herders 
and  range  riders,  I  answer  that  the  census  will  show  we  stand  in  the  front  rank 
of  states  in  general  education,  and  we  are  among  the  few  states  of  the  Union  that 
have  an  intelligence  qualification  in  granting  suffrage.  Under  our  constitution 
every  voter  must  be  able  to  read  the  state  constitution  in  English,  consequently 
we  can  have  no  illiterate  vote. 

"Wyoming  is  also  at  the  front  in  humane  legislation.  Kind  treatment  to 
animals  is  required  to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools.  Our  code  of  humane  laws 
is  far  in  advance  of  the  old  states  in  their  scope  and  efficiency,  as  our  Humane 
Bureau  is  a  state  institution,  maintained  by  the  state  appropriation  and  its  work 
is  supported  by  the  legal  authorities  of  every  town  and  county. 

"As  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  oldest  Colonial  families  of  Xew  England  I  wish 
you  to  note  this  fact,  our  'wild  west'  is  really  the  product  of  the  East — \\'yoming 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  203 

is  more  American  than  Massachusetts,  Cheyenne  is  more  American  than  Ames- 
bury.  Our  state  is  largely  made  up  of  people  from  the  Eastern  and  Southern 
states.  \'ery  few  were  born  here.  We  have  been  translated  from  the  narrow- 
confines  of  New  England  to  a  region  of  grand  possibilities — to  the  vast  plains 
and  lofty  mountains,  the  brilliant  sunshine  and  exhilarating  ozone  of  a  new 
land.  We  are  empire  builders,  both  men  and  women,  and  without  boasting,  I 
may  say  we  have  a  broader  vision  and  more  progressive  ideas  than  those  people 
of  Massachusetts  who  still  persist  in  traveling  in  the  old  ruts. 

"We  are  in  the  general  uplift,  socially,  physically  and  governmentally.  It  is 
the  destiny  of  the  new  states  to  work  out  the  newest  problems  of  a  progressive 
cvilization,  and  we  have  already  solved  the  problem  of  equal  suffrage,  in  a  most 
quiet  and  effective  manner,  and  we  know  it  to  be  not  only  a  privilege,  but  a  right 
for  our  women  to  participate  in.  our  government,  and  so  far  its  effect  has  been 
only  beneficial  in  every  way,  morally,  socially  and  politically.  Going  to  the  polls 
once  a  year  does  not  make  a  woman  less  motherly,  less  gentle  or  less  refined.  In 
all  the  state  of  \\'yoming  we  have  not  heard  of  a  single  home  being  broken  up  by 
women  voting,  or  a  single  divorce  being  caused  by  a  difference  of  political  opinions. 
There  have  been  no  revolutionary,  startling  or  spectacular  effects  from  woman's 
voting,  such  as  have  been  conjured  up  in  the  wild  and  excited  imaginations  of  its 
opponents." 

THE  FIRST   WOMAN   J  URY 

The  act  granting  suffrage  to  women  also  included  the  right  to  hold  office.  In 
the  month  of  March,  1870,  somebody  in  Laramie,  a  frontier  town,  tift}'  miles 
west  of  Cheyenne,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  suggested  the  idea  that  women 
should  serve  as  jurors.  Laramie  had  a  population  then  of  about  2,000,  made  up 
largely  of  adventurers,  camp  followers,  and  with  what  is  termed  the  "tough" 
element  in  practical  control.  The  better  class  of  settlers  who  came  there  to  stay 
and  grow  up  with  the  country,  found  it  difficult  to  maintain  law  and  order.  The 
courts  were  not  effective,  juries  could  not  or  dared  not  convict  the  worst  offenders. 
It  was  reasoned  that  if  women  were  put  on  the  juries  it  could  not  be  any  worse 
and  might  result  in  improving  conditions.  The  whole  arrangement  seems  to  have 
been  agreed  to  by  court  officials  of  the  first  court  convening  soon  after  the  passage 
of  the  act,  the  term  commencing  in  ^larch,  1870. 

The  names  of  the  jurors  at  that  time  were  not  drawn,  but  were  selected  by 
court  officers  and  personally  summoned  by  the  sheriff'.  Both  the  grand  and  petit 
juries  of  that  court  contained  the  names  of  women. 

WOMEN    ON    THE   GRAND   JURY 

The  grand  jury  was  first  called  with  the  names  of  the  following  women : 
IMiss  Elisa  Stewart,  school  teacher;  Mrs.  Amelia  Hatcher,  a  widow;  Mrs.  G.  F. 
Hilton,  wife  01  a  physician;  Mrs.  Mary  Mackell,  wife  of  a  clerk  at  Fort  Sanders; 
IMrs.  Agnes  Baker,  wife  of  a  merchant ;  Mrs.  Sarah  ^^'.  Pease,  wife  of  the  deputy 
clerk  of  court.  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard  in  her  admirable  story  of  the 
"First  Woman  Jury"  appearing  in  the  Journal  of  American  History  in  1913, 
says: 


206  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

"\Mien  this  jury  had  been  empaneled,  sworn  and  charged,  the  excitement  in 
Laramie  was  intense,  and  the  material  facts,  together  with  the  judge's  charge 
were  telegraphed  all  over  the  world  by  the  associated  press  reporters  who  watched 
every  step  of  the  novel  scene  with  intense  interest." 

At  the  opening  of  the  court,  the  jury  being  in  their  seats,  the  judge  addressed 
them  as  "ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury."  He  assured  them  there  was  no 
impropriety  or  illegality  in  women  serving  as  jurors  and  that  they  would  receive 
the  full  consideration  and  protection  of  the  court.  As  the  judge  finished,  Stephen 
\\'.  Downey,  prosecuting  attorney,  arose  and  moved  to  quash  the  jury  panel  on 
the  ground  that  said  panel  was  not  composed  of  "male  citizens"  as  required  by 
law.  The  court  overruled  this  motion.  Associate  Justice  Kingman  concurring. 
In  fact  the  written  opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Howe  had  been  given  to  Mr.  Downey 
previous  to  the  assembling  of  the  court.  This  grand  jury  was  in  session  three 
weeks  and  investigated  many  cases  including  murders,  cattle  stealing,  illegal 
branding,  etc.  Whenever  a  true  bill  was  returned  it  commenced  with  these  words, 
"We,  good  and  lawful  male  and  female  jurors,  on  oath  do  say." 


The  petit  jury,  empaneled  after  the  grand  jury,  consisted  of  six  women  and 
six  men.  The  women  were:  Mrs.  Retta  J.  Burnham,  wife  of  a  contractor;  Miss 
Nellie  Hazen,  a  school  teacher;  Miss  Lizzie  A.  Spooner,  sister  of  a  hotel  keeper; 
Mrs.  Mary  Wilcox,  wife  cf  a  merchant;  Mrs.  J.  H.  Hayford,  wife  of  an  editor; 
Mrs.  J.  N.  Hartsough.  wife  of  the  ^Methodist  minister.  A  woman  bailiff,  IMrs. 
Mary  Boies,  was  appointed  to  attend  to  this  jury,  being  the  first  woman  bailiff 
known  to  American  history.  The  first  case  was  a  murder  trial,  and  as  no  decision 
was  reached  before  night,  the  jury  was  taken  to  the  Union  Pacific  Hotel  and  two 
rooms  engaged,  one  for  the  men  and  one  for  the  women,  a  man  bailifif  being  on  duty 
as  guard  of  the  men.  As  an  incident  of  their  deliberations,  the  minister's  wife 
asked  the  jurors  to  kneel  down  with  her  in  prayer  "that  they  might  ask  the  aid  of 
the  Great  Court  above  in  arriving  at  a  just  decision." 

After  several  ballots  in  the  murder  case  with  varying  results  the  jury  finally 
agreed  on  a  verdict  of  manslaughter.  During  the  term  many  civil  and  criminal 
cases  were  tried,  and  when  it  was  over,  the  universal  opinion  of  lawyers  and  all 
good  citizens,  was,  that  the  women  showed  ability,  good  sense  and  practical  judg- 
ment in  their  decisions  and  that  the  ends  of  justice  were  attained. 

Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Pease,  one  of  the  grand  jurors,  wrote  an  interesting  account  of 
their  jury  experiences  in  the  Wyoming  Historial  Collections  of  1897.  Of  the  pub- 
licity they  enjoyed  or  suft'ered,  she  says : 

"The  news  was  wired  far  and  near,  and  every  paper  in  the  country  made 
favorable  or  unfavorable  comment,  usually  the  latter.  In  due  time  letters  and 
telegrams  of  inquiry  came  pouring  in.  Newspaper  correspondents  came  flocking 
to  the  town  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  as  well  as  special  artists  from  leading 
illustrated  periodicals.  We  were  constantly  importuned  to  sit  for  our  pictures  in 
a  body,  but  we  steadfastly  refused,  although  great  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
by  court  officials.  The  jury  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  court  room  once  each  day  and 
I  remember  we  went  closely  veiled  fearing  that  special  artists  would  make  hasty 
sketches  of  us.    Of  course  we  were  caricatured  in  the  most  hideous  manner.    Some 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  207 

of  us  were  represented  as  holding  babies  ni  our  laps,  and  a  threadbare  couplet 
appeared  in  many  newspapers  and  still  has  a  place  in  the  guide  books, 

'Baby,  baby,  don't  get  in  a  fury, 

Your  mamma's  gone  to  sit  on  the  jury.'  " 

One  woman,  she  says  gave  them  much  irritation  because  she  persisted  in  knit- 
ting while  in  the  jury  box.  Red  Cross  work  was  not  then  the  vogue.  During  three 
successive  terms  women  were  called  to  serve  on  juries.  When  Judge  Howe  re- 
signed, however,  the  practice  was  discontinued  by  his  successor  who  interpreted 
the  law  to  apply  only  to  "male  citizens.'' 

THE    FIRST    WO^^AN    JUSTICE 

Mrs.  Esther  Morris  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  noted  of  "\\'yoming's 
I)lop.eer  women.  She  cr.me  from  Illinois  to  \\'yoming  in  1869  and  joined  her 
husband  and  three  sons  at  South  Pass,  then  a  populous  gold  mining  settlement. 
W.  H.  Bright,  the  author  of  the  bill  giving  equal  suffrage  to  women,  was  a 
resident  of  that  camp,  and  as  Mrs.  Morris  was  a  warm  advocate  of  woman's 
rights,  it  is  thought  she  may  have  influenced  Mr.  Bright  in  proposing  the  measure. 
There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  she  had  anything  to  do  with  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  but  shortly  after  the  Legislature  adjourned  she  was  appointed  justice  of  the 
peace  by  Edwin  M.  Lee,  acting  governor  of  the  territory,  and  filled  the  position 
with  great  credit  to  herself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  of  South  Pass. 
She  held  court  in  a  lively  mining  camp  antl  was  obliged  to  hear  and  decide  many 
exciting  and  difficult  cases,  but  in  no  case  were  her  judgments  and  decisions  over- 
ruled. When  her  term  was  finished  The  South  Pass  Xews  of  December  12,  1870, 
made  the  following  comment : 

"Mrs.  Justice  Esther  Morris  retires  from  her  judicial  duties  today.  She  has 
filled  the  positioij  with  great  credit  to  herself  and  secured  the  good  opinion  of  all 
with  whom  she  transacted  any  official  business." 

An  article  in  the  Chicago  Tribune  of  June  17,  1895,  referring  to  her  selection 
as  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Republican  National  Convention  held  at  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  says:  "Her  career  is  in  some  respects  remarkable,  especially  as  one  of  the 
early  pioneers  of  Illinois  and  Wyoming.  *  *  *  Few  women  of  any  period  have 
been  endowed  with  greater  gifts  than  Esther  Morris.  Her  originality,  wit  and  rare 
powers  of  conversation  would  have  gi\en  her  a  conspicuous  position  in  any 
society." 

Mrs.  Morris  was  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character,  natural  ability  and  inde- 
pendent convictions.  In  her  girlhood  days  in  Illinois  she  was  an  ardent  anti- 
slavery  worker.  Her  closing  years  were  spent  at  Cheyenne  with  her  son,  Hon. 
Robert  M.  Morris,  author  of  W'yoming  Historical  Collections.  She  died  in  April, 
1902,  at  the  age  of  90  years,  having  spent  a  serene,  old  age  with  "honor,  love, 
obedience  and  troops  of  friends." 

FOR  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR 

Although  at  a  later  date,  the  fact  should  be  mentioned  in  this  connection  that 
Wyoming  made  the  first  nomination    for  L'nited   States   Senator  by   legislative 


208  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

caucus,  that  was  ever  made  in  this  country.  This  honor  fell  to  Mrs.  I.  .S.  Bartlett. 
whose  interesting  biography  appears  in  another  part  of  this  history.  She  was  the 
unanimous  choice  of  the  people's  party  rejaresentatives  of  the  legislative  session 
of  1893,  when  a  deadlock  prevented  the  election  of  any  senator,  but  Mrs.  Bartlett 
was  so  much  admired  and  respected  by  all  parties  that  she  was  elected  to  the 
position  of  chief  enrolling  clerk  of  the  same  legislature. 

IX   THE   COXSTITUTIOX.\L  COXVEXTIOX 

The  question  of  woman  suffrage  had  an  important  place  in  the  constitutional 
convention  which  convened  at  Cheyenne,  September  2,  1889,  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  a  constitution  to  be  submitted  to  Congress.  The  constitution  as  then 
framed,  under  the  head  of  suffrage,  included  this  provision; 

■'Sec.  1.  The  right  of  the  citizens  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  to  vote  and  hold 
office  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  on  account  of  sex.  Both  male  and  female 
citizens  of  this  state  shall  equally  enjoy  all  civil,  political  and  religious  rights  and 
privileges." 

The  question  of  submitting  this  as  a  separate  proposition  to  be  voted  upon 
gave  rise  to  a  very  interesting  debate  in  the  convention  and  very  able  speeches 
were  made  by  George  W.  Baxter,  A.  C.  Campbell,  M.  C.  Brown,  Henry  A.  Coffeen, 
lohn  W.  Hoyt,  Charles  H.  Burrit,  C.  W.  Holden  and  A.  B.  Conaway.  The  propo- 
sition for  a  separate  submission  of  this  clause  was  based  on  the  idea  that  Congress 
might  refuse  to  admit  the  state  with  such  a  provision  and  it  might  thus  cause  the 
rejecting  of  statehood.  Such  a  radical  and  tar  reaching  proposition  had  never  been 
put  up  to  Congress  and  the  desire  for  statehood  was  so  strong  and  insistent  that  a 
few  were  willing  to  surrender  their  convictions  on  suft'rage  in  order  to  achieve 
a  sure  admission. 

In  the  end,  however,  the  convention  overwhelmingly  voted  down  the  separation 
of  the  question  and  incorporated  woman  suft'rage  as  a  part  of  the  constitution, 
regardless  of  whether  Congress  liked  it.  or  not.  As  one  speaker  said  in  the 
debate  :  "Rather  than  surrender  that  right  we  will  remain  in  a  territorial  condition 
through  the  endless  cycles  of  time." 

However,  their  fears  were  soon  dispelled.  Through  the  able  and  untiring  efforts 
of  our  representative  in  Congress,  Judge  J.  M.  Carey,  assisted  by  some  of  the 
ablest  members  of  the  house  and  senate  the  admission  bill  was  passed  and  signed 
by  the  President  on  July  10,  1890. 

NOTES  AND  COMMENTS 

Col.  W.  H.  Bright,  who  was  president  of  the  territorial  council  when  he  intro- 
duced the  woman  suft'rage  bill,  came  to  Wyoming  from  Washington,  D.  C,  his 
paternal  home.  He  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  broad  minded,  and  independent 
in  his  convictions.  Mr.  Bright  was  a  democrat  and  he  reasoned  that  if  ignorant 
negroes  were  allowed  to  vote,  women  were  certainly  entitled  to  the  privilege. 
Before  the  adjournment  of  the  session,  the  Council  unanimously  passed  the 
following  resolution  commending  his  service  as  their  presiding  officer : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Council  does  hereby  recognize  in  Honorable  W.  H.  Bright, 
our  president,  an  able,  efficient  and  unpartial  officer,  and  that  the  thanks  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  209 

members  of  this  Council  are  hereby  extended  to  that  gentleman,  for  the  abihty 
and  impartiality  with  which  he  has  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  this  session." 

The  first  woman  who  voted  in  Wyoming  according  to  Miss  Hebard's  interesting 
account  in  the  Journal  of  American  History,  was  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Swain,  a  lady 
seventy  years  of  age,  living  in  Laramie.    The  election  was  on  September  6,  1870. 

"Putting  on  a  clean,  fresh  apron,  she  walked  to  the  polls  early  in  the  morning 
carrying  a  little  bucket  for  yeast  to  be  bought  at  the  baker's  shop  on  her  return 
home."  She  put  in  her  vote  and  went  about  her  business  as  if  it  was  a  natural 
part  of  her  domestic  duties.     Her  picture  is  given  in  Miss  Hebard's  article. 

Some  of  the  highest  offices  in  the  state  have  been  held  by  women,  such  as  mem- 
bers of  legislatures,  state  superintendents  of  public  instruction,  county  superintend- 
ents of  schools,  county  treasurers  and  clerks,  trustees  of  the  State  University, 
judges  of  elections,  delegates  to  state  and  national  conventions,  etc. 

When  Governor  Warren  set  the  date  for  holding  the  Constitutional  Convention 
preparatory  to  statehood,  a  convention  of  the  women  of  the  territory  was  held 
at  Cheyenne  to  demonstrate  their  interest  in  the  government  of  the  state  and  insist 
on  the  preservation  of  their  right  of  suffrage.  This  convention  was  unanimous 
and  enthusiastic.  Mrs.  Amelia  Post  was  elected  chairman  and  a  committee  on 
resolutions  was  appointed  consisting  of  Mrs.  Hale,  widow  of  the  late  governor, 
Mrs.  Morgan,  wife  of  the  territorial  secretary  and  Grace  Raymond  Hebard.  The 
views  expressed  in  the  resolutions  were  practically  adopted  by  the  men. 

RILL  NVE's  humorous  REPORT 

The  story  of  the  adoption  of  woman  suffrage  in  Wyoming  would  not  be  com- 
plete without  giving.  Bill  Xye's  version  of  the  legislative  discussion  of  the  question. 
In  answer  to  a  question  from  a  well  known  editor  of  South  Dakota  as  to  what  he 
knew  of  the  legislative  proceedings  on  the  bill.  Nye  reproduces  some  imaginary 
speeches  made  during  its  discussion  in  the  legislature.  I\Ir.  Bigsby,  a  railroad 
man,  he  reports  as  making  the  following  speech : 

"Gentlemen,  this  is  a  pretty  important  move.  It's  a  kind  of  wild  train  on  a 
single  track,  and  we've  got  to  keep  our  eye  peeled  or  we'll  get  into  the  ditch. 
It's  a  new  conductor  making  his  first  run.  He  don't  know  the  stations  yet,  and 
he  feels  as  if  there  were  a  spotter  in  every  coach  besides.  Female  suffrage 
changes  the  management  of  the  whole  line,  and  may  put  the  entire  outfit  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver  in  two  years.  We  can't  tell  when  Wyoming  Territory  may  be 
side-tracked  with  a  lot  of  female  conductors  and  superintendents  and  a  posse  of 
giddy  girls  at  the  brakes. 

"I  tell  you  we  want  to  consider  this  pretty  thorough.  Of  course,  we  members 
get  our  time  check  at  the  close  of  the  term,  and  we  don't  care  much,  but  if  the 
young  territory  gets  into  a  hot  box,  or  civilization  has  to  wait  a  few  years  because 
we  get  a  flat  wheel,  and  thus  block  the  track,  or  if  by  our  foolishness  we  telescope 
some  other  territory,  folks  will  point  us  out  and  say.  'there's  where  the  difficulty 
is.'  We  sent  a  choice  aggregation  of  railroad  men  and  miners  and  cattle  men 
down  there  to  Cheyenne,  thinking  we  had  a  carload  of  statesmen  for  to  work  up 
this  thing,  and  here  we  are  without  airy  law  or  airy  gospel  that  we  can  lay  our 
jaw  to  in  the  whole  domain.  However.  Mr.  Speaker.  I  claim  that  I've  got  my 
orders  and  I  shall  pull  out  in  favor  of  the  move.    If  you  boys  will  couple  onto  our 


210  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

train,  I  am  moderately  certain  that  we  will  make  no  mistake.  I  regard  it  as  a  pro- 
motion when  I  go  from  the  cattle  train  of  male  ward  politics  to  take  charge  of  a 
train  with  a  parlor  car  and  ladies  belonging  to  the  manifest."     (Applause.) 

The  next  speech  was  made  by  Unusual  Barries,  owner  of  Bar  G  brand  horse 
ranch  and  the  crop  mottle  and  key  Q  monkey-wrench  brand  cattle  ranch  on  the 
Upper  Chugwater.  He  said :  "Mr.  Chairman,  or  Speaker,  or  whatever  you  call 
yourself,  I  can  cut  out  a  steer  or  put  my  red-hot  monogram  on  a  maverick  the 
darkest  night  that  ever  blew,  but  I'm  poorly  put  up  to  paralyze  the  eager  throng 
with  matchless  eloquence.  I  tell  you,  talk  is  inexpensive,  anyhow.  It  is  rum  and 
hired  help  that  costs  money.  I  agree  with  the  chair  that  we  want  to  be  familiar 
with  the  range  before  we  stampede  and  go  wild  like  a  lot  of  Texas  cattle  just  off 
the  trail,  traveling  lOO  miles  a  day  and  filling  their  pelts  with  pizen  weed  and  other 
peculiar  vegetables.  We  want  to  consider  what  we're  about  and  act  with  some 
judgment.  When  we  turn  this  maverick  over  to  the  governor  to  be  branded,  we 
want  to  know  that  we  are  corralling  the  right  animal.  You  can't  lariat  a  broncho 
mule  with  a  morning  glory  vine.  Most  always,  and  after  we've  run  this  bill  into 
the  chute  and  twisted  its  tail  a  few  times,  we  might  want  to  pay  two  or  three  good 
men  to  help  us  let  loose  of  it.  However,  I  shall  vote  for  it  as  it  is,  and  take  the 
chances.  Passing  a  bill  is  like  buying  a  brand  of  cattle  on  the  range,  anyhow. 
You  may  tally  ahead,  and  you  may  get  everlastingly  left  with  a  little  withered 
bunch  of  Texas  frames  that  there  ain't  no  more  hopes  of  fattening  than  there 
would  be  of  putting  flesh  on  a  railroad  bridge." 

The  Legislature  now  took  a  recess,  and  after  a  little  quiet  talk  at  Col.  Luke 
Murrin's  place,  reassembled  to  listen  to  a  brief  speech  by  Buck  Bramel,  a  pros- 
pector, who  discovered  the  Pauper's  Dream  gold  mine.  Buck  said :  "Mr.  Cheers- 
man,  I  don't  know  what  kind  of  a  fist  the  women  will  make  of  politics,  but  I'm 
prepared  to  invest  with  surface  indications.  The  law  may  develop  a  true  fissure 
vein  of  prosperity  and  progress,  or  a  heart-breaking  slide  of  the  mountain.  We 
cannot  tell  till  we  go  down  on  it.  All  we  can  do  is  to  prospect  around  and  drift 
and  develop  and  comply  with  the  L'uited  States  laws  in  such  cases  made  and 
provided.  Then  two  years  more  will  show  whether  we've  got  'mineral  in  place' 
or  not.  If  it  works,  all  right,  the  next  shift  that  comes  to  the  legislature  can 
drift  and  stope  and  stump  and  timber  the  blamed  measure  so  as  to  make  a  good 
investment  of  it  for  future  history.  We  don't  expect  to  declare  a  dividend  the  first 
year.  It'll  take  time  to  show  what  there  is  in  it.  My  opinion  is  that  women  can 
give  this  territory  a  boom  that  will  make  her  the  bonanza  of  all  creation. 

"We've  got  mighty  pretty  blossom  rock  already  in  the  intelligence  and  brains 
of  our  women ;  let  us  be  the  means  of  her  advancement  and  thus  shame  the  old 
and  mossy  civilization  of  other  lands.  Thus  in  time  we  may  be  able  to  send 
missionaries  to  Xew  England.  I  cannot  think  of  anything  more  enjoyable  than 
that  would  be.  I  was  in  California  years  ago.  up  in  the  hills,  looking  for  a  place, 
and  I  ran  into  a  camp  in  a  gulch  there,  where  the  soft  foot-fall  of  women  had 
never  mashed  the  violet  or  squoze  the  fragrance  from  the  wild  columbine.  At  first 
the  boys  thought  it  was  real  nice.  Everything  was  so  quiet  and  life  was  like  a 
dream.  Men  wore  their  whiskers  flowing,  with  burdock  burrs  in  them.  They 
got  down  at  the  heel.  They  got  so  depraved  that  they  neglected  their  manicure 
sets  for  days  at  a  time  and  killed  each  other  thoughtlessly  at  times.  They  also 
wore  their  clothes  a  long  time  without  shame.     They  also  bet  their  dust  foolishly. 


HISTORY  OF  WYO-MIXG  211 

and  the  rum  pathologist  of  the  Little  Xasal  Dye  Works  got  the  wages  of  the  whole 
crew,  live  and  bye  Yankee  school  marms  and  their  brothers  came  up  here,  and 
everything  was  lovely ;  the  boys  braced  up  and  had  some  style  about  'em.  It  was  a 
big  stroke  of  good  luck  to  the  camp. 

'■I  believe  that  the  mother  of  a  statesman  is  better  calculated  to  vote  than  a 
man  that  can't  read  or  write.  I  may  be  a  little  peculiar  but  I  think  that  when  a 
woman  has  marched  a  ban;l  of  hostile  boys  all  the  way  up  to  manhood  and  give 
'em  a  good  start  and  made  good  citizens  out  of  'em,  with  this  wicked  world  to 
buck  agin  all  the  time,  she  can  vote  all  day,  so  far  as  I'm  concerned,  in  preference 
to  the  man  who  don  t  know  whether  Michigan  is  in  Missouri  or  St.  Louis.  I  am  in 
favor  of  making  the  location  and  going  ahead  with  our  assessment  work,  and  I'll 
bet  my  pile  that  there  hain't  been  a  measure  passed  by  our  august  body  this  winter 
that  will  show  more  mineral  on  the  dump  in  five  years  than  this  one." 

The  closing  speech  was  made  by  Elias  Kilgore,  a  retired  stage  driver,  he  also 
favored  the  bill,  and  spoke  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Speaker — The  bill  that's  before  us,  it  strikes  me,  is  where  the  road  forks. 
One  is  the  old  guv'ment  road  that  has  been  the  style  for  a  good  while,  and  the 
other  is  the  cut-otT.  It's  a  new^  road  but  with  a  little  work  on  it,  I  reckon  it's  going 
to  be  the  best  road.  You  men  that  opposes  the  l)ill  has  got  ezzication — some  of 
you — some  of  you  ain't.  You  that  has  it  got  it  at  your  mother's  knee.  Second, 
the  more  Godlike  we  get,  gentlemen,  the  more  rights  we  will  give  women.  The 
closter  you  get  to  the  cannibals  the  more  apt  a  woman  is  to  do  chores  and  get 
choked  for  her  opinions.  I  don't  say  that  a  woman  has  got  to  vote  because  she 
has  the  right,  no  more  than  our  local  vigilance  committee  has  got  to  hang  the 
member  from  Sweetwater  County  because  it  has  a  right  to,  but  it  is  a  good,  whole- 
some brake  on  society  in  case  you  bust  a  hold-back  or  tear  oft  a  harness  strap  when 
you  are  on  a  steep  grade.  The  member  from  Sweetwater  County  says  we  ort  to 
restrik  the  vote  privilege  instead  of  enlarging  it.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  too  many 
folks  is  already  'ntiled  to  vote.  That  inay  be.  Too  many  maudlin  drunkards  that 
thinks  with  fungus  growth  and  reasons  with  a  little  fatty  degeneration  which  they 
calls  Ijrains  till  they  runs  against  an  autopsy,  too  many  folks  with  no  voting  cjuali- 
fication  but  talk  and  trowsiz.  is  allowed  to  vote,  not  only  at  the  polls,  but  to  even 
.represent  a  big  and  beautiful  county  like  Sweetwater  in  the  Legislature. 

"So  we  are  to  restrik  the  vote,  I  admit,  in  that  direction  and  enlarge  it  in  the 
direction  of  decency  and  sense.  Mr.  Speaker,  men  is  too  much  stuck  on  them- 
selves. Becuz  they  was  made  first,  they  seem  to  be  checked  too  high.  The  fact  is 
that  God  made  the  muskeeter  and  bedbug  before  he  made  man.  He  also  made  the 
mud-turtle,  the  jackass  and  baboon.  When  he  had  all  the  experience  he  wanted 
in  creating,  he  made  man.  Then  he  made  woman.  He  done  a  good  job.  She 
suits  me.  She  fooled  herself  once,  but  why  was  it?  It  was  Monday.  She  had 
a  picked-up  dinner.  Adam  wanted  something  to  finish  off  with.  Eve  suggested 
a  cottage  pudding.  'Oh,  blow  your  cottage  pudding,'  says  Ad.  'How  would 
you  like  a  little  currant  jell?'  says  she.  'No  currant  jell,  if  you  will  excuse  me,' 
says  Ad.  'Well,  say  a  saucerful  of  "tipsy  parson,"  with  a  little  coftee  and  a 
Rhode  Island  pudding?'  'Don't  talk  to  me  about  Rhode  Island  gravies,'  says  Ad. 
'You  make  me  tired.  Wash-day  here,  is  worse  than  the  fodder  we  had  at  the  Gem 
City  liouse  on  our  wedding  tower.  I  haven't  had  a  thing  to  eat  yet  that  was  fit 
to  feed  to  a  shingle  mill.     Give  me  a  fillet  of  elephant's  veal.     Kill  that  little  fat 


212  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

elepliant  that  eats  the  blackberries  night-.  Fix  up  a  httle  Roman  salad.'  he  said, 
'and  put  a  quart  of  Royal  Berton  see  on  ice  for  me.  I  will  take  a  little  plum 
duff  and  one  of  those  apples  that  the  Lord  told  us  not  to  pick.  Do  that  for 
next  wash-day,  Evie,'  says  Ad,  'and  draw  on  me.' 

'"These  was  Adam's  words  as  regular  as  if  he  had  been  reported,  I  reckon, 
and  that's  how  sin  come  into  the  world.  That's  why  man  earns  his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  brow,  and  the  tooth  of  the  serpent  bruises  the  woman's  heel.  Eve 
rustled  around  the  ranch  to  get  a  little  fresh  fruit  for  Ad,  and  lo !  the  Deluge  and 
Crucifixion  and  the  Revelation  and  the  Rebellion  has  growed  out  of  it. 

"Proud  man,  with  nothing  but  an  appetite  and  side-whiskers,  lays  out  to  own 
the  earth  because  Eve  overdrawed  her  account  in  order  to  please  him.  And  now, 
because  man  claims  he  was  created  first  and  did  not  sin  to  amount  to  anything,  he 
thinks  that  he  has  got  the  brains  of  the  civilized  world  and  practically  owns  the 
town. 

"I  talk  withottt  prejudice,  Mr.  Speaker,  because  I  have  no  wife.  I  don't  expect 
to  have  any.  I  have  had  one.  She  is  in  heaven  now.  She  belonged  there  before 
I  married  her,  but  for  some  reason  that  I  can't  find  out  she  was  thrown  in  my  way 
for  a  few  years,  and  that  recollection  puts  a  lump  in  my  throat  yet  as  I  stand  here. 
I  imposed  on  her  because  she  had  been  taught  to  obey  her  husband,  no  matter 
how  much  of  a  dam  phool  he  might  be.  That  was  Laura's  idea  of  Christianity. 
Slie  is  dead  now.  I  drive  the  stage  and  think.  God  help  the  feller  that  has  to 
think  when  he's  got  nothing  to  think  of  but  an  angel  in  the  sky  that  he  ain't  got 
no  claim  on. 

"I've  been  held  up  four  times,  and  I  drove  right  along  past  the  road  agents. 
Drove  rather  slow,  hoping  that  they'd  shoot,  but  they  seemed  kind  of  rattled,  and 
so  waited  for  the  next  stage. 

"It's  d — d  funny  to  me  that  woman  who  suffers  most  in  order  that  man  may 
come  into  the  world,  the  one.  ^Ir.  Speaker,  that  is  first  to  find  and  last  to  forsake 
Him,  first  to  hush  the  cry  of  a  baby  Savior  in  a  Jim  Crow  livery  stable  in  Bethle- 
hem and  last  to  leave  the  cross,  first  at  the  sepulchre  and  last  to  doubt  the  Lord, 
should  be  interested  with  the  souls  and  bodies  of  generations  and  yet  not  know 
enough  to  vote."'     (Applause.) 


CHAPTER  XIV 
STATE  GO\'ERX-^rEXT  IXAUGURAIED 

FIRST  POLITICAL  CONVENTIONS FIRST   STATE  ELECTION — FIRST  STATE  LEGISLATURE 

ELECTION  OF  UNITED  STATES  SENATORS RESIGNATION    OF  GOVERNOR   WARREN 

barber's  ADMINISTRATION — POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF   1892 A  POLITICAL  DIS- 
PUTE  OSBORNE    TAKES    POSSESSION    OF    THE    GOVERNOR'S    OFFICE THE    CARBON 

COUNTY      CASE THE      MOORE      PARDON— OSBORNE's      ADMINISTRATION SECOND 

LEGISLATURE — THE      STATE      SEAL — THE      SEXATORIAL      DEADLOCK COLUMBIAN 

EXPOSITION ELECTION  OF  1894. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  bill  by  Congress,  admitting  Wyoming  into  the 
Union,  Governor  Francis  E.  Warren,  then  governor  of  the  territory,  issued  a  proc- 
lamation calling  an  election  for  state  officers  on  Thursday,  September  ii,  1890,  and 
politicians  began  to  gird  on  their  armor  for  the  fray.  Republican  and  democratic 
conventions  were  held  in  Cheyenne  on  the  nth  of  August. 

The  republican  convention  nominated  Francis  E.  Warren  for  governor ;  Amos 
W.  Barber,  secretary  of  state ;  Charles  W.  Burdick,  auditor  of  state ;  Otto  Gramm, 
treasurer  of  state ;  Stephen  T.  Farwell,  superintendent  of  public  instruction ; 
Willis  \'an  Devanter,  Herman  V.  S.  Groesbeck  and  Asbury  B.  Conaway,  justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court ;  Clarence  D.  Clark,  representative  in  Congress. 

George  W' .  Baxter  was  nominated  for  governor  by  the  democratic  convention ; 
John  S.  Harper,  secretary  of  state;  George  S.  Campbell,  auditor  of  state;  Isaac 
C.  Miller,  treasurer  of  state;  Anthony  V.  Quinn,  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction; Samuel  T.  Corn,  P.  Gad  Bryan  and  Henry  S.  Elliott,  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court;  George  T.  Beck,  representative  in  Congress. 

Both  conventions  also  nominated  judges  for  the  three  judicial  districts,  viz. : 
Republican— Richard  H.  Scott,  of  Crook  County,  First  District ;  John  \\'.  Blake, 
of  Albany  County,  Second  District;  Jesse  Knight,  of  Uinta  County,  Third  Dis- 
trict. Democratic — Frederick  H.  Harvey,  of  Converse  County,  First  District; 
Micah  C.  Saufley,  of  Albany  County,  Second  District;  Douglas  A.  Preston,  of 
Fremont  County,  Third  District. 

The  campaign  that  followed  the  nomination  of  these  tickets  was  enlivened  by 
a  series  of  joint  debates  between  George  W.  Baxter,  the  democratic  candidate  for 
governor,  and  Joseph  M.  Carey,  former  delegate  in  Congress.  Baxter  had 
challenged  Governor  Warren  to  discuss  the  issues  of  the  campaign  in  joint  debate, 
but  the  governor's  health  was  in  such  a  state  that  his  friends  deemed  it  inadvisable 
for  him  to  accept  the  challenge,  and  Mr.  Carey  volunteered  to  become  his  substi- 
tute. At  the  election  the  entire  republican  ticket  was  victorious.  For  governor, 
Warren  received  8.879  votes  and  Baxter  received  7,153.  The  other  candidates 
213 


214  HISTORY  OF  ^^•YOMIXG 

on  the  ticket  were  elected  by  substantially  the  same  vote.  Governor  Warren  and 
the  three  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  took  the  oath  of  office  a  few  minutes  before 
midnight  on  Saturday,  October  ii,  1890.  The  reason  for  the  lateness  of  the 
hour  was  that  Mr.  ^^'arren  was  absent  from  the  city  and  arrived  on  a  belated 
train  from  the  west  at  1 1  40  P.  M.  He  was  met  at  the  station  with  a  carriage  and 
hurried  to  the  capitol,  where  he  qualified  as  the  first  state  governor  of  Wyoming. 
The  vote  had  been  canvassed  earlier  in  the  day  by  Judge  Willis  \'an  Devanter, 
of  the  Supreme  Court ;  John  W.  Meldrum,  territorial  secretary ;  and  Melville 
C.  Brown,  the  last  named  as  president  of  the  constitutional  convention. 

FIRST  ST.\TE  LEGISL.MURE 

Governor  Warren,  immediately  after  his  inauguration,  issued  a  proclamation 
convening  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  at  Cheyenne  on  Wednesday, 
November  12,  1890.  The  Senate  in  the  first  State  Legislature  was  composed  of 
the  following  members :  Albany  County — John  McGill  and  Robert  E.  Fitch ; 
Carbon — Fenimore  Chatterton  and  Frank  H.  ^^'illiams ;  Converse — Albert  D. 
•Chamberlin;  Fremont — J.  D.  Woodruff;  Johnson — John  X.  Tisdale  ;  Laramie — 
Leopold  Kabis,  William  A.  Robins  and  W.  R.  Schnitger ;  Sheridan — John  Mc- 
Cormick ;  Sweetwater — Edward  W.  Griffiths  and  James  B.  Keenan :  Uinta — 
Oliver  D.  Marx  and  John  L.  Russell ;  Weston — Frank  W.  Mondell. 

The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  counties,  were :  Albany — 
George  Gebhardt,  Ora  Haley,  Herman  Langhelett,  Charles  H.  Reals  and  A.  L. 
Sutherland ;  Carbon — Louis  G.  Davis,  John  F.  Hittle,  Louis  Johnson  and  A.  M. 
Startzell;  Converse — Frank  Merrill.  Xat  Baker  and  Charles  E.  Clay;  Crook — 
Oliver  P.  Kellogg  and  Henry  B.  Folsom ;  Fremont — Robert  H.  Hall  and  E.  Amor- 
etti;  Johnson — A.  L.  Coleman  and  H.  W.  Davis;  Laramie — Hugo  E.  Buechner, 
Frank  Bond,  George  East,  Samuel  Merrill,  \\'illiam  H.  Richardson  and  Charles 
W.  Sweet ;  Natrona — W.  E.  Dunn ;  Sheridan — Harrison  Fulmer  and  William 
Brown ;  Sweetwater — Archibald  Blair,  John  S.  Davis  and  Edward  Thorp ;  Uinta — 
Otto  Arnold,  George  M.  Griffin  and  Alma  Peterson.  The  Senate  organized  by 
electing  W.  R.  Schnitger,  of  Cheyenne,  president,  and  Oliver  P.  Kellogg,  of 
Sundance,  was  elected  speaker  of  the  House. 

One  of  the  chief  duties  devolving  upon  this  first  Legislature  was  the  election 
of  two  LTnited  States  senators.  On  November  14,  1890,  Joseph  M.  Carey  was 
elected,  George  W.  Baxter  receiving  the  vote  of  every  democratic  member  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly.  Governor  Warren  was  a  candidate  for  LTnited  Stales  sena- 
tor, but  considerable  opposition  developed  among  the  republican  members  of 
the  Legislature  and  for  a  time  it  looked  as  though  he  might  be  defeated.  The 
fact  that  Warren  and  Carey  both  lived  in  the  City  of  Cheyenne  was  the  cause 
of  some  of  the  opposition,  and  others  claimed  that  Warren  had  promised  when 
a  candidate  for  the  office  of  governor  that  if  elected  he  would  not  be  a  candidate 
for  senator.  Six  ballots  were  taken  from  day  to  day  without  an  election,  but  on 
the  seventh  ballot,  about  2:45  P-  M-.  November  19,  1890,  Warren  received 
twenty-nine  votes,  four  more  than  the  necessary  majority,  and  was  declared 
elected. 

During  the  session  the  following  acts  were  passed:  Fixing  the  terms  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  regulating  the  procedure  and  practice  therein;  defining  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  215 

judicial  districts  and  the  time  of  holding  court  in  each  county  in  the  state;  de- 
claring the  revised  statutes  and  the  session  laws  of  1888  and  1890  to  be  the  laws 
of  the  state  until  repealed.;  authorizing  cities  and  towns  to  borrow  money  and  issue 
bonds  for  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  waterworks;  granting  railroad 
companies  the  right  of  way  over  school  sections  and  other  state  lands;  creating 
the  office  of  inspector  of  coal  mines  and  defining  his  duties;  establishing  a  hospital 
for  miners  as  a  state  charitable  institution ;  and  creating  a  state  board  of  charities 
and  reform. 

After  the  state  election  of  September  11,  1890,  some  question  as  to  its  legality 
arose.  The  election  had  been  called  by  the  governor  and  the  several  boards  of 
county  commissioners,  whose  authority  to  do  so  was  called  into  dispute.  To 
settle  the  matter,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  declaring  the  election  legal,  which 
act  was  approved  on  December  23,  1890. 

By  the  act  of  January  10,  1891,  a  board  of  commissioners  for  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,  to  be  held  at  Chicago  in  1893,  was  authorized.  The  board, 
to  be  known  as  the  "World's  Fair  Managers  of  Wyoming,"  was  to  consist  of  five 
members,  one  of  whom  should  be  the  state  engineer,  one  already  appointed  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  state,  and  the  other  three  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor.  The  sum  of  $30,000  was  appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
making  an  exhibit  of  Wyoming's  products  and  progress  at  the  fair. 

Section  6.  article  I\',  of  the  constitution  of  Wyoming  provides  that  "If  the 
governor  be  impeached,  displaced,  resign  or  die,  or  from  mental  or  physical 
disease  or  otherwise  become  incapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  his  office,  or 
be  absent  from  the  state,  the  secretary  of  state  shall  act  as  governor  until  the 
vacancy  is  filled  or  the  disability  removed." 

The  election  of  Governor  Warren  to  the  United  States  Senate,  with  his  resig- 
nation and  consequent  vacancy  in  the  office  of  governor,  brought  this  subject 
prominently  before  the  Legislature.  Members  asked  themselves  the  question. 
"What  if  the  secretary  of  state  should  also  become  unable,  through  some  cause, 
to  perform  the  duties  of  governor?"  By  the  act  of  December  24,  1890,  ample 
provision  was  made  for  such  a  contingency,  should  it  ever  arise.  This  act  provides 
that  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  office  of  governor  shall  be  exercised 
and  assumed  by  the  secretary  of  state,  as  set  forth  in  the  constitution,  and  after 
him,  successively,  by  the  president  of  the  Senate,  the  speaker  of  the  House  (at  the 
last  session) ,  the  auditor  of  state  and  the  treasurer  of  state. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  session  on  January  10,  1891,  Representative  Baker, 
of  Converse  County,  presented  Speaker  Kellogg  with  a  handsome  gavel,  upon 
which  was  inscribed:  "Presented  to  O.  P.  Kellogg,  Speaker  of  the  first  Wyoming 
Legislature,  1890."  Representative  Frank  Bond,  of  Laramie  County,  presented 
Mr.  Kellogg  with  a  group  picture  of  all  the  members  of  the  House. 

barber's  .\dministration 

Governor  \\'arren  resigned  from  the  office  of  governor  on  November  24,  1890, 
five  days  after  he  was  elected  United  States  senator  by  the  Legislature,  and  the 
same  day  Amos  W.  Barber,  secretary  of  state,  became  acting  governor. 

Amos  W.  Barber  was  born  at  Doylestown,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  April 
26.    1861.     He  graduated   in  both  the   literary   and  medical   departments  of   the 


216  HISTORY  OF  WYO:\IIXG 

University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1883  and  about  two  years  later  came  to  \\'yoming 
as  surgeon  in  charge  of  the  military  hospital  at  Fort  Fetterman.  Soon  after  his 
arrival  at  Fort  Fetterman  he  was  made  acting  assistant  surgeon  in  the  United  States 
army  and  accompanied  General  Crook's  expedition  to  Arizona.  He  was  then  as- 
signed to  duty  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell.  After  a  short  service  there  he  resigned  from 
the  army  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Cheyenne.  As  a  republican 
Doctor  Barber  took  an  active  part  in  political  afifairs  and  in  1890  he  was  nominated 
by  his  party  for  secretary  of  state.  Fie  was  elected  at  the  first  state  election  on 
Sejitember  11,  1890,  and  when  Governor  Warren  resigned  to  accept  a  seat  in  the 
United  States  Senate  he  became  acting  governor.  He  served  in  that  capacity 
until  the  inauguration  of  Gov.  John  E.  Osborne  on  January  2,  1893.  While  acting 
as  governor  of  the  state  he  married,  in  1892,  Miss  Amelia  Kent,  daughter  of 
Thomas  A.  Kent  of  Cheyenne.  In  the  Spanish-American  war  he  again  served  as 
assistant  surgeon  in  the  United  States  army,  after  which  he  practiced  in  Cheyenne 
until  his  death  in  191 5.  Governor  Barber  was  a  thirty-second  degree  ]\Iason,  a 
Knight  Templar  and  a  member  of  the  Cheyenne  Lodge  of  Elks. 

POLITICAL  C.\MP.\IGX  OF  1892 

Upon  Governor  Barber  devolved  the  duty  of  fully  inaugurating  the  state 
government.  Numerous  appointments  were  to  be  made  and,- being  a  republican  and 
a  partisan,  the  acting  governor  naturally  selected  such  men  for  his  appointees 
as  would  strengthen  the  position  of  his  party.  In  such  cases  there  is  always  likely 
to  be  some  grumbling,  but  in  the  main  everything  proceeded  without  serious  fric- 
tion until  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1892. 

In  that  campaign  the  democrats  "opened  the  ball''  by  holding  a  state  convention 
at  Rock  Springs  on  ^^'ednesday,  July  27th,  and  nominating  the  following  candi- 
dates for  the  state  offices,  etc..  John  E.  Osborne,  for  governor;  Henry  A.  ColTeen, 
for  congressman ;  Gibson  Clark,  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  Samuel  T.  Corn. 
John  T.  Norton  and  P.  J.  Ouealy,  for  presidential  electors. 

The  republican  state  convention  was  seld  at  Laramie  on  Wednesday,  Septem- 
ber 14,  1892.  Edward  Ivinson  was  nominated  for  governor  on  the  tenth  ballot; 
Clarence  D.  Clark  was  renominated  for  congressman ;  Carroll  H.  Pannelee.  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  John  H.  Barron,  John  C.  Dyer  and  William  H. 
Kilpatrick,  for  presidential  electors. 

In  1892  the  people's  party,  or  "populists,"  as  they  were  commonly  called,  was 
particularly  active  in  several  of  the  western  states.  Just  a  week  after  the  repub- 
lican state  convention,  the  populists  met  at  Douglas  for  the  purpose  of  nominating 
a  state  ticket.  Some  of  the  democratic  leaders  in  the  state  proposed  a  fusion 
ticket,  agreeing  that  if  the  people's  party  would  make  no  nominations  for  the  state 
ofifices  the  democratic  party  would  withdraw  its  candidates  for  presidental  electors 
and  substitute  those  selected  by  the  Douglas  convention.  The  arrangement  was 
consummated  and  the  democratic  electors  gave  way  to  S.  E.  Seeley,  William 
Hinton  and  William  R.  Richardson.  On  the  other  hand  the  populists  supported 
the  democratic  state  ticket,  which  insured  the  election  of  Governor  Osborne. 

The  prohibitionists  nominated  William  Brown  for  governor;  Ella  G.  Becker, 
Oscar  S.  Jackson  and  A.  N.  Page,  presidential  electors,  but  made  no  nominations 
for  representative  in  Congress  and  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.     The  election 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  217 

was  held  on  November  8,  1892,  and  resulted  in  the  election  of  the  fusion  candi- 
dates. Osborne's  majority  for  governor  was  1,781,  that  of  Clark  and  CotYeen  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  representative  in  Congress  was  slightly  less. 

The  defeat  of  the  republican  ticket  through  the  coalition  of  the  democrats 
and  populists  engendered  some  ill  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  the  republi- 
can party  in  Wyoming,  and  when  a  delay  of  a  month  occurred,  immediately 
following  the  election,  without  the  vote  being  canvassed  and  the  result  announced, 
charges  were  made  that  fraud  was  about  to  be  perpetrated  upon  the  people 
of  the  state.  About  half  past  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  December  2,  1892, 
Governor-elect  Osborne,  accompanied  by  Daniel  W.  Gill,  a  notary  public,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  capitol,  where  ]\Ir.  Gill  administered  the  oath  prescribed  by  the 
constitution  and  declared  John  E.  Osborne  duly  qualified  as  governor  of  the 
State  of  Wyoming.  He  then  tendered  a  copy  of  the  oath  to  the  clerk  in  office  of 
the  secretary  of  state,  John  W.  Meldrum,  but  Mr.  IMeldrum  refused  to  accept  it 
and  Mr.  Gill  left  it  lying  upon  the  desk. 

After  taking  the  oath,  ]\Ir.  Osborne  took  possession  of  the  governor's  office 
without  opposition,  and  immediately  issued  the  following  proclamation : 

"In  obedience  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  I,  John 
E.  Osborne,  do  hereby  make  proclamation  that,  having  been  duly  elected  by  the 
qualified  voters  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  to  the  office  of  governor  of  the  state 
to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Francis  E.  \\'arren,  heretofore 
elected  and  qualified  as  governor,  and  there  being  no  board  of  state  canvassers 
authorized  to  canvass  the  returns  and  declare  the  result  of  said  election  for  gover- 
nor, and  the  returns  from  the  several  boards  of  county  canvassers  now  on  file  in 
the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  showing  that  I  have  been  unquestionably  elected 
to  the  office  of  governor,  I  have  duly  and  legally  qualified  as  governor  of  the  state 
and  am  now  said  governor,  and  I  do  call  upon  all  true  and  loyal  citizens  of  the 
state  to  respect  my  authority  as  to  such  office  and  to  aid  me  in  enforcing  the  laws 
and  seeing  that  justice  in  all  things  is  done. 

"Done  at  the  office  of  the  governor,  at  Cheyenne,  capital  of  the  state,  on  the 
2d  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1892. 

"John  E.  Osborne, 
"Governor  of  the  State  of  Wyoming." 
To  say  that  the  proclamation  caused  some  excitement  in  political  circles  is  but 
a  simple  statement  of  fact,  as  no  such  move  on  the  part  of  the  governor-elect  had 
been  anticipated.  \Mien  Acting  Governor  Barber  arrived  at  the  capitol  he  found 
Mr.  Osborne  installed  in  the  office  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the  governor,  ap- 
parently with  no  intention  of  vacating  it.  That  afternoon  Mr.  Barber  issued  his 
proclamation,  declaring  the  constitution  of  the  state  made  it  his  duty  to  act  as  gov- 
ernor until  the  vacancy  was  filled  by  an  election ;  that  the  election  held  on  Novem- 
ber 8,  1892,  was  not  completed  until  the  vote  had  been  legally  canvassed  by  lawful 
authority  and  the  result  declared  in  the  manner  provided  by  law.  He  then  quoted 
the  law  on  the  subject,  to  wit : 

"When  the  state  canvassing  board  shall  have  canvassed  the  vote  of  the  election, 
as  aforesaid,  and  in  the  manner  provided  by  law  declared  a  person  of  such  election 
to  be  elected  as  governor,  such  person  shall  within  thirty  days  after  such  canvass, 
or  as  soon  thereafter  as  possible,  quahfy  and  assume  the  duties  and  powers  of 
governor." 


218  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  proclamation  then  went  on  to  say  the  returns  of  Converse  and  Fremont 
counties  had  not  been  received  by  the  state  board  of  canvassers  and  declared  John 
E.  Osborne  to  be  a  usurper. 

Mr.  Osborne  then  sent  notices  in  writing  to  Amos  W.  Barber,  secretary  of 
state;  Charles  W.  Burdick,  auditor  of  state;  and  Otto  Gramm,  treasurer  of  state, 
to  meet  in  the  governor's  ofifice  at  lO  o'clock  A.  M.  on  Monday,  December  5,  1892, 
for  the  purpose  of  canvassing  the  vote.  This  order  was  ignored  by  the  state 
officials,  who  fixed  upon  Thursday,  December  8th  for  the  canvass  and  so  notified 
the  chairman  of  the  republican  and  democratic  state  central  committees. 

Toward  evening  on  December  2,  1892,  following  the  taking  of  the  oath  of 
office  by  Governor  Osborne,  some  of  his  friends  carried  his  supper  to  him  in  the 
governor's  office,  and,  as  the  capitol  building  was  not  then  lighted  by  electricity 
as  at  present,  a  supply  of  candles  was  also  provided  that  the  rooms  might  be  kept 
lighted  during  the  night.  Mayor  Bresnahan,  of  Cheyenne,  detailed  two  policemen 
to  remain  on  guard  at  the  capitol  during  the  night,  to  prevent  disorder  or  violence. 
Nothing  unusual  occurred  during  the  night  and  Saturday  morning  dawned  with 
i\Ir.  Osborne  still  in  possession  of  the  governor's  rooms  in  the  capitol. 

That  day  ^Ir.  Osborne  issued  a  second  proclamation  to  the  people  of  Wyo-. 
ming,  in  which  he  set  forth  that  Amos  W.  Barber,  as  secretary  of  state  claimed 
that  Osborne's  action  had  been  contrary  to  law ;  that  the  said  Barber  had  persist- 
ently refused  to  act  with  the  other  state  officials  in  canvassing  the  vote;  that  there 
was  in  fact  no  statute  providing  for  the  canvass  of  the  vote  for  governor,  etc.  In 
this  proclamation  Mr.  Osborne  used  some  rather  strong  language,  when  he  said : 

"There  is  ample  evidence  to  convince  me  that  a  conspiracy  has  been  entered 
into  between  a  certain  aspirant  for  the  United  States  Senate  and  certain  of  the 
county  clerks  in  the  State  of  Wyoming  to  deprive  lawfully  elected  members  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  offices  to  which  they  were  elected,  and  it  is  necessary  for  the 
full  success  of  such  conspiracy  that  a  person  friendly  to  it  shall  hold  the  office 
of  governor  at  the  time  the  canvass  is  made,"  etc. 

He  referred  to  Barber  as  a  usurper  and  again  called  upon  the  people  of  the 
state  to  assist  in  enforcing  the  laws,  pledging  himself  "that  the  power  vested  in 
the  governor  shall  only  be  exercised  by  me  to  execute  faithfully  the  laws,  to  defeat 
attempted  frauds  upon  the  people  and  to  maintain  the  honor,  dignity  and  peace 
of  the  state." 

THE  C.\RBON    COCXTY  C.\.SE 

The  state  officers — Barber,  Burdick  and  Gramm — began  the  canvass  of  the 
vote  on  Thursday,  December  8th,  according  to  the  notices  sent  to  the  chairmen 
of  the  state  central  committees.  When  Carbon  County  was  reached  it  was  found 
that  two  sets  of  returns  had  been  made,  one  by  the  county  clerk  and  the  other 
by  the  two  justices  who  constituted  the  majority  of  the  county  board  of  can- 
vassers. The  state  board  of  canvassers  voted  to  accept  the  returns  of  the  county 
clerk  and  reject  the  report  of  the  justices.  On  December  10.  1892,  .\.  C.  Camp- 
bell and  T.  :\I.  Patterson,  attorneys  for  S.  B.  Bennett  and  Harry  A.  Chapman, 
two  candidates  for  representatives  from  Carbon  County  who  were  thus  rejected 
bv  the  state  board,  went  before  Chief  Justice  Groesbeck  and  asked  for  a  writ 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  219 

of   alternative  mandamus   to   compel   the   state   officials   to   canvass   the    returns 
submitted  by  the  majority  of  the  county  board. 

Judge  Groesbeck  at  first  took  the  view  that  the  court  had  no  power  to  grant 
such  a  writ  during  vacation,  but  it  was  finally  issued  and  made  returnable  at 
2  o'clock  P.  M.  on  the  15th.  The  case  was  then  argued  by  Campbell  and  Patter- 
son, and  on  the  31st  Judge  Conaway  rendered  the  decision  granting  the  writ  of 
mandamus.  Bennett  and  Chapman  were  thus  gi\en  their  seats  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  the  legislative  session  which  began  on  January  10,  1893. 

THE    MOORE   P.\RDOX 

There  was  still  another  complication  growing  out  of  the  dispute  over  the 
governorship  and  the  canvass  of  the  votes  cast  at  the  state  election.  On  December 
28,  1892,  Acting  Governor  Barber  granted  a  pardon  to  James  Moore,  who  had 
been  convicted  of  grand  larceny  in  May,  1892,  and  sentenced  to  serve  three  years 
in  the  penitentiary.  George  L.  Briggs,  warden  of  the  penitentiary,  refused  to 
recognize  the  pardon,  on  the  grounds  that  Barber  was  not  the  lawful  governor 
of  the  state  and  had  no  authority  to  grant  pardons.  Habeas  corpus  proceedings 
were  then  brought  by  Moore's  lawyers  to  compel  Briggs  to  release  the  prisoner, 
and  the  Supreme  Court  decided  in  their  favor.  This  recognition  of  Barber 
as  the  governor  of  the  state  resulted  in  Governor  Osborne  again  taking  the  oath 
of  office  on  January  2,  1893,  when  he  was  permitted  to  take  possession  of  the 
governor's  office  without  opposition.  Gibson  Clark  was  sworn  in  as  associate 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  the  same  time. 

THE  cattlemen's  RAID 

Acting  Governor  Barber's  administration  was  made  memorable  by  the  most 
regrettable  event  in  Wyoming  history — the  notorious  "Cattlemen's  Raid" — the 
details  of  which  are  given  in  another  chapter  of  this  work.  This  episode  so 
aroused  the  citizens  of  Wyoming  that  its  immediate  efifect  was  to  revolutionize 
the  politics  of  the  state.  Although  this  lawless  expedition  was  in  no  sense  polit- 
ical, the  fact  that  it  was  approved  and  abetted  by  a  republican  administration 
led  to  the  electoral  complications  described  in  connection  with  the  election  of 
Governor  Osborne  and  the  unpleasant  events  immediately  following  that  election. 

Osborne's  .\dmini.stration 

John  E.  Osborne,  second  governor  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  was  born  at 
\\'estport,  X.  Y.,  June  9,  1858.  He  received  a  high  school  education  and  was 
then  apprenticed  to  a  druggist  in  \'ermont.  While  employed  in  the  drug  store 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine  and  in  1880  he  received  the  degree  of  M.  D. 
from  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Vermont.  Soon  after  receiving 
his  degree  he  decided  to  follow  Horace  Greeley's  advice  and  "Go  W'est."  Select- 
ing Rawlins,  Wyo.,  as  his  location,  he  there  entered  upon  the  general  practice 
of  medicine  and  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad. 
In  1882  he  established  a  wholesale  and  retail  drug  house.  Two  years  later  he 
embarked  in  the  live  stock  business  and  in  a  few  years  had  the  reputation  of  being 
the  largest  individual  sheep  owner  in  the  state. 


220  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

It  was  not  long  after  he  located  at  Rawlins  until  ]\Ir.  Osborne  came  to  be 
recognized  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  democratic  party  in  the  state.  He  was 
elected  as  the  second  mayor  of  Rawlins  after  the  city  was  incorporated;  served 
a  term  in  the  Territorial  Legislature;  was  one  of  the  penitentiary  commissioners 
in  1888;  was  chosen  an  alternate  delegate  to  the  democratic  national  convention 
in  1892,  and  the  same  year  was  nominated  by  his  party  for  governor  of  Wyoming. 
At  the  close  of  his  term  as  governor  he  declined  a  renomination  and  in  1896 
was  elected  representative  in  Congress,  defeating  Frank  W.  Mondell.  In  1898 
he  was  made  vice  chairman  of  the  democratic  national  Congressional  committee 
and  had  charge  of  the  national  campaign  in  that  year.  Since  1900  he  has  been 
Wyoming's  member  of  the  democratic  national  committee,  making  him  one  of 
the  oldest  members  in  point  of  service  on  that  committee.  He  was  chairman 
of  the  democratic  state  committee  in  1910,  which  conducted  the  campaign  that 
resulted  in  the  election  of  Joseph  M.  Carey  as  governor  and  Frank  L.  Houx  as 
secretary  of  state.  In  March,  1913,  President  Wilson  appointed  ]Mr.  Osborne 
first  assistant  secretary  of  state,  which  position  he  held  during  Mr.  Wilson's 
first  term,  when  he  resigned  to  give  his  attention  to  his  large  business  interests, 
particularly  the  Osborne  Live  Stock  Company,  of  which  he  is  president.  One 
of  the  leading  republican  newspapers  of  W'yoming  recently  said  of  Governor 
Osborne  : 

"There  are  few  things  in  this  world  finer  than  consistency — and  few  so  rare 
in  politics.  That  is  why  any  reference  to  Hon.  John  E.  Osborne  of  Rawlins 
must  be  a  refreshing  one,  for  in  spite  of  Mr.  Osborne's  long  and  highly  useful 
career  in  many  public  ofifices  and  the  faithful  service  he  had  done  his  nation  and 
his  state  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  these  offices — in  spite  of  all  these,  any 
reference  to  Mr.  Osborne  at  once  calls  to  mind  his  unswerving  steadfastness  to 
the  democratic  party ;  the  sterling  loyalty  he  has  shown  in  the  times  and  the 
years  when  democracy  was  not  in  the  ascendency." 

SECOND  LEGISL.\TURE 

The  second  State  Legislature  was  convened  at  Cheyenne  on  Tuesday,  January 
10,  1893.  Frank  W.  Mondell  of  Newcastle  was  elected  president  of  the  Senate 
and  L.  C.  Tidball  of  Sheridan  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House.  In  his  mes- 
sage Governor  Osborne  recommended  a  thorough  revision  of  the  election  laws ; 
some  "systematic  and  organized  effort,  under  the  official  sanction  of  the  state,  to 
encourage  immigration" ;  more  stringent  laws  for  the  protection  of  game  animals 
and  birds;  the  completion  of  the  penitentiary  at  Rawlins,  upon  which  nearly 
thirty-two  thousand  dollars  had  already  been  expended;  and  a  change  in  the 
description  of  the  state  seal  by  substituting  the  words  "live  stock''  for  "cattle." 
In  discussing  the  necessity  for  better  game  laws  and  their  more  rigid  enforce- 
ment, he  said :  "I  am  informed  that  50,000  ^jounds  of  deer,  elk  and  antelope 
were  shipped  from  Rawlins  alone  during  the  past  year." 

THE  ST.\TE  SE.\L 

A  "Great  Seal  of  State"  for  Wyoming  was  first  authorized  by  an  act  passed 
at  the  first  session  of  the  State  Legislature,  approved  on  January  10,  1891.     It 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  221 

provided  for  a  circle  2}^  inches  in  diameter,  in  the  lower  half  of  which  was 
represented  a  valley  in  the  center,  with  cattle  drinking  at  a  stream;  a  range  of 
mountains  on  the  left  and  an  oil  derrick  on  the  right ;  the  whole  surrounded 
by  a  ribbon  scroll,  on  the  top  of  which  was  a  platform;  on  the  platform  was 
the  figure  of  a  woman,  with  her  right  arm  extended  pointing  to  a  star  within 
which  were  the  figures  "44,"  indicating  that  Wyoming  was  the  forty-fourth 
state  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  Upon  the  left  of  the  woman  were  the  figures 
1869,  and  on  the  right  the  date  of  admission,  1890. 

Several  designs  were  submitted  and  the  one  presented  by  Hugo  E.  Buechner, 
representative  from  Laramie  County,  was  selected.  The  first  seal  was  com- 
pleted and  turned  over  to  the  state  about  the  ist  of  March,  1891.  It  was  evi- 
dently unsatisfactory,  judging  from  the  following  sarcastic  editorial  which 
appeared  in  the  Cheyenne  Leader  of  March  5.  1891  : 

"Well,  there's  considerable  of  an  uproar.  The  female  figure  which  was 
selected  to  adorn  the  new  state  seal  has  lost  her  clothes.  She  stands  upon  what 
is  intended  to  represent  a  platform,  it  is  believed,  but  in  reality  resembles  a  large 
shallow  pan  or  beer  vat,  in  which  the  lady  might,  without  much  stretch  of  the 
imagination,  be  credited  with  soaking  her  corns.  From  each  wrist  depends  \vhat 
at  first  glance  appears  to  be  several  links  of  sausage,  which  critics  say  are  the 
broken  links  of  a  chain." 

The  figure  represented  upon  the  design  submitted  by  Representative  Buechner 
was  draped  in  classic  robes.  That  he  was  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  seal  as 
it  appeared  when  finished  goes  without  saying.  When  Governor  Osborne  recom- 
mended the  slight  change  in  his  message  to  the  second  Legislature,  that  body 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  create  practically  a  new  seal.  This  time 
the  description  was  made  so  plain  in  the  act  that  there  was  slight  possibility  of 
repeating  the  mistake.  The  act,  which  was  approved  on  February  8,  1893,  reads 
as  follows : 

"Section  i.  There  shall  be  a  great  seal  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  which  shall 
be  of  the  following  design,  viz.:  A  circle  2]/^  inches  in  diameter,  on  the  outer 
rim  or  edge  of  which  shall  be  engraven  the  words,  'Great  Seal  of  the  State  of 
Wyoming,'  and  the  design  shall  conform  substantially  to  the  following  description: 

"A  pedestal  showing  on  the  front  thereof  an  eagle  resting  upon  a  shield, 
said  shield  to  have  engraven  thereon  a  star  and  the  figures  '44,'  being  the  num- 
ber of  Wyoming  in  the  order  of  admission  to  statehood.  Standing  upon  the 
pedestal  shall  be  the  draped  figure  of  a  woman,  modeled  after  the  statue  of  the 
'Victory'  in  the  Louvre,  from  whose  wrists  shall  hang  links  of  a  broken  chain, 
and  holding  in  her  right  hand  a  staff,  from  the  top  of  which  shall  float  a  banner 
with  the  words  'Equal  Rights'  thereon,  all  suggesting  the  political  position  of 
w^oman  in  this  state.  On  either  side  of  the  pedestal,  and  standing  at  the  base 
thereof,  shall  be  male  figures  typifying  the  live  stock  and  mining  industries  of 
Wyoming.  Behind  the  pedestal,  and  in  the  background,  shall  be  two  pillars, 
each  supporting  a  lighted  lamp,  signifying  the  light  of  knowledge.  Around 
each  pillar  shall  be  a  scroll  with  the  following  words  thereon :  On  the  right  of 
the  central  figure  the  words  'Live  Stock'  and  'Grain.'  and  on  the  left  the  words 
'Alines'  and  'Oil.'  At  the  base  of  the  pedestal,  and  in  front  shall  appear  the 
figures  '1869-1890,"  the  former  date  signifying  the  organization  of  the  Territory 


222  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  \\'yoniing,  and  the  latter  the  date  of  its  admission  to  statehood.  A  fac  simile 
of  the  abo\e  described  seal  is  here  represented  and  is  made  a  part  of  this  act. 

"Section  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  its 
passage." 

The  seal  authorized  by  this  act  is  still  in  use  by  the  state.  Among  the  other 
acts  passed  at  the  second  session  was  one  redistricting  the  state  for  judicial 
purposes :  another  authorized  the  completion  of  the  penitentiary  at  Rawlins ; 
and  a  memorial  to  Congress  asked  that  body  to  pass  an  act  remonetizing  silver. 

THE   SEN.\TORI.\L   DE.\DLOCK 

When  Joseph  AI.  Carey  and  Francis  E.  Warren  were  elected  United  States 
senators  in  1890,  the  latter  drew  the  short  term  and  the  election  of  his  successor 
formed  part  of  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  of  1893.  Twenty-five  votes  were 
required  to  elect,  and  the  political  complexion  of  the  Legislature  was  such  that 
no  party  could  count  on  a  clear  majority  of  the  votes.  Senator  Warren  was  a 
candidate  for  reelection,  but  there  was  some  opposition  to  him  within  the  lines 
of  his  own  party.  The  several  populists  in  the  Legislature  tried  to  control  the 
balance  of  power  and  force  the  election  of  a  member  of  that  party  to  the  Senate. 
The  first  ballot  was  taken  on  January  24,  1893,  when  sixteen  candidates  were 
voted  for.  ^^'arren  (republican)  receiving  eight  votes;  Kuykendall  (democrat), 
se^•en  votes;  and  Tidball  (populist),  six  votes,  the  other  candidates  receiving 
each  a  smaller  number. 

On  the  26th  Warren  received  thirteen  votes,  the  highest  number  he  received 
at  any  time  during  the  session,  the  balloting  continuing  from  day  to  day  without 
results.  New  candidates  were  introduced  from  time  to  time,  in  the  hope  that 
a  "dark  horse"  might  win  the  race.  The  populist  members  of  the  Legislature 
held  a  caucus  and  unanimously  nominated  Mrs.  I.  S.  Bartlett  as  their  candidate, 
this  being  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  L^nited  States  that  a  woman  was 
nominated  by  a  legislative  caucus  for  United  States  senator.  Throughout  the 
deadlock  the  populists  gave  Mrs.  Bartlett  their  united  vote.  On  February  8th 
Stephen  W.  Downey  received  twenty-one  votes,  and  on  the  15th  Gen.  J.  C. 
Thompson  received  twenty-four,  only  one  short  of  the  necessary  majority.  This 
vote  was  followed  immediately  by  an  adjournment  of  the  joint  session,  and  before 
the  next  ballot  was  taken  soine  sort  of  a  combination  was  formed  to  prevent 
Thompson's  election.  The  Legislature  adjourned  without  electing  a  senator,  and 
on  February  23,  1893,  Governor  Osborne  appointed  Asahel  C.  Beckwith  of 
Uinta  County  for  the  term  beginning  on  March  4,  1893,  or  until  the  Legislature 
sliould  elect.  The  United  States  Senate  refused  to  recognize  the  appointment, 
however,  and  Wyoming  had  but  one  senator  in  Congress  until  the  next  session 
cf  the  Legislature. 

COLUMI!I.\N    EXPOSITION 

As  already  stated,  the  Legislature  of  1891  authorized  the  appointment  of  a 
board  of  World's  Fair  managers  and  appropriated  $30,000  for  an  exhibit  of 
Wyoming's  products  and  resources  at  Chicago  in  1893.  El  wood  Mead,  state 
engineer,  was  made  a  member  of  the  board,  ex-officio,  and  the  other  members 


HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG  223 

appointed  by  the  governor  were :  John  ]\IcCormick,  of  Sheridan ;  Frank  O. 
Williams,  of  Saratoga;  Louis  D.  Ricketts,  of  Cheyenne;  and  John  S.  Harper, 
of  Sundance.  The  national  commissioners  from  Wyoming  were  A.  C.  Beckwith 
and  Henry  G.  Hay,  with  John  McCormick  and  Asa  S.  Mercer  as  alternates. 

Mrs.  I.  S.  Bartlett,  of  Cheyenne,  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  board  of 
lady  managers  by  the  United  States,  and  the  members  of  the  board  appointed 
by  the  state  commissioners  were :  Mrs.  F.  H.  Harrison,  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Hale, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Stone  and  Mrs.  G.  M.  Huntington. 

At  the  exposition  the  state  made  its  greatest  effort  in  the  department  of 
mining,  showing  samples  of  gold  and  silver  ore.  lead,  oil,  asphalt,  iron,  coal  and 
mica.  In  the  exhibit  was  a  solid  block  of  asphalt  as  large  as  an  ordinary  freight 
car.  An  interesting  feature  of  the  Wyoming  exhibit  was  an  illustration  of  the 
method  of  placer  mining,  using  gold-bearing  gravel  taken  from  the  placers  of 
the  state.  A  fine  collection  of  the  fossil  remains  of  the  state — fossils  of  birds, 
reptiles,  etc. — was  also  shown,  as  well  as  petrifactions  from  the  submerged  forest 
near  Rawlins. 

Thirty-two  prizes  were  awarded  the  state  on  its  mineral  display,  and  in  the 
agricultural  exhibit  highest  mention  was  given  to  wheat  and  potatoes,  besides 
the  twenty-two  medals  awarded  on  wheat,  barley,  buckwheat,  flax,  native  grasses, 
etc.     In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  of  1897,  Governor  Richards  said: 

"The  display  of  mineral  and  agricultural  products  made  by  \\'yoming  at  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  was  in  every  way  creditable  to  the  state.  The 
handsome  photographs  of  scenery  have  been  distributed  in  the  various  offices 
of  the  state  capitol,  while  a  large  portion  of  the  mineral  exhibit  has  been  stored 
away  in  the  basement  of  the  statehouse.  The  principal  part  of  the  agricultural 
exhibit  was  turned  over  to  the  authorities  of  the  State  L'niversity,  with  the 
agreement  that  it  should  be  carefully  preserved  until  such  time  as  the  Legislature 
should  make  arrangements  for  its  final  disposition.'' 

Considering  that  Wyoming  was  a  state  only  three  years  old.  with  its  natural 
resources  practically  untouched,  the  exhibit  was  one  that  attracted  wide  attention 
and  it  served  a  good  purpose  in  rendering  the  rest  of  the  world  acquainted  with 
the  vast  mineral  and  agricultural  possibilities  of  a  region  that  only  a  few  years 
before  had  been  marked  on  the  maps  of  the  l"nited  States  as  the  "Great  American 
Desert." 

ELECTION  OF  I  894 

The  political  campaign  of  1894  was  opened  by  the  republican  party,  which 
held  its  state  convention  at  Casper  on  the  first  day  of  August.  \\'illiam  A. 
Richards,  of  Red  Bank,  was  nominated  for  governor;  Charles  W.  Burdick.  of 
Saratoga,  secretary  of  state;  William  O.  Owen,  of  Laramie,  auditor  of  state; 
Henry  G.  Hay,  of  Cheyenne,  treasurer  of  state  ;  Charles  X.  Potter,  of  Cheyenne, 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  Estelle  Reel,  of  Cheyenne,  superintendent  of  public 
instruction ;  Frank  W.  Mondell,  of  Newcastle,  representative  in  Congress. 

The  platform  indorsed  the  McKinley  taritT  bill ;  declared  allegiance  to  the  cardi- 
nal principles  of  the  party ;  favored  liberal  pensions  to  veterans  of  the 
Civil  war,  and  the  establishment  of  compulsory  courts  of  arbitration ;  urged  the 
free  coinage  of  both  gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  ;  and  declared 


224  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

that  "the  history  of  the  last  nineteen  months  has  again  demonstrated  the  unfitness 
of  the  democratic  party  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  nation,"  etc. 

On  August  8,  1894,  the  democratic  state  convention  met  at  Cheyenne  and 
nominated  the  following  ticket:  W.  H.  Holiday,  of  Laramie,  governor;  Daniel 
^^^  Cill,  of  Cheyenne,  secretary  of  state ;  James  M.  Fenwick,  of^  Albany  County, 
auditor  of  state;  John  Stone,  of  Evanston,  treasurer  of  state;  Samuel  T.  Corn, 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court :  A.  J.  Matthews,  of  Rock  Springs,  superintendent 
of  public  instruction;  and  H.  A.  Coffeen  was  nominated  for  representati\-e  in 
Congress. 

The  democratic  platform  adopted  by  the  convention  indorsed  the  national 
platform  of  1892;  expressed  confidence  in  President  Cleveland  and  indorsed 
his  administration;  declared  in  favor  of  a  further  reduction  in  duties  upon  im- 
ports; recommended  legislation  authorizing  the  election  of  United  States  senators 
bs'  popular  vote ;  commended  the  administration  of  Governor  Osborne ;  favored 
a  "thorough  overhauling  of  the  assessment  and  revenue  system  and  the  equaliza- 
tion of  taxes ;"  and  declared  in  favor  of  the  remonetization  of  silver  on  the  old 
ratio  of  sixteen  to  one. 

This  Acar  the  populists  and  democrats  failed  to  unite  on  a  fusion  ticket.  A 
populist  cnn\ention  assembled  at  Casper  on  August  9,  1894,  and  nominated  L. 
C.  Tidball,  of  Sheridan,  for  governor;  D.  \V.  Elliott,  of  Laramie  County,  secre- 
tary of  state;  J.  F.  Pierce,  of  Sweetwater  County,  auditor  of  state;  W.  F.  Wil- 
liams, of  Johnson  County,  treasurer  of  state ;  W.  T.  O'Connor,  of  Laramie 
County,  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  Mrs.  J.  R.  Rollman,  of  Carbon  County, 
.superintendent  of  public  instruction  ;  S.  E.  Seeley,  of  .\lbany  County,  representa- 
tive in  Congress. 

The  principal  planks  in  the  populist  platform  were  those  declaring  in  favor 
of  the  free  coinage  of  both  gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  and  the 
denunciation  of  the  use  of  Federal  troops  in  the  strike  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  in  the  summer  of  1894. 

The  election  was  held  on  November  6,  1894,  and  resulted  in  the  election  of  the 
entire  republican  ticket.  Miss  Reel's  plurality  for  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction was  4,458,  the  largest  received  by  any  candidate.  Governor  Richards' 
plurality  was  3,184,  and  the  Legislature  contained  forty-eight  republicans,  six 
democrats  and  one  populist.  Governor  Richards  was  inaugurated  on  January 
7,  189s,  and  the  administration  of  Governor  Osborne  came  to  an  end. 


CHAPTER  XV 
FROM  RICHARDS  TO  BROOKS 

W.   A.  RICHARDS'  ADMINISTRATION THIRD  LEGISLATURE — VALUE  OE  PUBLIC    BUILD- 
INGS  REVISING    THE    STATUTES — STATE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY — MEMORIALS    TO 

CONGRESS POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1896 FOURTH  LEGISLATURE TRANS- 
MISSISSIPPI  EXPOSITION CAMPAIGN  OF  1898 DE  FOREST  RICHARDS*  ADMINIS- 
TRATION— FIFTH         LEGISLATURE — OUTLAWRY ELECTION         OF          IQOO SIXTH 

LEGISLATURE — GOVERNOR'S    RESIDENCE — PAN-AM  ElUC AX    EXPOSITION ELECTION 

OF     1902 SEVENTH     LEGISLATURE LOUISIANA     PURCHASE     EXPOSITION CHAT- 

TERTON's    ADMINISTRATION — CAMPAIGN    OF     I9O4 BROOKS    .ADMINISTRATION — 

EIGHTH    LEGISLATURE LEWIS  AND   CLARK    EXPOSITION — ELECTION    OF    I906. 

WILLIAM   A.   RICHARDS'   ADMINISTRATION 

William  A.  Richards,  who  was  elected  governor  of  Wyoming  in  1894.  was 
born  at  Hazel  Green,  Wis..  March  9,  1849.  He  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  state  and  at  Galena,  111.  In  1889  he  was  appointed  surveyor- 
general  of  Wyoming  and  held  the  position  until  1893.  The  next  year  he  was 
nominated  for  governor  by  the  republican  party  and  was  elected  on  November 
6,  1894.  His  administration  began  on  January  7,  1895,  and  lasted  until  January 
2,  1899.  \\'hile  he  was  governor  the  Spanish-American  war  occurred  and  in  the 
summer  of  1898  Governor  Richards  spent  some  time  at  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
looking  after  the  interest  and  welfare  of  the  Wyoming  troops  before 
their  departure  for  the  Philippine  Islands.  An  account  of  Wyoming's  participa- 
tion in  this  war  is  given  in  another  chapter.  On  March  4,  1899,  about  two 
months  after  the  conclusion  of  his  term  as  governor,  Mr.  Richards  was  appointed 
assistant  commissioner  of  the  L'nited  States  general  land  office  and  removed  to 
Washington.  D.  C. 

THIRD    LEGISLATURE 

The  third  State  Legislature  convened  at  Cheyenne  on  January  8,  1895.  the 
day  following  the  inauguration  of  Governor  William  A.  Richards.  In  his  message, 
the  governor  reviewed  the  condition  of  the  state  and  among  other  things  gave 
the  value  of  public  buildings  as  follows : 

State    Capitol,    Cheyenne    $295,649.59 

State    University,    Laramie    80,753.95 

Insane    Asylum,    Evanston    66,667.66 

Poor   Farm,    Lander    5.053-39 

225 


226  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind  Asylum,   Cheyenne    7,919.30 

Penitentiary,     Rawlins    56,875.35 

Penitentiary,    Laramie    2,170.49 

Fish    Hatchery,    Laramie    7,279.90 

[Miners'  Hospital,  Rock  Springs   24,267.58 

Total     $546,637.21 

Among  the  recommendations  of  the  governor  was  one  for  the  establishment 
of  a  soldiers'  home,  and  in  response  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  board  of  commissioners,  authorized  to  establish  and  maintain  the 
Wyoming  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Home,  for  the  support  of  which  30,000  acres  of 
land  were  appropriated. 

On  February  14,  1895,  Governor  Richards  approved  the  act  accepting  the 
conditions  imposed  by  the  act  of  Congress,  approved  on  August  18,  1894,  grant- 
ing large  tracts  of  arid  lands  to  the  states,  with  the  stipulation  that  they  be 
irrigated  by  the  states.  The  act  of  Congress  is  known  as  the  "Carey  Act,"  its 
author  having  been  Senator  Joseph  M.  Carey,  of  Wyoming.  (See  chapter  on 
Irrigation,  etc.) 

Another  act  of  the  third  Legislature  was  the  one  dividing  the  counties  of  the 
state  into  four  classes.  All  having  an  assessment  of  $5,000,000  or  over  were 
designated  counties  of  the  first  class,  those  having  a  valuation  of  from  $2,000,000 
to  $5,000,000  constituted  the  second  class ;  the  third  class  were  composed  of  the 
counties  having  an  assessed  valuation  of  from  $1,100,000  to  $2,000,000,  and  all 
in  which  the  valuation  of  property  was  less  than  $1,100,000  were  designated 
as  fourth  class  counties.  In  all  except  the  first  class  the  offices  of  county  clerk 
and  clerk  of  the  courts  were  consolidated,  and  the  county  treasurer  was  also 
made  the  county  assessor. 

An  act  fixing  the  fees  and  salaries  of  county  officers  was  passed  at  this 
session,  and  also  one  providing  that  all  state  officers  should  be  paid  monthly. 
Other  acts  of  the  session  provided  for  the  recording  of  live  stock  brands:  for 
the  organization  of  the  Wyoming  National  Guard ;  to  prevent  the  killing  of  buffalo 
within  the  state  limits  ;  authorizing  the  payment  of  one  dollar  bounty  on  each 
coyote  killed  in  the  state  and  three  dollars  for  each  gray  or  black  wolf,  and 
appropriating  $25,000,  "or  so  much  thereof  as  might  be  necessary"  for  the  pay- 
ment of  said  bounties ;  enlarging  the  powers  of  incorporated  towns  by  authorizing 
them  to  grant  franchises  and  make  contracts  for  telephone  service,  lighting  the 
streets  with  gas  or  electricity,  and  to  grant  franchises  for  street  railways  operated 
by  horse,  cable  or  electric  power. 

REVISING   THE  STATUTES 

By  an  act  passed  at  the  third  session  of  the  State  Legislature  the  governor 
was  authorized  and  required  to  "appoint  three  persons  learned  in  the  law  as  a 
committee  to  revise,  simplify,  arrange,  consolidate  and  prepare  for  publication 
all  the  statutes  of  the  state."  Governor  Richards  appointed  J.  A.  Van  Orsdel, 
Clarence  C.  Hamlin  and  Hugo  Donzelmann,  who  presented  their  report  to  the  next 
session,  but  the  Legislature  refused  to  accept  it  and  the  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  then  went  over  the  work  and  the  laws  were  published  by  authority  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  227 

Legislature   of    1899  as  the   "Revised   Statutes   of   Wyoming,"   the   first   revised 
laws  ever  published  by  authority  of  the  state. 

STATE     HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

The  Legislature  of  1S95  created  the  Wyoming  State  Historical  Society  and 
made  an  annual  appropriation  of  $250  for  its  support.  The  governor,  secretary 
of  state  and  the  state  librarian  were  constituted  an  executive  board  to  have 
charge  of  the  expenditure  of  the  appropriation  in  the  purchase  of  books,  maps, 
charts,  documents,  etc.,  illustrative  of  the  history  of  the  Northwest,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  State  of  Wyoming.  The  executive  board  was  also  authorized  to 
procure  and  bind  files  of  Wyoming  newspapers  and  was  required  to  report 
biennially  to  the  Legislature.  Robert  C.  Morris  was  chosen  as  the  first  secretary 
of  the  society  and  under  his  direction  a  volume  of  historical  collections  was 
published  in  1897. 

MEMORIALS  TO  CONGRESS 

In  1895  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  states  west  of  the  ^lissouri  River, 
irrespective  of  party  affiliations,  were  in  favor  of  the  free  coinage  of  both 
gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one.  On  February  11,  1895,  Governor 
Richards  approved  a  memorial  to  Congress  protesting  against  the  proposed  issue 
of  bonds  by  the  Federal  Government  "as  a  movement  in  the  East,  on  the  part  of 
New  York  bankers  to  force  the  country  to  a  gold  basis."  Copies  of  the  memorial 
were  sent  to  Senator  Joseph  M.  Carey  and  to  Representative  Henry  A.  Coffeen, 
with  instructions  to  use  their  influence  in  opposition  to  the  bond  issue. 

Another  memorial  asked  Congress  to  set  apart  a  region  included  in  a  certain 
number  of  townships  within  ranges  113  to  119,  as  a  national  park.  The  district 
embraced  within  those  boundaries  includes  the  upper  waters  of  the  Snake  River,  the 
Teton  Mountains  and  Jackson  Lake,  in  what  is  now  the  northern  part  of  Lincoln 
County.  Congress  failed- to  grant  the  request,  however,  chiefly  for  the  reason 
that  the  proposed  park  would  be  too  close  to  the  Yellowstone  National  Park  al- 
ready established. 

Memorials  asking  for  the  acquisition  of  a  tract  twenty  miles  square  from  the 
Wind  River  reservation,  to  include  the  Big  Llorn  Hot  Springs ;  for  the  passage 
of  an  act  by  Congress  submitting  to  the  states  a  constitutional  amendment  pro- 
viding for  the  election  of  L'nited  States  senators  by  popular  vote ;  for  the  restric- 
tion of  foreign  immigration,  and  to  permit  the  State  of  Wyoming  to  sell  the  lands 
granted  by  the  act  of  admission  for  less  than  ten  dollars  per  acre,  were  also 
adopted  by  the  Legislature,  approved  by  the  governor  and  forwarded  to  Congress. 

The  deadlock  in  the  election  of  United  States  senator  in  1893  left  Wyoming 
with  but  one  senator,  and  as  Joseph  M.  Carey's  term  expired  on  March  4,  1895, 
the  Legislature  of  that  year  was  called  upon  to  elect  two  senators.  The  choice 
fell  upon  Francis  E.  Warren  and  Clarence  D.  Clark,  who  took  office  upon  March 
4,  1895- 

r0LITIC.\L  CAMPAIGN  OF   1 896 

The  year  1896  was  a  "Presidential  year,"  the  only  state  officers  to  be  elected 
in  Wyoming  being  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  a  representative  in  Con- 


228  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

gress.  Interest  in  the  national  campaign  centered  upon  the  money  question.  The 
repubhcan  national  convention  was  held  in  St.  Louis  and  nominated  William 
McKinley.  of  Ohio,  for  President,  and  Garret  A.  Hobart,  of  New  Jersey  for 
\'ice  President.  The  platform  indorsed  the  act  of  1873  demonetizing  silver  and 
declared  in  fa\  or  of  the  gold  dollar  as  the  standard  unit  of  value.  The  democratic 
national  coinention  met  in  Chicago.  William  J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska,  and  Arthur 
Sewall.  of  Maine,  were  nominated  for  President  and  \'ice  President,  respectively, 
upon  a  platform  declaring  in  favor  of  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  both 
siKer  and  gold  as  primary  money  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one. 

In  \\'yoming  the  two  state  conventions  indorsed  the  action  of  the  national 
conventions.  The  republicans  nominated  H.  \'.  S.  Groesbeck,  former  chief 
justice,  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  Frank  W.  Mondell  was  renominated 
for  Congress.  The  democratic  state  convention  named  Samuel  T.  Corn  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  ex-Governor  John  E.  Osborne  for  representa- 
tive in  Congress.  The  people's  party  made  no  nomination  for  Supreme  Court 
justice  but  William  Brown  was  the  candidate  of  that  party  for  Congress. 

At  the  election  on  November  3,  1896,  the  democratic  presidential  electors — 
John  A.  Martin.  Patrick  J.  Ouealy  and  Daniel  L.  \'an  Meter — carried  the  state 
by  a  plurality  of  303  ;  Samuel  T.  Corn  received  10,461  votes  for  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  to  9,985  for  Judge  Groesbeck;  and  John  E.  Osborne  defeated 
Frank  W.  Mondell  for  Congress  by  a  vote  of  10,310  to  10,044.  William  Brown, 
the  populist  candidate  for  Congress,  received  628  votes  in  the  state.  Although 
the  democrats  elected  the  state  officers,  the  Legislature  elected  in  1896  was  com- 
posed of  thirty-seven  republicans  and  twenty  democrats  on  joint  ballot. 

FOURTH    LEGISLATURE 

On  January  12,  1897,  the  fourth  State  Legislature,  and  the  second  un,-ler 
Gov.  William  .\.  Richards'  administration,  assembled  at  Cheyenne.  The  senate 
organized  by  electing  George  E.  Abbott,  of  Cheyenne,  president,  and  A.  D.  Kelley, 
of  Cheyenne,  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house.  In  his  biennial  message  Governor 
Richards  announced  that  the  assessment  of  the  property  in  the  state  was  $30,- 
028,694.65.  He  also  called  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the  deficit  of 
$56,454.70  in  the  state  funds,  due  to  the  suspension  of  T.  A.  Kent's  bank  on 
July  20.  1893.  The  governor  closed  that  part  of  his  message  relating  to  the 
financial  condition  of  the  state  as  follows :  "The  credit  of  Wyoming  is  very 
good,  judging  from  the  value  of  our  bonds.  In  December,  1896,  state  bonds 
bearing  6  per  cent  interest  were  quoted  on  the  New  York  market  at  a  figure  net- 
ting the  investor  3.75  per  cent.  But  one  state  west  of  the  Missouri  River  is 
rated  higher  than  Wyoming." 

On  the  subject  of  irrigation  of  state  lands  he  said:  "The  most  important 
measure  enacted  by  the  third  State  Legislature  was  the  law  providing  for  the 
reclamation  and  settlement  of  the  land  granted  the  state  under  the  Carey  Act. 
As  Wyoming  was  the  first  state  to  accept  the  trust,  and  is  the  only  state  where 
lands  have  been  segregated  and  contracts  made  for  their  reclamation,  it  is  the 
only  state  where  the  success  or  failure  of  state  control  can  be  studied.' 

He  announced  that  during  the  year  i8q6  a  total  of  482  irrigating  ditches  had 
been  siir\-eyed,  and  that  the  average  length  of  these  ditches  was  about  one  mile. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  229 

or  a  total  of  480  miles,  and  predicted  an  era  of  prosperity  for  Wyoming  when 
her  irrigating  systems  should  be  completed. 

The  Wyoming  General  Hospital,  located  at  Rock  Springs,  was  seriously 
damaged  by  fire  on  January  4,  1897,  and  on  February  8th  Governor  Richards 
approved  an  act  of  the  Legislature  appropriating  all  the  money  received  as  in- 
demnity from  insurance  companies  (not  exceeding  fifteen  thousand  dollars)  for 
rebuilding  the  institution.  An  appropriation  was  also  made  for  completing  the 
penitentiary  at  Rawlins. 

To  encourage  the  production  of  sugar  beets  and  the  manufacture  of  beet 
sugar  in  the  state,  an  act  was  passed  at  this  session  exempting  from  taxation  for 
a  period  of  ten  years  all  property  employed  in  the  production  of  sugar. 

By  the  act  of  February  24,  1897,  the  state  accepted  the  grant  of  one  mile 
square  of  land  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  Shoshone  Indian  reservation,  upon 
which  are  located  the  Big  Horn  Hot  Springs,  with  all  the  conditions  imposed 
by  the  act  of  Congress  granting  the  said  land  to  the  State  of  Wyoming. 

TR.\NS-MISSISS1PPI    EXPOSITION 

In  the  latter  part  of  November,  1895,  the  second  Trans-Mississippi  Congress 
met  in  Omaha,  the  first  having  been  held  in  St.  Louis  in  the  fall  of  the  preceding 
year.  At  the  Omaha  meeting  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  prepare 
resolutions.  William  J.  Bryan,  as  chairman  of  that  committee  reported  a  resolu- 
tion, among  others,  "That  the  United  States  Congress  be  requested  to  take  such 
steps  as  may  be  necessary  to  hold  a  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  at  Omaha 
during  the  months  of  August,  September  and  October,  in  the  year  1898.  and  that 
the  representatives  of  such  states  and  territories  in  Congress  be  requested  to 
favor  an  appropriation  as  is  usual  in  such  cases  to  assist  in  carrying  out  this 
enterprise." 

That  resolution  was  the  first  move  toward  the  exposition  that  wa^;  i-,i.-k!  in 
Omaha  from  June  to  November,  1898.  During  the  month  of  P'ebruary,  1897, 
the  department  of  promotion  sent  excursions  to  the  capital  cities  of  several  of 
the  Trans-Mississippi  states  to  present  the  matter  of  the  exposition  project  to 
the  state  officials  and  such  state  legislatures  as  might  then  be  in  session.  One  of 
these  excursions  visited  various  cities  in  Wyoming  and  the  adjacent  states.  The 
Wyoming  Legislature  of  that  year  adjourned  without  making  any  appropriation 
for  an  exhibit  of  the  state's  products  at  the  fair.  An  attempt  was  made  to  raise 
a  fund  of  $7,000  by  asking  each  county  in  the  state  to  appropriate  its  part  in 
proportion  to  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  property  of  the  county.  This  plan 
failed  and  a  committee,  composed  of  Elwood  Mead,  state  engineer,  Frank  P. 
Graves  of  the  State  University,  and  Governor  Richards,  was  chosen  to  solicit 
and  receive  private  donations  to  a  fund  for  an  exhibit  at  Omaha. 

This  committee  went  to  Omaha  and  selected  space  for  an  exhibit  and  the 
railroad  companies  operating  in  Wyoming  agreed  to  transport  all  the  articles  of  the 
display  free  of  charge.  Several  thousand  dollars  were  contributed  by  the  citizens 
of  the  state,  several  of  whom  also  had  private  exhibits  of  their  products  at  the 
exposition.  Dr.  David  T.  Day,  director  of  the  Government  mining  exhibit, 
Prof.  W.  C.  Knight  and  J.  T.  Crawford,  state  land  appraiser,  arranged  the  \\'yo- 
ming  exhibit,  which  was  in  charge  of  Mr.  Crawford,  who  received  nothing  for  his 


230  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

services  except  his  actual  expenses.  Although  the  display  was  not  as  complete 
as  the  one  made  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  five  years  before,  Wyoming  took 
two  gold  medals,  five  silver  medals  and  one  bronze  medal  upon  the  mineral 
and  agricultural  products  exhibited.  The  actual  expense  (not  including  the 
cost  of  the  floor  space  and  the  expenses  of  Mr.  Crawford)  was  less  than  one 
thousand  dollars. 

C.\MP.\IGN    OF    1898 

In  i8q8  a  full  complement  of  state  officers  was  to  be  elected  and  three  tickets 
were  placed  in  the  field.  'The  republicans  nominated  De  Forest  Richards  for 
governor;  Fenimore  Chatterton,  secretary  of  state;  LeRoy  Grant,  auditor  of 
state ;  George  E.  Abbott,  treasurer  of  state ;  Thomas  T.  Tynan,  superintendent  of 
public  instruction;  Jesse  Knight,  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  Frank  W.  Mon- 
dell,  representative  in  Congress. 

The  democratic  candidates  were:  Horace  C.  Alger,  governor;  David  Miller, 
secretary  of  state ;  Charles  H.  Priest,  auditor  of  state ;  Luke  \'oorhees.  treasurer 
of  state ;  Jerome  F.  Brown,  superintendent  of  public  instruction ;  Charles  E. 
Blydenburgh,  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  Constantine  P.  Arnold,  representa- 
tive in  Congress. 

E.  B.  Viall  was  nominated  for  governor  by  the  people's  party:  Shakespeare 
E.  Seeley,  for  secretary  of  state:  J.  F.  Pierce,  for  auditor  of  state;  John  M. 
Rouser,  for  treasurer  of  state;  Mrs.  M.  A.  Stocks,  for  superintendent  of  public 
instruction ;  William  Brown,  for  representative  in  Congress.  No  nomination  was 
made  by  this  party  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  election  was  held  on  Tuesday.  November  8.  1898,  and  it  resulted  in  a 
victory  for  the  entire  republican  ticket.  Governor  Richards'  plurality  was  1,394. 
and  the  other  republican  candidates  were  elected  by  substantially  the  same  vote. 

Die    I-OREST    RICHARDS'    ADM  I XISTRATION 

De  Forest  Richards,  fourth  governor  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  was  born 
at  Charlestown,  New  Hampshire,  August  6,  1846.  He  was  educated  at  the 
Kimball  Union  Academy,  Meriden,  New  Hampshire,  and  at  Phillips'  Andover 
Academy.  Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  he  went  to  Alabama,  where  in 
1868  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature.  From  186S  to  1871  he  was  sheriff  of 
Wilcox  County,  Alabama,  and  he  was  then  elected  county  treasurer  for  two 
terms.  He  continued  in  business  at  Camden,  .\labama  until  1885,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Chadron,  Nebraska,  and  engaged  in  the  banking  business.  In  1886  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Douglas,  Wyoming,  was  organized  and  IMr.  Richards  was 
elected  president.  He  then  became  a  resident  of  Douglas;  remained  at  the  head 
of  the  bank  until  his  death;  was  actively  engaged  in  mercantile  and  live  stock 
operations,  and  also  took  a  commendable  interest  in  public  affairs.  He  was 
elected  a  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  in  18S9;  was  mayor  of  Douglas 
from  i8gi  to  1894;  was  elected  to  the  state  senate  by  the  republicans  of  his 
district  in  1892;  was  nominated  and  elected  governor  of  the  state  in  1898;  and 
was  re-elected  in  1902.  He  did  not  live  to  complete  his  second  terni,  his  death 
occurring  on  .Xjjril  28,  1903.     Governor  Richards  was  prominent  in  the  Alasonic 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  231 

fraternity,  having  attained  to  the  thirty-second  degree,  and  he  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Shrine.  At  one  time  he  was  grand  master  of  the  Wyoming  Grand  Lodge. 
He  took  the  oath  of  office  on  January  2,  1899,  and  the  other  state  officers  elected 
in  the  preceding  Xovember  were  installed  in  their  respective  offices  on  the  same 
date. 

FIFTH    LEGISLATURE 

The  fifth  session  of  the  State  Legislature  commenced  at  Cheyenne  on  Janu- 
ary JO,  189Q.  John  IMcGill.  of  Albany  County,  was  elected  president  of  the 
Senate,  and  Levi  R.  Davis,  of  Weston  County,  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House. 
The  message  of  Governor  Richards  was  very  brief.  After  referring  to  the 
constitutional  provision  making  it  the  duty  of  the  governor  to  communicate  to 
the  Legislature  at  the  beginning  of  each  session  information  concerning  the 
state,  he  said:  "It  naturally  follows  that  the  information  to  be  conveyed  to  you 
should  be  of  a  practical  nature,  based  on  experience  rather  than  theory,  and 
therefore,  after  a  conference  between  ex-Gov.  W.  A.  Richards  and  myself,  he. 
impelled  by  the  deep  interest  he  feels  in  the  welfare  of  the  state  that  he  has 
served  so  faithfully  and  well,  has  volunteered  to  prepare  a  message,  which  I  here- 
with transmit,  making  it  a  part  and  parcel  of  this  document,"  etc. 

The  message  prepared  by  the  retiring  governor  was  replete  with  information 
regarding  the  finances  and  institutions  of  Wyoming.  It  gave  detailed  accounts 
of  the  rebuilding  of  the  General  Hospital  at  Rock  Springs,  the  Fort  McKinney 
reservation,  which  was  given  to  the  state  by  act  of  Congress  in  1895,  the  part 
taken  by  Wyoming  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  at  Omaha  in  1898  and 
the  awards  taken' by  the  state,  complete  information  as  to  the  part  taken  by  the 
state  in  the  Spanish-American  war  up  to  that  time,  and  announced  that  the  state 
treasury  showed  a  balance  on  hand  of  $103,785.69  at  the  conclusion  of  the  year 
1897. 

By  the  act  of  February  17,  1899,  the  Big  Horn  Hot  Springs,  which  had 
previously  been  granted  to  \Vyoming  by  act  of  Congress,  were  "placed  under  the 
control  of  the  state  board  of  charities  and  reform  and  forever  set  aside  for  the 
treatment  and  care  of  diseases  for  sanitary  and  charitable  purposes."  The  board 
was  authorized  by  the  act  to  lease  the  lands  and  water  privileges,  with  the 
stipulation  that  all  buildings  erected  upon  the  reservation  should  be  according 
to  plans  furnished  or  approved  by  the  board.  It  was  further  provided  that 
gambling  and  the  sale  of  liquor  should  be  strictly  prohibited,  and  the  board  was 
required  to  appoint  a  superintendent  to  see  that  the  provisions  of  the  act  were 
carried  out  and  the  regulations  of  the  board  properly  observed. 

Among  the  appropriations  made  by  this  Legislature  was  one  of  $789.15  to 
reimburse  ex-Gov.  William  A.  Richards  for  money  advanced  on  account  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  at  Omaha  in  1898,  and  one  of  $1,000  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  a  branch  of  the  state  fish  hatchery  at  Sundance,  Crook  County. 

One  important  act  of  the  fifth  Legislature  was  that  declaring  county  com- 
missioners to  be  a  county  board  of  health,  the  mayor  and  council  in  incorporated 
cities,  and  the  president  and  trustees  in  incorporated  towns  to  be  boards  of  health 
in  their  respective  munici]i;ilities.  Each  of  these  local  boards  of  health  was 
authorized  to  appoint  a  health  officer,  who  should  be  a  regularly  licensed  and 
practicing  physician,  to  act  as  an  adviser  to  the  board.     The  county  and  numici- 


232  HISTORY  OF  \\'YOMING 

pal  board  of  health  were  empowereu  to  adopt  and  promulgate  rules  and  regula- 
tions to  be  observed  in  times  of  epidemic  of  contagious  diseases;  to  provide  for 
quarantine  and  the  isolation  of  persons  affected  by  such  epidemic ;  to  adopt  such 
means  as  they  might  deem  necessary  for  the  abatement  of  nuisances,  the  cleaning 
up  of  unsanitary  premises,  etc.,  in  the  interest  of  the  general  health  and  comfort 
of  the  community. 

OUTLAWRY 

In  the  spring  of  1899  a  train  robbery  was  committed  near  the  little  station 
of  Wilcox,  in  the  western  part  of  Albany  County,  and  the  robbers  escaped  to  the 
mountainous  districts  farther  north.  In  June  Sheriff  Hazen,  of  Converse  County, 
was  killed  while  in  pursuit  of  the  train  robbers,  who  then  found  a  refuge  in  the 
wild  parts  of  Johnson  County.  Governor  Richards  was  asked  to  send  assistance 
to  capture  the  outlaws.  He  ordered  a  detachment  of  Company  C,  of  Buffalo, 
of  the  Wyoming  National  Guard,  to  report  to  the  sheriff  of  Johnson  County, 
and  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature  of  1901  he  reported  the  expenses  of  this 
action  to  be  $963.30. 

About  the  same  time  the  governor  of  Utah  called  upon  Governor  Richards 
to  aid  in  the  capture  of  some  bandits  who  had  killed  some  of  the  officials  of  that 
state  who  were  trying  to  arrest  them.  The  governor  directed  Sheriff  Swanson,  of 
Sweetwater  County,  to  organize  a  posse  and  render  what  assistance  he  could 
in  arresting  the  bandits.  Although  no  funds  were  available  for  such  purposes. 
Sheriff'  Swanson  raised  a  posse  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  next  session 
Governor  Richards  recommended  an  appropriation  to  reimburse  that  official.  "It 
gives  me  pleasure,"  said  the  governor  in  his  message,  "to  report  that  organized 
outlawry'  has  ceased  to  exist  in  this  state  and  that  the  notorious  'Hole-in-the- 
Wall  gang'  and  kindred  organizations  have  been  practically  broken  up.  The 
state  is  undoubtedly  more  free  from  the  depredations  of  such  criminals  than 
ever  before  in  its  history." 

ELECTION   OF    I9OO 

In  the  presidential  campaign  of  1900,  the  republicans  renominated  William 
McKinley,  of  Ohio,  for  President,  and  Theodore  Roosevelt,  of  New  York,  for 
Vice  President.  William  J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska,  was  again  nominated  by  the 
democrats  for  President,  and  Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  of  Illinois,  was  named  for  \"\ct 
President.  This  was  a  republican  year  in  Wyoming.  The  republican  presidential 
electors — Bryant  B.  Brooks,  A.  E.  Bradbury  and  Ervin  F.  Cheney — received  14.- 
482  votes,  while  the  highest  number  received  by  any  of  the  democratic  electors 
was  10,164.  ^>'o  state  officers  were  elected  in  Wyoming  this  year.  Frank  ^\'. 
Mondell,  the  republican  candidate  for  representative  in  Congress,  defeated 
J.  C.  Thompson  by  a  vote  of  14.539  to  10.017. 

SIXTH    LEGISL.\TURE 

Wyoming's  sixth  State  Legislature  began  its  session  at  Cheyenne  on  Tues- 
day, January  8,  1901.  In  organizing  the  two  branches  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  Edward  W.  Stone,  of  Laramie  County,  was  elected  president  of  the 
senate,  and  Jerome  S.  Atherly,  of  Albany  County,  speaker  of  the  house.     On 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  233 

January  23,  igoi.  the  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
a  United  States  senator.  Francis  E.  Warren  received  fifty-two  votes  and  John 
E.  Osborne  received  three  votes.  Mr.  Warren  was  therefore  declared  elected 
United  States  senator  for  a  term  of  six  years,  beginning  on  March  4,  1901. 

By  an  act  passed  at  this  session,  the  governor  was  authorized  to  appoint 
three  persons,  one  of  whom  should  be  a  physician,  as  a  state  board  of  health,  the 
physician  to  be  the  secretary  of  the  board.  The  state  board  of  health  thus  created 
was  given  power  to  investigate  the  pollution  of  streams,  to  obtain  analyses  of  the 
water  used  for  domestic  purposes  by  incorporated  towns  and  cities  and  to  recom- 
mend improvement  of  waterworks  systems,  to  cooperate  with  the  local  boards  of 
health,  to  have  the  management  or  oversight  of  hospitals,  to  examine  public 
buildings  and  report  upon  their  sanitary  condition,  and  to  make  quarantine  regu- 
lations for  the  suppression  of  epidemics  of  infectious  diseases. 

The  question  of  the  permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  government,  the  state 
university,  the  insane  asylum  and  the  state  penitentiary  was  ordered  "to  be 
submitted  to  and  determined  by  the  qualified  electors  of  the  state  at  the  general 
election  to  be  held  on  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  ^londay  in  November,  in  the 
year  1904."  The  act  also  provided  that  every  city,  town  and  village  should  be 
eligible,  that  said  towns,  cities  and  villages  should  be  nominated  in  the  same 
manner  as  that  provided  by  law  for  the  nomination  of  candidates  by  petition 
and  the  names  of  cities,  towns  and  villages  should  be  printed  on  the  ballots. 
Each  voter  could  vote  for  one  place  for  the  location  of  each' of  the  institutions 
named  in  the  act. 

By  an  act  approved  by  Go\ernor  Richards  on  February  14,  1901,  the  name  of 
the  Stinking  Water  River,  in  Bighorn  County,  was  changed  to  the  Shoshone 
River,  and  it  was  directed  that  the  latter  name  be  used  by  all  state  officials  and 
employees  when  referring  to  the  stream. 

goverxor's  residence 

On  February  16,  1901,  Governor  Richards  affixed  his  signature  to  an  act 
authorizing  and  requiring  the  county  commissioners  of  the  several  counties  in  the 
state  to  levy  a  tax  of  one-eighth  of  a  mill  on  each  dollar's  worth  of  taxable 
property,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  residence  for  the  governor  of  Wyoming. 
The  capitol  commission  was  directed  to  obtain  a  site  and  supervise  the  erection  of 
the  building,  which,  when  completed,  should  be  the  property  of  the  state. 

Shortly  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  the  capitol  commission 
purchased  a  site  on  the  corner  of  Twenty-first  and  House  streets  for  $3,000  and 
as  soon  as  the  fund  resulting  from  the  tax  levied  was  sufficient,  work  was  com- 
menced on  the  building.  The  first  governor  to  occupy  the  residence  was  Bryant 
B.  Brooks,  who  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature  on  January  11,  1905,  announced 
the  completion  of  the  building  and  gave  the  cost  to  the  state  as  follows : 

Site     $  3,000,00 

Building     23,717.29 

Furniture      4,500.00 

Improving  the  grounds    2,036.00 

Total $33,253.29 


234  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Further  improvements,  garage,  outbuildings,  etc.,  that  have  since  been  made 
have  brought  the  total  up  to  $42,600.  Prior  to  the  erection  of  this  residence,  the 
governors  of  Wyoming  were  compelled  to  rent  or  lease  a  house  to  live  in  during 
their  respective  terms  of  ofifice,  something  not  always  easy  to  accomplish.  With  the 
completion  of  the  state  mansion,  the  governor  has  been  situated  so  that  he  could 
entertain  his  visitors  in  a  manner  befitting  the  dignity  of  his  office. 

PAN-AMERICAN    EXPOSITION 

During  the  summer  of  1901  the  Pan-American  Exposition  was  held  at 
Buffalo,  New  York.  Wyoming  prepared  no  exhibit,  but  before  the  opening  of 
the  fair  the  management  requested  Governor  Richards  to  appoint  representative 
citizens  of  the  state  to  serve  on  the  boards  connected  with  the  exposition.  In 
response  to  this  request,  the  governor  appointed  Joseph  M.  Carey  and  J.  L.  Torrey 
as  honorary  vice  presidents,  and  ^Irs.  Francis  E.  Warren  and  Mrs.  Clarence  D. 
Clark  as  honorary  members  of  the  board  of  lady  managers. 

ELECTION   OK    I902 

In  1902  the  republicans  renominated  all  the  state  officers,  except  the  state 
treasurer,  for  which  office  Henry  G.  Hay  was  nominated.  Charles  N.  Potter  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Frank  W.  Mondell  for  representative  in 
Congress.  At  the  election,  which  was  held  on  November  4th.  the  entire  republican 
ticket  was  elected.  Richards'  plurality  over  George  T.  Beck,  the  democratic 
candidate  for  governor,  was  4,466.  Frank  W.  Mondell  defeated  Charles  P.  Clem- 
mons  for  representative  in  Congress  by  a  vote  of  15,808  to  8,892.  This  year,  for 
the  first  time  in  Wyoming,  the  socialist  party  had  a  ticket  in  the  field,  their  candi- 
date for  governor  receiving  552  votes. 

SEVENTH    LEGISLATURE 

Gov.  De  Forest  Richards'  second  term  began  with  the  opening  of  the  se\-enth 
State  Legislature  on  January  13,  1903.  His  message  to  the  Legislature  at  the 
commencement  of  the  session  was  an  exhaustive  account  of  the  condition  of  the 
state  institutions  and  finances,  with  suggestions  and  recommendations  for  their 
improvement. 

This  session  of  the  Legislature  appropriated  $100,000  to  the  state  board  of 
charities  and  reform,  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  the  penitentiary,  the 
insane  asylum,  the  Wyoming  General  Hospital,  the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  asylum, 
etc.  The  board,  by  another  act,  was  required  to  establish  a  home  for  soldiers  and 
sailors  on  the  old  Fort  McKinney  reser\-ation  in  Johnson  County  and  an  appro- 
priation of  $2,500  was  made  for  putting  the  buildings  in  repair  and  removing  the 
soldiers   in   the   temporary   home   at   Cheyenne   to   their  new   quarters. 

On  February  21,  1903,  the  governor  approved  the  act  to  tax  gifts,  legacies 
and  inheritances.  By  the  provision  of  this  act  all  inheritances  descending  to 
parents,  husband,  wife,  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  amounting  to  ten  thousand 
dollars  or  more,  are  taxed  two  per  cent.    To  all  other  beneficiaries,  five  per  cent. 

Tax   levies    were    ordered    for   building    an    addition   to    the    penitentiary    at 


236  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Rawlins,  and  for  the  establishment  of  a  branch  of  the  Wyoming  General  Hos- 
pital at  Sheridan.  For  the  latter  institution  the  proceeds  derived  from  the  tax 
levy  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  twenty-two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  were 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  state  board  of  charities  and  reform,  which  was 
authorized  to  obtain  a  suitable  site,  by  donation  of  otherwise,  and  to  superintend 
the  erection  of  the  buildings. 

Other  acts  passed  at  this  session  were  those  appropriating  the  sum  of  $3,000 
for  a  branch  fish  hatchery  at  Saratoga ;  requiring  the  school  trustees  in  the 
various  school  districts  of  the  state  to  cause  the  American  flag  to  be  displayed 
upon  each  school  house,  flagstaff  or  tower  during  the  hours  school  is  in  session ; 
throwing  open  mineral  lands  to  exploration,  occupation  or  purchase  under  the 
same  rules  governing  the  location  of  mining  claims ;  providing  for  the  sale  of 
pure  and  unadulterated  foods  and  appointing  a  state  chemist:  and  authorizing 
county  commissioners  to  offer  bounties  for  the  destruction  of  predator\-  wild 
animals. 

LOUISIANA   PURCHASE   EXPOSITION 

On  February  2^.  up^.  Governor  Richards  approved  an  act  of  the  Legislature 
authorizing  him  to  appoint  seven  commissioners  to  take  charge  of  the  work  of 
collecting  and  arranging  an  exhibit  of  \\'yoming's  products  at  St.  Louis.  Missouri, 
in  1904,  at  the  exposition  celebrating  the  centennial  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase, 
and  appropriating  the  sum  of  $25,000  to  defray  the  expenses  of  such  exhibit. 
Pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  the  act.  Governor  Richards  appointed  as  the  com- 
missioners Clarence  B.  Richardson,  Robert  B.  Homer,  Bryant  B.  Brooks,  Willis 
G.  Emerson,  George  E.  Pexton,  Charles  A.  Badgette  and  William  C.  Deming. 

The  commissioners  met  at  the  state  capitol  on  March  20,  1903.  and  organized 
by  the  election  of  Robert  B.  Homer,  president ;  Bryant  B.  Brooks,  vice  president ; 
William  C.  Deming,  secretary.  Mr.  Homer  resigned  soon  after  his  election  and 
Mr.  Brooks  was  elected  in  his  place.  J.  L.  Baird  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy 
on  the  board  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Homer,  and  W.  H.  Holliday  was 
appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Charles  A.  Badgette. 

The  agricultural  exhibit  was  prepared  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  B.  C, 
Buffum,  of  the  State  L'niversity  :  John  H.  Gordon,  of  Cheyenne,  was  employed 
to  prepare  for  exhibition  a  collection  of  Wyoming  woods  and  such  minerals  as 
might  be  available  in  the  state  museum ;  State  Geologist  H.  C.  Beeler  gave  valu- 
able assistance  in  the  arrangement  of  the  mineral  display;  and  the  educational 
exhibit  was  prepared  under  the  supervision  of  Thomas  T.  Tynan,  superintendent 
of  public  instruction.  As  far  as  it  was  practicable,  the  commission  tried  to  show 
not  only  the  raw  material,  but  also  some  finished  article  manufactured  from  it. 
The  railroad  companies  operating  in  the  state  agreed  to  transport  materials  for 
the  various  exhibits  free  of  charge.  Through  this  generous  cooperation  and  the 
energy  of  the  commission,  Wyoming  was  one  of  the  comparatively  few  states 
that  had  its  entire  display  in  place  on  the  opening  day  of  the  fair. 

Monday,  July  11.  1904,  was  "Wyoming  Day"  at  the  exposition.  On  that  day 
Acting-Governor  Chatterton  and  his  staff  were  present  and  a  large  number  of 
Wyoming  people  were  in  attendance  to  celebrate  in  a  proper  manner  the  four- 
teenth anniversary  of  the  state's  admission  into  the  L'nion.     The  exercises  were 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  237 

held  in  the  Hall  of  Congresses.  Music  was  furnished  by  a  band  belonging  to  a 
regiment  of  the  Illinois  National  Guard  and  the  Indian  band  from  the  Indian 
school  in  Wyoming.  David  R.  Francis,  president  of  the  e.xposition  commission, 
delivered  an  address  of  welcome  and  the  response  was  made  by  Bryant  B.  Brooks, 
president  of  the  Wyoming  commission.  Addresses  were  made  by  Samuel  T. 
Corn  of  the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court,  Joseph  M.  Carey  and  Henry  A.  Coffeen. 
Wyoming  took  124  prizes  upon  the  state's  displays  and  private  exhibits. 
These  awards  consisted  of  four  grand  prizes,  thirty-three  gold  medals,  forty- 
seven  silver  medals  and  forty  bronze  medals.  Over  hfty  thousand  pamphlets 
giving  information  concerning  the  resources  of  Wyoming.  Two  thousand  Wyo- 
ming people  visited  the  exposition  while  it  was  in  progress,  and  at  the  close  the 
state  commission  turned  back  into  the  treasury  $5,658.23  as  an  unexpended 
balance  of  the  original  appropriation  of  $25.cxx). 

C  H  .\TTERTO  N  "s    .\D.M  I X I  STR.\TIO  N 

The  death  of  Governor  De  Forest  Richards  occurred  on  April  28,  1903,  and  on 
the  same  day  Fenimore  Chatterton,  who  had  been  elected  secretary  of  state  at  the 
preceding  general  election,  became  acting-governor  to  serve  until  the  election  in 
November,  1904. 

F^enimore  Chatterton  was  born  in  Oswego,  New  York,  July  21,  i860.  While 
he  was  still  in  his  childhood  his  parents  removed  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he 
attended  Columbiana  College  and  studied  law.  In  1878  he  came  to  Wyoming 
as  a  clerk  in  the  post  store  at  Fort  Steele,  of  which  he  later  became  the  proprietor. 
I'his  store  he  sold  in  1888,  when  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  Carbon  County  and 
probate  judge.  Two  years  later  he  was  elected  to  the  first  state  senate  of  Wyo- 
ming and  was  twice  reelected,  serving  three  consecutive  terms.  In  1892  he 
entered  the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  where  he  graduated 
the  next  year  and  began  practice  at  Rawlins.  In  1894  and  again  in  1896  he  was 
elected  county  attorney  of  Carbon  County  and  in  1898  was  elected  secretary  of 
state.  At  the  close  of  his  first  term  in  this  office  he  was  again  elected  and  upon 
the  death  of  Governor  Richards  became  acting-governor.  From  1894  to  1896 
he  was  grand  master  of  the  \^'yoming  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and  -Accepted 
Masons,  in  which  order  he  has  received  the  thirty-second  degree,  and  in  iC)oo  he 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Kurtz  &  Chatterton  Mining  Company.  When 
Bryant  B.  Brooks  was  elected  governor  in  1904,  for  the  unexpired  term  of 
Governor  Richards,  Mr.  Chatterton  continued  as  secretary  of  state  until  succeeded 
in  January,  1907,  by  W.  R.  Schnitger. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1904 

In  1904  the  republican  candidates  for  President  and  \'ice  President  were 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  of  New  York,  and  Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  of  Indiana.  The 
democrats  nominated  Alton  B.  Parker,  of  New  York,  for  President,  and  Henry 
G.  Davis,  of  West  Virginia,  for  \'ice  President.  The  candidates  of  the  peoples 
party  were  Thomas  E.  Watson,  of  Georgia,  and  Thomas  H.  Tibbies,  of  Ne- 
braska, for  President  and  \'ice  President,  respectively.  Silas  C.  Swallow,  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  nominated  by  the  prohibitionists  for   President,   and   George 


238  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

W.  Carroll,  of  Texas,  for  \'ice  President,  and  the  socialist  candidates  were 
Eugene  \'.  Debs,  of  Indiana,  for  President,  and  Benjamin  Hanford,  of  New 
York,  for  Vice  President. 

The  republican  candidates  for  presidential  electors  in  Wyoming  were :  Ora 
Haley,  James  M.  Wilson  and  Atwood  C.  Thomas.  The  democrats  nominated 
George  T.  Beck,  A.  L.  Murray  and  A.  ^^  Ouinn,  and  the  people's  party,  Peter 
Esperson,  John  Gaiselman  and  William  W.  Paterson.  These  were  the  three 
leading  political  organizations  in  the  state  at  that  time. 

\'acancies  were  to  be  filled  in  the  offices  of  governor  and  treasurer  of  state, 
due  to  the  death  of  Gov.  De  Forest  Richards  and  the  resignation  of  Henry  G. 
Hay.  The  republicans  nominated  the  following  ticket:  For  governor,  Bryant 
B.  Brooks;  treasurer  of  state,  William  C.  Irvine;  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Cyrus  Beard ;   representative  in  Congress,  Frank  W.   Mondell. 

The  democratic  candidates  were:  John  E.  Osborne,  for  governor:  H.  C. 
Alger,  for  treasurer  of  state;  Samuel  T.  Corn,  for  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  T..S.  Taliaferro,  Jr.,  for  representative  in  Congress. 

James  W.  Gates  was  the  candidate  of  the  people's  party  for  governor ;  Frank 
Ketchum,  for  treasurer  of  state ;  Herman  \'.  S.  Groesbeck,  for  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court;  and  William  Brown,  for  representative  in  Congress.  The 
socialists  made  no  nomination  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  named 
George  W.  Blain  for  governor;  David  Gordon  for  treasurer  of  state,  and 
Lemuel  L.  Laughlin  for  representative  in  Congress. 

The  election  was  held  on  Xovember  8,  1904.  The  republican  presidential 
electors  carried  the  state  by  a  plurality  of  11,559,  having  a  clear  majority  over 
all  the  electors  nominated  by  the  other  parties.  For  governor.  Brooks  received 
17.765  votes  to  12,137  cast  for  Osborne,  and  for  representative  in  Congress, 
Mondell  defeated  Taliaferro  by  a  vote  of  19,862  to  9,803. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Legislature  of  1901  provided  for  submitting 
to  the  voters  at  the  general  election  of  1904  the  question  of  permanently  locating 
the  seat  of  government,  the  State  University,  the  insane  asylum  and  the  peni- 
tentiary. For  the  seat  of  government  Cheyenne  received  11,781  votes;  Lander, 
8,667;  and  Casper,  3,610,  with  a  scattering  vote  given  in  small  numbers  to  several 
other  cities  and  towns.  The  State  University  was  located  at  Laramie,  which  city 
received  12,697  votes.  Evanston  received  12,593  votes  as  the  site  of  the  insane 
asylum,  and  the  penitentiary  was  located  at  Rawlins  by  a  vote  of  12,042. 

brooks'  administration 

Bryant  B.  Brooks,  who  was  elected  governor  of  \\'yoming  in  1904.  was  liorn 
at  Bernardston,  Massachusetts,  February  5,  1861,  a  son  of  Silas  X.  and  ^Melissa 
M.  (Burrows)  Brooks.  When  he  was  about  ten  years  of  age  his  parents  removed 
to  Chicago,  where  he  was  educated,  graduating  in  the  Chicago  High  School  in 
1878.  The  next  year  he  attended  a  business  college  in  Chicago,  after  which  he 
went  to  Nebraska,  where  he  became  interested  in  the  cattle  business.  From  1880 
to  1883  he  "rode  the  range"  in  Wyoming,  and  in  the  latter  year  he  organized  the 
cattle  firm  of  B.  B.  Brooks  &  Company,  with  headquarters  on  the  Big  Muddy 
Creek  eighteen  miles  southeast  of  Casper,  making  a  business  of  raising  high 
grade  cattle  on  a  ranch  of  some  seven  thousand  acres,  a  large  part  of  which 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  239 

was  under  irrrigation.  The  company  also  raised  sheep  and  horses.  Mr.  Brooks 
became  actively  identified  with  the  republican  party  soon  after  coming  into  the 
state.  In  1892  he  was  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  State  Legislature ;  was  a 
delegate  to  the  republican  national  conventions  of  1896,  1904  and  1908;  and 
was  elected  governor  of  Wyoming  in  1904  for  the  unexpired  term  of  Governor  De 
Forest  Richards.  In  1906  he  was  elected  for  a  full  term  of  four  years.  Mr. 
Brooks  is  prominent  in  fraternal  circles,  being  a  thirty-third  degree  Mason,  an 
Odd  Fellow  and  an  Elk.  Since  retiring  from  the  office  of  governor  he  has  devoted 
his  time  and  attention  to  his  large  business  interests  at  Casper. 

EIGHTH    LEGISL.-\TURE 

The  eighth  session  of  the  State  Legislature  began  at  Cheyenne  on  Tuesday, 
January  10,  1905.  E.  E.  Levers,  of  Uinta  County,  was  chosen  president  of  the 
Senate,  and  Lyman  B.  Cooper,  of  Converse  County,  speaker  of  the  House.  In 
his  message  to  the  Legislature,  Governor  Brooks  congratulated  the  people  of 
Wyoming  upon  the  increase  of  farms,  the  mineral  output  of  the  mines,  and  the 
valuation  of  live  stock,  all  good  evidences  of  the  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants. 

One  of  the  principal  laws  enacted  at  this  session  is  that  known  as  the  "Negoti- 
able Instrument  Act,"  the  main  purpose  of  which  was  to  establish  a  law  in  uni- 
formity with  the  laws  of  other  states  on  that  subject.  The  act  contains  198 
sections,  being  one  of  the  longest  ever  passed  by  a  Wyoming  Legislature,  and 
covers  every  form  of  negotiable  instrument. 

The  State  Board  of  Horticulture  was  created  bv  the  eighth  Legislature.  The 
act  creating  it  provides  that  the  governor  of  the  state,  the  professor  of  botany 
and  the  professor  of  zoology  in  the  State  University  shall  be  ex-officio  members, 
and  the  other  four  members  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor,  one  from  each  of 
the  four  water  districts  of  the  state.  The  duties  of  the  board  were  defined  to 
be  as  follows.  To  collect  and  disseminate  infomiation  on  the  subject  of  horti- 
culture, especially  the  diseases  of  fruit  trees  and  the  manner  of  getting  rid  of 
insect  pests,  and  to  report  biennially  on  the  work  done  and  the  results  ac- 
complished. 

On  February  16,  1903,  two  days  before  the  final  adjournment,  a  joint  session 
of  the  two  houses  was  convened  "for  the  consideration  of  resolutions  com- 
memorative of  the  distinguished  public  services,  life  and  character  of  the  late 
De  Forest  Richards,  former  governor  of  Wyoming."  Short  addresses  were  made 
by  Governor  Brooks,  Secretary  of  State  Chatterton,  Speaker  Cooper,  and  others 
and  the  resolutions  adopted  were  ordered  to  be  recorded  in  the  journals  of  the 
Senate  and  House. 

LEWIS  .\ND  CL.\RK    EXPOSITION 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  on  February  15,  1905,  a  commission 
of  six  persons  was  created  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  a  collection  of  Wyo- 
ming's resources  and  products  for  exhibition  at  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition 
to  be  held  at  Portland,  Oregon,  in  the  summer  of  1905.  The  governor  was  made 
a  member  of  the  commission,  ex-officio,  and  was  authorized  by  the  act  to  appoint 


240  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  other  five  members.  Governor  Brooks  appointed  Clarence  B.  Richardson, 
George  E.  Pexton,  John  L.  Baird,  B.  C.  Buffum  and  WilHam  C.  Deming. 

The  act  creating  the  commission  appropriated  $10,000  in  addition  to  the 
unexpended  balance  of  $5,658.23  of  the  appropriation  made  for  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition  of  the  preceding  year,  making  a  total  appropriation  of 
$15,658.23  for  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition.  The  board  organized  on  IMarch 
7,  1905,  by  the  election  of  Governor  Brooks  as  president;  George  E.  Pexton, 
vice  president;  William  C.  Deming,  secretary.  The  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  Company  made  a  donation  of  $2,500  and  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  furnished  free  transportation  of  the  exhibits  to  and  from  the  expo- 
sition. 

A  large  part  of  the  exhibit  from  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  was 
taken  to  Portland.  In  their  final  report  the  commissioners  say:  "In  the  Mines 
Building  \\\oming  occupied  3,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  1,700  feet  of 
wall  space.  While  verj'  compact,  Wyoming's  exhibit  in  the  Mines  Building 
was  varied  and  attractive.  *  *  *  The  agricultural  exhibit  was  equally  com- 
plete. In  this  building  Wyoming  was  in  competition  with  some  of  the  greatest 
agricultural  states  in  the  Union,  and  the  large  number  of  awards  received  proves 
very  conclusively  that  our  state  did  not  suffer  by  comparison.  In  this  handsome 
building  \Vyoming  occupied  3,200  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  2,250  square 
feet  of  wall  space.  This  exhibit  was  installed  under  the  personal  direction  of 
Professor  Bufifum  and  consisted  of  about  twelve  hundred  classified  exhibits." 

Among  the  minerals  shown  were  oil,  soda,  copper,  iron,  coal,  gold,  building 
stone,  onyx,  clays,  asbestos,  fossil  fish,  moss  agates,  petrified  woods,  stalactites 
and  a  large  number  of  semi-precious  stones,  making  one  of  the  most  varied 
and  extensive  exhibits  of  this  class  at  the  exposition. 

July  10,  1905,  was  Wyoming  Day.  Governor  Brooks  and  his  staff,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  commission  and  a  large  number  of  Wyoming  people  were  present 
at  the  exercises,  which  were  held  in  the  great  Auditorium.  The  program  included 
music  by  the  exposition  band;  an  address  of  welcome  by  H.  W.  Goode,  president 
of  the  exposition;  response  by  Clarence  B.  Richardson,  Wyoming's  commissioner- 
in-chief  ;  the  song  "Wyoming"  by  a  quartet  (the  words  of  this  song  were  by  C.  E. 
Winter  and  the  music  by  E.  A.  Clemmons)  ;  and  addresses  by  Harry  Lane,  mayor 
of  Portland,  Governor  Brooks  and  Judge  J.  A.  \'an  Orsdel. 

The  exhibits  of  the  state  and  individual  exhibitors  were  awarded  146  medals — 
83  gold,  31  silver  and  ^2  bronze — and  twenty-si.x  other  individual  exhibits  received 
honorable  mention.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  exposition  the  commissioners 
reported  a  balance  of  $6,306.80,  with  a  few  unpaid  bills  still  outstanding,  which 
would  reduce  the  balance  to  $5,500. 

ELECTION    OF    I906 

In  the  campaign  of  1906  the  republicans  nominated  Bryant  B.  Brooks  for 
governor;  A\'illiam  R.  Schnitger,  for  secretary  of  state:  LeRoy  Grant,  for  auditor 
of  state :  Edward  Gillette,  for  treasurer  of  state ;  Archibald  D.  Cook,  for  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction:  Richard  H.  Scott,  for  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  and  Frank  W.  Mondell,  for  representative  in  Congress. 

The  democratic  state  convention  nominated  for  governor,  Stephen  A.  D.  Keis- 


•       HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  241 

ter;  for  secretary  of  state,  Daniel  W.  Gill ;  for  auditor  of  state,  Thomas  J.  Dayton; 
for  treasurer  of  state.  James  M.  Labban ;  for  superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
May  Hamilton;  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  H.  \'.  S.  Groesbeck:  for  rep- 
resentative in  Congress,  John  C.  Hamm. 

William  L.  O'Neill  was  the  candidate  of  the  people's  party  for  governor ; 
William  W.  Paterson,  secretary  of  state;  Albert  J.  Vagner,  auditor  of  state; 
M.  O.  Kangas,  treasurer  of  state ;  C.  E.  Cronk,  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion ;  William  Brown,  representative  in  Congress.  No  nomination  was  made 
by  this  party  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  vote  for  governor  on  November  6,  1906,  was  16,396  for  Brooks,  9,483 
for  Keister,  1,310  for  O'Neill,  and  140  for  George  W.  Blain,  the  candidate  of 
the  socialist  party.  All  the  candidates  upon  the  republican  ticket  were  elected 
by  approximately  the  same  plurality  as  the  governor. 


CHAPTER  X\T 
FROM  BROOKS  TO  HOUX 

NINTH  LEGISLATURE — POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  I908 TENTH  LEGISLATURE ELEC- 
TION OF  I9IO CAREy's  ADMINISTRATION — ELEVENTH  LEGISLATURE — APPOR- 
TIONMENT OF  STATE  SENATORS  AND  REPRESENTATIVES — ^DIRECT  PRIMARY  LAW 

CORRUPT  PRACTICES  ACT BATTLESHIP  WYOMING WESTERN  GOVERNORS'  SPECIAL 

CAMPAIGN  OF  I9I2 TWELFTH  LEGISLATURE THE  STATE  FAIR MISCELLANEOUS 

ACTS POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  I914 KENDRICK'S  ADMINISTRATION THIR- 
TEENTH LEGISLATURE WORKMEN'S  COMPENSATION  ACT MISCELLANEOUS  LEG- 
ISLATION  CAMPAIGN  OF  1916 FOURTEENTH  LEGISLATURE PROHIBITION  QUES- 
TION  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT HIGHWAY  COMMISSION STATE  FLAG 

AND  FLOWER GENERAL  LAWS HOUX's  ADMINISTRATION WAR  WITH  GERMANY. 

Governor  Brooks  took  the  oath  of  office  for  the  beginning  of  his  second  term 
on  January  7,  1907,  and  the  next  day  witnessed  the  assembling  of  the 

NIXTH    LEGISLATURE 

At  the  opening  of  this  session,  O.  H.  Brown,  of  Uinta  County,  was  elected 
president  of  the  Senate,  and  Scott  K.  Snively,  of  Sheridan  County,  was  chosen 
speaker  of  the  House.  In  his  message  at  the  beginning  of  the  session.  Governor 
Brooks  advocated  the  passage  of  a  primary  election  law,  and  on  the  subject  of 
taxation  he  said :  '"Two  years  ago,  in  my  message  to  the  Legislature,  I  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  tlje  mileage  valuations  placed  upon  railroad  property 
in  this  state  for  taxation  purposes  have  remained  practically  unchanged  for  a 
number  of  years.  It  is  generally  believed  among  our  people  that  railroads  do 
not  pay  their  just  proportion  of  taxes.  In  order  to  bring  this  subject  fairly  before 
the  Legislature,  I  some  time  ago  requested  the  attorney-general  to  investigate  the 
matter  thoroughly,  particularly  in  regard  to  the  taxes  levied  in  surrounding  states, 
and  submit  a  report  to  my  office  upon  the  subject." 

The  report  of  the  attorney-general,  which  was  submitted  as  part  of  the  gov- 
ernor's message,  showed  that  in  Nebraska  and  Utah  the  Union  Pacific  was  taxed 
on  a  valuation  of  $11,000  per  mile,  and  in  Wyoming,  $8,000;  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  was  taxed  on  a  valuation  of  $7,600  per  mile  in  Nebraska  and 
only  $4,100  in  Wyoming,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line,  the  State  of 
Idaho  placed  a  valuation  upon  it  of  $10,300,  while  Wyoming's  valuation  was  but 
$8,000.  Commenting  on  these  figures,  the  governor  announced  that  the  average 
railroad  tax  of  $163  per  mile  in  Wyoming  was  from  $45  to  $125  lower  than  any 
of  the  adjacent  states  except  South  Dakota.  Notwithstanding  the  emphasis  the 
242 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  243 

governor  placed  upon  this  subject,  the  Legislature  failed  to  pass  a  law  providing 
for  a  higher  rate  of  assessment  of  railroad  property. 

By  an  act  approved  February  9,  1907,  the  premises  and  property  of  the  state 
deaf  and  dumb  and  blind  asylum  at  Cheyenne  were  assigned  for  use  as  military 
headquarters,  the  office  of  the  adjutant-general,  and  for  the  storage  and  care  of 
military  supplies.  And  on  the  same  day  the  governor  approved  the  act  trans- 
ferring the  penitentiary  at  Laramie  and  the  land  upon  which  it  is  located  to  the 
State  L^niversity  for  the  use  of  the  Agricultural  College  and  experiment  station. 
This  act  carried  with  it  an  appropriation  of  $5,000  for  the  repair  of  the  building. 

The  sum  of  $50,000  was  appropriated  for  the  erection  of  a  new  building  for 
the  accommodation  of  female  patients  at  the  Wyoming  State  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  at  Evanston,  and  a  tax  levy  sufficient  to  raise  $25,000  a  year  for  two 
years  was  authorized  to  provide  the  necessary  funds  for  that  purpose.  An  appro- 
priation of  $25,000  was  also  made  for  building  a  girls'  dormitory  at  the  State 
University. 

The  old  law  relating  to  compulsory  education  was  repealed  and  a  new  one 
enacted.  Another  act  of  this  session  provided  for  regulating  deposits  in  banks 
and  the  safekeeping  of  the  public  funds.  By  this  act  the  governor,  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  state  were  created  a  "board  of  deposit,"  and  banks  in  which  the 
state  funds  were  to  be  deposited  were  required  to  deposit  approved  securities  or 
give  bond  in  some  responsible  surety  company. 

POLITIC.\L  CAMPAIGN  OF   I908 

Xo  state  officers  were  to  be  elected  in  Wyoming  in  1908  and  the  entire  interest 
centered  upon  the  presidential  campaign.  The  republican  national  convention 
was  held  in  Chicago  on  June  i6th.  William  H.  Taft,  of  Ohio,  was  nominated 
for  President,  and  James  S.  Sherman,  of  Xew  York,  for  Vice  President.  On 
July  /th  the  democratic  national  convention  assembled  in  Denver,  Colorado.  Wil- 
liam J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska,  and  John  W.  Kern,  of  Indiana,  were  named  for 
President  and  Vice  President,  respectively.  The  populist  candidates  were  Thomas 
E.  Watson,  of  Georgia,  and  Samuel  Williams,  of  Indiana,  and  the  socialists  renom- 
inated their  candidate  of  1904  {Eugene  V.  Debs,  of  Indiana)  for  President,  and 
Emil  Seidel,  of  Wisconsin,  for  Vice  President. 

In  Wyoming  the  republicans  nominated  for  presidential  electors  John  W.  Hay, 
Fred  Waegle  and  Thomas  A.  Cosgriff ;  the  democratic  candidates  were  Andrew 
McMicken,  John  Howard  and  Barnett  G.  Rogers;  the  popuhst  candidates  were 
Thomas  Crosbie,  William  W.  Paterson  and  John  T.  Hawkins.  At  the  election 
of  November  3.  1908,  the  republican  electors  received  20,846  votes;  the  demo- 
cratic electors,  14,918;  and  the  populist  electors,  1,715.  A  few  votes  were  cast 
for  the  socialist  and  prohibition  candidates.  For  representative  in  Congress, 
Frank  W.  Mondell,  the  republican  candidate,  received  21,431  votes  to  13,643  cast 
for  Hayden  M.  White,  democrat,  and  2,486  for  James  Morgan,  the  candidate  of 
the  people's  party. 

TEXTH    LEGISLATURE 

The  tenth  session  of  the  Wyoming  State  Legislature  commenced  at  Cheyenne 
on  January   12,   1909.     The  Senate  organized  by  electing  Edward  T.  Clark,  of 


244  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Laramie  County,  president,  and  the  House  selected  as  speaker  C.  E.  Hayden.  of 
Bighorn  County. 

During  the  closing  years  of  President  Roosevelt's  administration  the  subject 
of  conserving  the  natural  resources  of  the  nation  w-as  one  of  considerable  interest. 
In  May.  1908,  a  meeting  of  the  governors  of  the  several  states  was  held  in  Wash- 
ington, upon  the  President's  invitation,  to  exchange  ideas  and  views  upon  this 
question.  Governor  Brooks,  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature  in  1909,  referred 
to  this  congress  of  governors  and  gave  his  opinions  upon  the  subject  of  conser- 
vation. He  began  this  part  of  his  message  by  referring  to  the  constitutional 
provision  that:  "The  water  of  all  natural  streams,  springs,  lakes  or  other  col- 
lections of  still  water,  within  the  boundaries  of  the  state,  are  hereby  declared 
to  be  the  property  of  the  state." 

"Our  water  power  resources."  said  the  governor,  "have  an  enormous  value 
and  should  be  developed  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  state,  rather  than  made  a 
means  of  taxing  the  state  for  the  enrichment  of  outside  corporations.  There 
should  be  no  possible  loophole  whereby  wealthy  syndicates  can  acquire,  free  of 
cost,  water  rights  that  in  future  years  can  only  be  extinguished  by  condemnation. 
There  is  no  reason  in  economics  or  good  government  why  any  state  should  give 
away  property  of  such  inestimable  vakie,  and  this  is  not  done  in  any  enlightened 
country  on  earth  except  our  own.  Every  power  privilege  granted  in  Wyoming 
should  be  in  the  nature  of  a  license,  subject  to  an  annual  license  fee  and  future 
regulation  of  charges  whenever  the  Legislature  sees  fit. 

"Unfortunately,  the  present  policy  relative  to  the  conservation  of  this,  like 
other  natural  resources,  seems  to  be  to  accomplish  all  reforms  through  Federal 
agencies.  The  limelight  is  all  on  the  national  stage.  Reforms  and  good  policies 
are  not  to  be  struggled  for  at  home,  but  are  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  Federal 
departments,  whose  chiefs  are  overanxious  to  strengthen  their  departments,  and 
as  they  are  not  acquainted  with  local  conditions,  their  meddlesome  activity  fre- 
quently acts  as  a  hindrance  to  our  development,  and  hence  irritates  our  people. 

"Reforms,  in  a  great  measure,  ought  to  be  left  to  the  virtue  and  patriotism  of 
the  state  and  county,  and  local  control  in  these  matters  will  bring  far  better  and 
more  satisfactory  results.  To  say  the  state  cannot  and  will  not  do  the  right  thing 
is  disproved  by  what  Wyoming  is  doing  in  irrigation.  It  is  in  effect  to  say  tha*- 
self-government  is  a  failure  and  must  be  replaced  by  bureaucratic  rule." 

This  message  of  Governor  Brooks  has  been  quoted  at  length,  because  the 
subject  of  conservation  of  natural  resources  is  one  in  which  the  people  of  Wyo- 
ming are  deeply  interested.  In  1908,  the  year  before  this  message  was  delivered 
to  the  Legislature,  it  cost  the  Federal  Government  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  manage  the  forest  reserves  in  the  State  of  Wyoming.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  reserves  could  have  been  managed  by  the  state  authorities 
for  a  much  less  sum  and  in  a  more  satisfactory  manner. 

Governor  Brooks  again  called  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the  inequali- 
ties existing  in  Wyoming's  system  of  assessing  property  and  levying  taxes.  On 
this  subject  he  said :  "Nearly  a  year  ago  I  determined  to  appoint  a  commission 
of  five  well  known  citizens  to  examine  the  taxation  laws  of  \\'yoming,  suggest 
changes,  correct  irregularities,  etc.  The  commission  appointed  consisted  of  Wil- 
liam R.  Schnitger,  William  E.  Mullen.  A.  D.  Cook,  John  E.  Hay  and  L.  G.  Duhig. 
Des]5ite  the   fact  that  this  commission  would  receive  no  compensation,  and  that 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  245 

the  duties  outlined  would  require  close  attention,  much  time  and  considerable 
personal  expense,  all  members  of  the  commission  accepted  the  appointment 
promptly  and  from  a  pure  sense  of  public  duty  assumed  the  responsibilities  with- 
out hesitation.  They  have  performed  their  work  faithfully  and  well,  and  I  take 
this  opportunity  to  express  my  deep  appreciation  to  every  individual  member  of 
that  commission  for  faithful  services.  They  have  gone  into  the  matter  carefully 
and  after  thorough  investigation  have  submitted  a  full  report  and  outlined  a  bill 
for  the  improvement  of  our  system  of  taxation.  ' 

In  response  to  the  governor's  recommendations  on  this  subject,  and  in  line 
with  the  report  of  the  commission,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  creating  the 
ofifice  of  "commissioner  of  taxation,"  said  commissioner  to  be  appointed  by 
the  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  bill  provided  for 
a  salary  of  $2,500  per  year  and  fixed  the  term  of  office  at  four  years.  The  commis- 
sioner was  to  have  and  exercise  authority  over  the  administration  of  all  assess- 
ments, to  advise  assessors  and  boards  of  county  commissioners,  make  appraisements 
of  all  railroad  property,  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  express  companies  and 
sleeping  car  companies  doing  business  in  Wyoming,  etc.  John  McGill,  of  Albany 
County,  was  appointed  the  first  commissioner  of  taxation  under  the  new  law. 

A  state  board  of  immigration  of  three  members,  to  be  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor, was  created  by  the  tenth  Legislature,  and  the  sum  of  $11,000  was  appro- 
priated for  the  use  of  the  board  in  collecting,  publishing  and  disseminating  infor- 
mation regarding  the  state  and  its  resources,  and  state,  county  and  other  officials 
were  required  by  the  act  to  furnish  the  board  information  concerning  their 
respective  localities. 

Another  act  of  this  session  created  a  board  of  three  citizens  to  conduct  experi- 
ments in  dry  farming.  The  members  of  the  board  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor  and  when  organized,  the  board  was  authorized  to  employ  a  director 
of  the  experiments  at  a  salary  not  exceeding  two  thousand  dollars.  An  appro- 
priation of  $5,000  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  experiments. 

Other  acts  of  the  session  provided  for  the  seizure  and  destruction  of  gambling 
devices ;  for  the  proper  ventilation  of  coal  mines :  for  a  system  of  recording 
brands  on  live  stock,  and  repealing  all  laws  in  conflict  therewith ;  for  a  branch 
of  the  Wyoming  General  Hospital  at  Casper :  creating  Park  Count\- ;  and  to 
encourage  the  destruction  of  predatory  wild  animals. 

ELECTION   OF   I910 

In  the  political  campaign  of  ic;io  a  new  feature  was  introduced.  During  the 
session  of  Congress  that  began  in  December,  1909,  a  number  of  republican  mem- 
bers, dissatisfied  with  the  rulings  of  Speaker  Cannon,  united  with  the  democrats 
to  amend  the  rules  of  the  House  in  such  a  manner  as  to  deprive  the  speaker  of 
some  of  his  power.  These  republican  members,  most  of  whom  were  from  the 
western  states,  received  the  name  of  "insurgents."  Their  action  was  indorsed, 
however,  by  a  large  number  of  republicans  throughout  the  country  and  the  term 
"insurgents,"  first  used  in  derision,  became  popular.  Joseph  M.  Carey,  former 
United  States  senator  from  Wyoming,  dissatisfied  with  numerous  acts  of  the  Taft 
administration  during  the  first  years  of  its  existence,  and  with  the  republican  party 


246  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

management  of  state  affairs,  announced  himself  as  an  independent  candidate  for 
the  office  of  governor. 

The  repubhcan  state  convention  at  RawHns  on  Thursday,  September  15,  19 10, 
marked  the  active  opening  of  the  campaign.  William  E.  ^lullen,  of  Sheridan, 
was  nominated  for  governor;  William  R.  Schnitger,  of  Cheyenne,  secretary  of 
state;  Robert  B.  Forsyth,  of  Rock  Springs,  auditor  of  state;  John  L.  Baird, 
of  Newcastle,  treasurer  of  state;  Archibald  D.  Cook,  of  Douglas,  superintendent 
of  public  instruction ;  Charles  N.  Potter,  of  Cheyenne,  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  Frank  W.  Mondell,  of  Newcastle,  representative  in  Congress. 

The  platform  adopted  by  the  convention  indorsed  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Taft,  and  also  that  of  Governor  Brooks ;  urged  the  reelection  of  Clarence 
D.  Clark  to  the  United  States  senate;  expressed  satisfaction  with  the  Payne- 
Aldrich  tariff  bill  enacted  by  the  previous  session  of  Congress ;  and  declared  in 
favor  of  the  contract  system  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  the  Wyoming 
penitentiary. 

On  Tuesday,  September  20,  1910,  the  democratic  state  convention  assembled 
at  Sheridan.  A  committee,  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  county  in  the 
state,  was  appointed  to  confer  with  Joseph  M.  Carey  in  relation  to  his  accepting 
a  nomination  for  governor  from  the  convention,  upon  a  platform  embodying  his 
views  on  certain  public  questions.  Mr.  Carey  gave  his  assent  and  made  some 
suggestions  as  to  what  the  platform  should  embrace.  The  name  of  W.  L.  Kuyken- 
dall  was  presented  as  a  candidate  for  governor,  but  it  was  immediately  withdrawn, 
and  upon  the  only  ballot  taken  Joseph  M.  Carey  received  105  votes  ;  J.  B.  Hen- 
derson, of  Lander,  thirty-six  votes,  one  delegate  not  voting.  Frank  L.  Houx,  of 
Cody,  was  then  nominated  for  secretary  of  state ;  George  C.  Forsythe,  of  Lusk, 
auditor  of  state;  Earl  Whedon,  of  Sheridan,  treasurer  of  state;  Rose  A.  Bird,  of 
Newcastle,  superintendent  of  public  instruction ;  Thomas  H.  Gibson,  of  Laramie, 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  William  B.  Ross,  of  Cheyenne,  representative  in 
Congress. 

The  platform  declared  in  favor  of  a  constitutional  amendment  for  the  initiative 
and  referendum ;  the  enactment  of  a  law  pro\iding  for  the  nomination  of  all  state 
and  county  candidates  at  a  primary  election;  the  passage  of  a  corrupt  practices 
act;  the  conservation  of  natural  resources;  an  eight-hour  day  for  workmen  em- 
ployed upon  all  public  works ;  and  an  act  to  prohibit  the  use  of  large  campaign 
funds  by  political  parties. 

Li  this  campaign  the  socialist  party  placed  a  full  ticket  in  the  field,  to-wit : 
AMlliam  A\'.  Paterson,  for  governor :  Lyman  Payne,  secretary  of  state ;  Joseph 
A.  Johnson,  auditor  of  state;  Gabriel  Silfvast.  treasurer  of  state;  Lucy  Bode, 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  ;  H.  \'.  S.  Groesbeck.  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court ;  James  Morgan,  representative  in  Congress. 

The  election  of  1910  was  held  on  the  8th  of  November  and  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  a  "mixed  ticket,"  the  democrats  electing  the  governor,  secretary  of 
state  and  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  and  the  republicans  electing  the 
auditor  and  treasurer  of  state,  the  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  repre- 
sentative in  Congress.  For  governor,  Carey  received  21,086  votes  ;  Mullen,  15.235  ; 
and  Paterson,  1,605.  Carey's  plurality  was  the  largest  received  by  any  of  the 
candidates.  Houx  was  elected  secretary  of  state  by  a  plurality  of  only  thirty- 
seven  votes,   and   Miss   Bird  defeated    Mr.    Cook   for   superintendent  of   public 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  2-17 

instruction  by  a  plurality  of  1,343.  The  pluralities  of  the  victorious  republican 
candidates  were  as  follows:  Auditor  of  state,  766;  treasurer  of  state,  207;  jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Court,  1,059.  Mondell  defeated  Ross  for  Congress  by  a  vote 
of  20,312  to  14,609.  Morgan,  the  socialist  candidate  for  representative  in  Con- 
gress, polled  2,155  votes,  the  highest  number  of  any  of  the  socialist  candidates. 

CAREV's  ADMINISTRATIOX 

Joseph  jVI.  Carey,  sixth  governor  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  was  born  at 
Milton,  Sussex  County,  Delaware,  January  19,  1845.  His  early  education  was 
acquired  in  the  schools  of  his  native  town,  after  which  he  spent  two  years  in 
Union  College  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  and  then  began  the  study  of  law  with 
Benjamin  F.  Temple,  of  Philadelphia,  In  1867  he  graduated  in  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  began  practice  in  Philadelphia. 
When  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1869,  President 
Grant  appointed  Mr.  Carey  United  States  district  attorney  for  the  new  territory. 
This  office  he  held  until  1871,  when  he  was  appointed  associate  justice  of  the 
Territorial  Supreme  Court.  In  1876  he  retired  from  the  bench  to  devote  his 
attention  to  his  large  live  stock  interests,  in  which  he  engaged  in  1871  with  his 
brother,  R.  D.  Carey,  operating  in  both  Wyoming  and  the  Dakotas. 

In  1880  Mr.  Carey  was  elected  mayor  of  Cheyenne  and  was  twice  reelected, 
holding  the  office  for  three  consecutive  terms.  In  1884  he  was  elected  delegate 
to  Congress,  which  office  he  likewise  held  for  three  successive  terms.  While  a 
delegate  in  Congress  he  introduced  the  bill  under  which  Wyoming  was  admitted 
to  statehood,  and  in  1890  he  was  elected  one  of  the  first  United  States  senators 
from  the  new  state.  From  1876  to  1896  he  was  a  member  of  the  republican 
national  committee ;  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Wyoming  Development 
Company  in  1885  ;■  was  for  a  time  president  of  the  W  heatland  Roller  Mill  Com- 
pany; and  he  and  his  associates  erected  some  of  the  best  business  blocks  in  the 
City  of  Cheyenne.  In  1894  Union  College  made  him  an  honorary  chancellor  and 
conferrred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  In  1910  he  was  elected  governor  of 
Wyoming.  Upon  retiring  from  that  office  in  January,  191 5,  he  again  became 
actively  interested  in  stock  raising  and  real  estate  operations.  Mr.  Carey's  name 
is  inseparably  linked  with  the  "Carey  Arid  Land  Law,"  which  was  the  first  act 
passed  by  Congress  on  the  subject  of  irrigation. 

ELEVENTH   LEGISL.\TURE 

Governor  Carey  took  the  oath  of  office  on  January  2,  191 1,  and  the  eleventh 
session  of  the  State  Legislature  was  convened  at  Cheyenne  on  the  loth.  Jacob 
M.  Schwoob,  of  Bighorn  County,  was  elected  president  of  the  Senate,  and 
L.  R.  Davis,  of  Crook  County,  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House.  In  his  message. 
Governor  Carey  devoted  considerable  attention  to  the  subjects  of  the  initiative 
and  referendum  and  the  recall  of  public  officials. 

"The  initiative  and  referendum,"  said  he.  "are  being  considered  and  adopted 
in  many  of  the  states,  and  I  believe  they  will  be -generally  tried.  I  earnestly  ask 
you  to  consider  the  matter.  Representative  government  is  not  destroyed,  but 
the  Legislature  is  able  to  secure  the  expressed  will  of  the  people." 


248  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

On  the  subject  of  the  recall  he  said:  "The  recall  of  an  elected  officer  who 
disobeys  the  will  of  the  people  and  who  proves  untnie  to  his  trust,  though  adopted 
in  several  of  the  states,  has  only  been  resorted  to  in  one  or  two  instances.  The 
power  to  exercise  this  power  seems  to  have  deterred  even  the  unprincipled  from 
violating  their  pledges.  It  simply  means  that  the  people  reserve  to  themselves 
the  right  that  the  employer  has  to  dismiss  an  unfaithful  and  dishonest  servant." 

Section  2  of  the  second  part  of  Article  3  of  the  state  constitution  provides 
that :  "The  Legislature  shall  provide  by  law  for  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  state  in  the  year  1895,  and  every  tenth  year  thereafter,  and  at  the 
session  next  following  such  enumeration,  and  also  at  the  session  next  following 
an  enumeration  made  by  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  revise  and 
adjust  the  apportionment  for  senators  and  representatives,  on  a  basis  of  such 
enumeration  according  to  ratios  fixed  by  law." 

In  accordance  with  this  section,  it  became  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  of  191 1 
to  readjust  the  apportionment.  In  referring  to  the  matter  the  governor  said: 
"The  census  reports  for  Wyoming  have  been,  so  far  as  population  is  concerned, 
fully  determined  in  the  case  of  each  county.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  these  appor- 
tionments are  not  always  followed  by  the  best  of  feeling  in  all  the  counties,  as 
the  claim  is  usually  made  that  the  ratios  are  fixed  so  as  to  give  some  counties 
an  undue  power  in  the  Legislature,  through  the  manipulation  of  the  fractions 
that  occur  by  the  use  of  arbitrary  divisions." 

On  February  18,  191 1,  Governor  Carey  approved  an  apportionment  act  which 
provided  that:  "Each  organized  county  in  the  State  of  Wyoming  shall  constitute 
a  separate  senatorial  and  representative  district,  and  until  otherwise  provided 
by  law,  each  organized  county  as  aforesaid  shall  have  representation  in  the  Wyo- 
ming State  Legislature  as  follows :'' 

Counties  Senators     Representatives 

Albany 2  ■  4 

Bighorn 2  3 


Carbon  .  . 
Converse 
Crook  .  . . 
Fremont  . 
Johnson  . 
Laramie  . 
Xatrona  . 
Park    ... 


2 


Sheridan   3  7 

Sweetwater 2  4 

Uinta 3  7 

Weston    I  2 


Totals 


Among  the  acts  passed  during  the  session  was  one  submitting  to  the  people 
an   amendment   to   Section    i,   .Article   3   of    the   constitution,    so   that   it    should 


HISTORY  OF  WYO.AIING  249 

read  as  follows:  "Section  i.  The  legislative  power  of  the  state  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  which  shall  be  designated  'The  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  of  Wyoming,'  but  the  people  reserve  to  themselves  the  power 
to  propose  laws  and  amendments  to  the  constitution  and  to  enact  or  reject  the 
same  at  the  polls,  and  also  reserve  the  power  at  their  option  to  approve  or  reject 
at  the  polls  any  act  of  the  Legislature." 

The  proposed  amendment  also  provided  that  the  first  power  (the  initiative) 
could  be  called  into  use  when  25  per  cent  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  state,  by 
petition,  asked  that  any  certain  measure  be  enacted  into  law,  such  petition  to 
be  filed  with  the  secretary  of  state  at  least  four  months  before  a  general  election. 
The  second  power  (the  referendum)  could  be  ordered  against  any  act  of  the 
Legislature  (except  those  relating  to  appropriations)  after  it  had  become  a  law, 
when  25  per  cent  of  the  legal  voters  petitioned  for  its  submission  and  filed  the 
petition  with  the  secretary  of  state  ninety  days  before  the  election. 

Seven  new  counties  were  created  at  this  session,  to-wit :  Campbell,  Goshen, 
Hot  Springs,  Lincoln,  Niobrara.  Platte  and  Washakie,  and  an  act  supplementary 
to  those  creating  the  above  counties  proxided  for  defraying  the  expenses  of 
their  organization. 

On  February  11,  191 1,  the  governor  affixed  his  signature  to  an  act  of  fifty- 
three  sections  known  as  the  "Direct  Primary  Law."  Section  i  of  the  act  provides 
that:  "From  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  the  candidates  of  political  parties 
for  all  offices  which  under  the  law  are  filled  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  people  of 
this  state  at  the  general  election  in  November :  candidates  for  the  office  of  senator 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  elected  at  the  primary  elections  at 
the  times  and  in  the  manner  hereinafter  provided." 

A  political  party  is  defined  by  the  act  as  an  organization  "which  at  the  last 
preceding  general  election  cast  for  its  candidate  for  representative  in  Congress 
at  least  10  per  cent  of  the  total  vote  cast  at  said  election,"  and  the  time  fixed  for 
holding  the  primary  election  is  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  third  Monday  in 
.August.  The  act  further  provides  that  state  conventions  for  the  nomination  of 
candidates  for  presidential  electors  shall  be  held  on  the  second  Monday  in  May 
in  the  years  when  a  President  and  \'ice  President  of  the  United  States  are  to  be 
elected. 

A  "Corrupt  Practices  Act"  was  approved  by  the  governor  on  February  17, 
191 1.  Under  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  campaign  expenses  of  candidates 
for  office  are  limited  to  20  per  cent  of  one  year's  salary  or  compensation  for  the 
primary  election,  and  a  like  amount  for  the  general  election.  Every  candidate 
is  required  to  render  to  the  county  clerk,  within  twenty  days  after  each  primary 
or  general  election,  an  itemized  statement  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  him  during 
the  campaign,  with  a  list  of  things  of  value  promised  by  himself  or  others  to 
secure  his  nomination  or  election. 

County  chairmen  of  central  committees  are  also  required  to  file  an  itemized 
statement  of  contributions  and  expenses  with  the  county  clerk;  district  and  state 
chairmen  with  the  secretary  of  state.  The  act  prohibits  any  campaign  committee 
from  receiving  contributions  from  corporations,  and  candidates  are  not  permitted 
to  hire  the  ser\'ices  of  any  voter.  Anyone  violating  any  of  the  provisions  of  the 
act,  or  failing  to  perform  the  duties  required  thereby,  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  not 
more  than  one  thousand  dollars,  or  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  a  period 


250  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

not  exceeding  one  year,  or  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment,  in  the  discretion  of 
the  court. 

Two  state  institutions  were  estabhshed  by  the  Legislature  of  191 1,  viz.:  The 
Wyoming  Industrial  Institute  and  the  \\'yoming  School  for  Defectives.  By  the 
act  creating  the  former  it  was  provided  that  the  institute  should  be  located  by 
vote  at  the  general  election  in  November,  1912.  At  the  election  the  Town  of 
Worland  received  the  largest  vote  and  the  institute  was  located  there.  The  school 
for  defectives  was  located  by  the  Legislature  at  Lander,  "for  the  treatment  and 
education  of  epileptics  and  feeble-minded  persons."  The  10,000  acres  of  land 
granted  to  the  state  by  the  act  of  July  10,  1890,  for  the  poor  farm  in  Fremont 
County,  with  all  its  rental  and  income,  was  transferred  to  the  school  for  defectives, 
and  the  following  appropriations  for  the  institution  were  made:  $10,500  for 
equipping  and  furnishing;  $20,000  for  support  and  maintenance,  and  Sio.ooo  for 
providing  water  and  sewer  connections. 

B.\TTLESHIP   WYOMING 

An  appropriation  of  $7,500,  "or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,"  was 
made  by  the  Legislature  of  191 1  to  purchase  a  silver  set,  or  other  suitable  token, 
for  the  Battleship  Wyoming.  This  vessel  was  launched  in  May,  191 1,  and  was 
christened  by  Miss  Dorothy  Knight,  daughter  of  the  late  Jesse  Knight,  one  of 
the  justices  of  the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court. 

The  silver  service  of  over  sixty  pieces  was  designed  by  the  Buechner  Jewelry 
Company  of  Cheyenne  and  was  manufactured  by  the  Gorham  Company  of  New 
York.  Upon  one  side  of  the  great  punch  bowl  was  the  figure  of  Sacajawea,  the 
Snake  Indian  woman  who  acted  as  guide  to  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804,  and  who 
is  said  to  be  buried  on  the  AMnd  River  reservation  in  Wyoming,  and  on  the  other 
side  a  white  woman  dressed  in  civilized  costume.  In  the  main  platter  was  a 
representation  of  the  state  capitol  building  at  Cheyenne.  Each  piece  in  the  set 
U'as  bordered  by  the  flower  of  the  blue  gentian,  the  whole  making  an  artistic 
gift  of  the  state  to  one  of  the  greatest  battleships  in  the  United  States  navy. 

WESTERN  governors'  SPECIAL      ' 

Early  in  the  fall  of  191 1.  ex-Governor  James  H.  Brady,  of  Idaho,  conceived 
the  idea  of  running  a  special  train  from  the  states  of  the  Northwest  to  the  eastern 
part  of  the  country,  to  exhibit  the  products  and  advertise  the  resources  of  those 
states  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  immigration.  He  enlisted  the  cooperation 
of  Louis  Hill,  president,  and  James  Hill,  chairman  of  the  executive  committee, 
of  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  Company,  which  bore  the  greater  part  of  the 
expense  of  the  undertaking.  These  gentlemen  foresaw  that  if  the  advertising 
of  the  Northwest  resulted  in  bringing  immigrants  to  those  states,  the  shipment 
of  products  would  naturally  increase  correspondingly  and  the  cost  of  the  "West- 
ern Governors'  Special,''  as  the  train  was  called,  would  be  bread  cast  upon  the 
waters  to  be  returned  after  many  days. 

The  following  states  were  represented,  chiefly  by  the  governors :  California, 
Oregon,  Washington,  Idaho.  ^Montana,  Colorado,  North  Dakota.  South  Dakota, 
Wyoming  and  ^Minnesota.     Each  state  was  furnished  space  for  a  display  of  its 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  251 

products  and  resources.  Wyoming  occupied  about  half  of  one  of  the  cars  and 
her  display,  collected  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  the  board  of  immigration,  pre- 
sented an  interesting  and  creditable  exhibit  of  the  possibilities  of  the  state.  The 
material  furnished  by  the  several  states  was  sent  to  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  the  starting 
point  of  the  "special.''  At  lo  P.  M.,  November  27,  191 1,  the  train  of  eleven 
cars,  consisting  of  new  steel  parlor  cars,  exhibition  cars  and  baggage  cars,  left 
St.  Paul  and  arrived  in  Chicago  the  next  morning.  From  that  point  the  trip 
included  the  states  of  Michigan,  New  York.  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
District  of  Columbia,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  In  his  message  to  the  Legis- 
lature in  1913,  Governor  Carey  said : 

"The  exhibition  cars  were  thrown  open  to  the  crowds  at  every  place  where 
there  was  a  stop.  The  representatives  of  the  states  included  in  the  train  were 
most  hospitably  received  everywhere.  The  people  all  along  the  route  showed 
their  anxiety  to  know  of  the  Northwest.  At  each  of  the  many  towns  and  cities 
visited,  speeches  and  addresses  were  made  telling  of  the  resources  of  the  North- 
west." 

At  Kalamazoo,  ]\Iich.,  the  public  schools  were  closed  while  the  train  was  in 
the  city  and  hundreds  of  school  children,  accompanied  by  their  teachers,  passed 
through  the  cars.  At  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  where  the  arrival  of  the  train  had  been 
well  advertised,  10,000  people,  many  of  them  farmers,  saw  the  display.  As  they 
passed  through  the  cars  frequent  remarks  were  overheard,  such  as :  "Why,  I 
thought  the  West  was  nothing  but  a  desert,"  "I  certainly  am  going  to  see  that 
country,"'  etc.,  showing  the  interest  of  the  visitors  to  be  more  than  mere  curiosity. 

The  train  arrived  at  St.  Paul  on  December  16,  igii,  having  been  "on  the 
road"  for  nineteen  days,  during  which  time  nine  states,  and  a  large  number  of 
cities  and  educational  institutions  were  visited.  Just  before  the  arrival  at  St. 
Paul  those  on  board  effected  a  permanent  organization  including  the  states  of 
California,  Oregon,  Idaho,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Wyoming. 
North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Minnesota,  Montana  and  Utah.  James  H.  Brady 
•was  elected  president  and  Reilly  Atkinson,  secretary. 

CAMP.MGN  OF  1912 

L'nder  the  direct  primary  act  of  February  11,  191 1,  the  tirst  political  conven- 
tions in  the  state  to  nominate  presidential  electors,  etc.,  were  held  on  ]\Iay  13, 
191 2,  in  Cheyenne.  Bryant  B.  Brooks  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  republican 
convention,  which  nominated  for  electors  William  B.  Sleeper,  of  Bighorn 
County :  John  Higgins,  of  Converse :  and  Andrew  Olson,  of  Carbon.  Frank  W. 
Mondell  was  renominated  for  representative  in  Congress,  and  Cyrus  Beard  for 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  As  the  national  convention  had  not  yet  been  held, 
the  following  delegates  and  alternates  were  elected :  Francis  E.  ^^'arren,  Clarence 
D.  Clark,  Frank  W.  iMondell,  Patrick  Sullivan,  W.  H.  Huntley  and  \\\  L,  Walls, 
delegates ;  C.  M.  Ebey.  John  Morton,  C.  E.  Carpenter,  J.  D.  Woodruff,  J.  A.  Gill 
and  John  Barry  alternates. 

C.  L.  Rigdon  was  elected  chairman  of  the  democratic  convention.  John  C. 
Thompson,  of  Laramie  County;  Peter  Kinney,  of  Weston;  and  Albert  L.  Brook, 
of  Johnson,  were  chosen  as  the  presidential  electors,  though  Mr.  Brook  was 
succeeded  on  the  ticket  by  Thomas  M.  Hyde.     Thomas  P.  Fahey  was  nominated 


252  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

for  representative  in  Congress,  and  Gibson  Clark  for  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  Delegates  to  the  national  convention — A.  N.  Hasenkamp.  James  E.  Mayes, 
Roy  Montgomery,  John  D.  Clark,  B.  F.  Perkins  and  P.  J.  Ouealy.  Alternates — 
George  T.  Beck,  \Villiam  Reid,  R.  B.  Hackney,  J.  L.  Jordan,  T.  S.  Taliaferro  and 
C.  L.  Decker. 

The  socialists  nominated  Otto  Humberger,  Paul  J.  Paulsen  and  John  Snaja, 
Jr.,  for  presidential  electors ;  Antony  Carlson  for  representative  in  Congress ; 
and  H.  \'.  S.  Groesbeck,  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

On  June  1 8,  1912,  the  republican  national  convention  assembled  in  Chicago. 
The  leading  candidates  for  the  Presidency  were  William  H.  Taft,  who  was  then 
President  and  a  candidate  for  a  second  term,  and  former  President  Theodore 
Roosevelt.  The  latter's  friends  charged  the  Taft  managers  with  unfair  methods 
in  seating  delegates,  etc.,  and  344  of  the  1,078  delegates  refused  to  participate 
in  the  nomination.  Only  one  ballot  was  taken.  President  Taft  receiving  the 
nomination  by  a  vote  of  540  to  107  for  Roosevelt,  with  sixty  votes  scattering  and 
si.x  delegates  absent.  \'ice  President  James  S.  Sherman  was  also  renominated, 
but  his  death  occurred  before  the  election,  and  the  vacancy  on  the  ticket  was 
filled  by  the  selection  of  Nicholas  M.  Butler,  of  New  York. 

The  democratic  national  convention  met  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  June  25.  1912, 
and  remained  in  session  until  the  2d  of  July.  Woodrow  Wilson,  of  Xew  Jersey, 
was  nominated  for  President  on  the  forty-sixth  ballot,  and  Thomas  R.  Marshall, 
of  Indiana,  was  nominated  for  Mce  President. 

The  ill  feeling  engendered  by  the  re]3ublican  national  convention  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  progressive  party,  which  held  a  convention  in  Chicago  on 
August  5-7,  1912.  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  nominated  for  President  and  Hiram 
W.  Johnson,  of  California,  for  \'ice  President.  In  Wyoming  the  presidential 
electors  on  the  progressive  ticket  were :  Thomas  Blyth.  Helen  B.  Grant  and 
Robert  R.  Selway.  Charles  E.  Winter  was  nominated  for  representative  in 
Congress,  and  E.  R.  Shipp  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

On  November  5,  1912,  occurred  the  election.  The  democratic  presidential 
electors  carried  the  state,  the  vote  being  as  follows:  Democratic,  15.310;  repub- 
lican, 14,560;  progressive,  9,132;  socialist,  2,760.  The  republican  candidates 
for  Congress  and  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  were  elected. 

TWELFTH    LEni.SI..\TURE 

In  organizing  the  twelfth  Legislature,  which  was  convened  at  Cheyenne  on 
Tuesday.  January  14,  1913,  Birney  H.  Sage,  of  Laramie  County,  was  elected 
president  of  the  Senate,  and  Martin  L.  Pratt,  of  Park  County,  speaker  of  the 
House.  In  his  message  Governor  Carey  expressed  his  regret  that  the  consti- 
tutional amendment  providing  for  the  initiative  and  referendum  failed  to  receive 
a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  the  recent  preceding  election,  and  on  the  subject 
of  taxation  he  recommended  the  creation  of  a  state  tax  commission  "consisting 
of  at  least  three  persons  who  should  devote  their  entire  time  and  attention  to  the 
questions  of  taxation  and  revenue  in  the  state,  in  the  counties,  in  the  cities  and 
in  the  school  districts.  The  powers  of  this  tax  commission  should  be  advisory, 
directory,  and  if  necessary,  compulsory." 

He  announced  that  the  tax  lew  for  the  establishment  of  the  \\'voming  Indus- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  253 

trial  Institute  at  Worland  had  resulted  in  a  fund  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  thousand  dollars  during  the  years  lyii  and  1912;  suggested  a  change  in  the 
laws  relating  to  practice  in  the  courts,  to  avoid  delay  ;  commended  the  Kansas  "Blue 
Sky  Law,"  and  referred  to  the  operations  of  the  Penn-Wyoming  Oil  Company, 
through  which  millions  of  dollars  had  been  obtained  from  credulous  people  with- 
out giving  anything  in  return. 

THE  STATE  FAIR 

For  several  years  prior  to  1913  the  state  fair  had  been  held  annually  at 
Douglas.  In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  in  1913,  Governor  Carey  said:  "The 
ground  upon  which  the  fair  buildings  stands  belongs  to  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad  Company  and  is  probably  worth  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The 
company  leased  the  land  to  the  state  at  a  nominal  rental  at  the  time  the  state  fair 
was  inaugurated  and  the  state  has  improvements  thereon  to  the  value  of  about 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  time  has  arrived  when  the  matter  of  the  state 
owning  the  land  should  be  seriously  considered. 

"The  Fair  Association  and  the  governor  have  had  the  matter  up  with  the  proper 
authorities  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  and  they  have  offered  to  give 
the  lands  to  the  state  if  the  state  will  agree  to  make  $50,000  worth  of  improve- 
ments thereon,  the  land  to  revert  to  the  railroad  company  whenever  the  state 
ceases  to  use  it  for  fair  purposes." 

Appropriations  for  the  benefit  of  the  state  fair  were  made  during  the  session 
as  follows:  $22,000  for  premiums  and  expenses  of  the  fair  for  the  years  1913 
and  1914;  $20,000  for  the  erection  of  permanent  buildings  and  general  improve- 
ments :  $7,245,  or  so  much  thereof  as  might  be  necessary  for  paying  off  the  indebt- 
edness of  the  State  Fair  Commission  of  191 2. 

MISCELLANEOUS  ACTS 

Two  constitutional  amendments  were  submitted  to  the  people  by  the  t\\elfth 
Legislature — one  authorizing  the  Legislature  to  provide  by  law  a  fund  for  the 
compensation  of  injured  employees  in  extra  hazardous  occupations,  or  for  the 
benefit  of  their  families  in  the  event  of  death  by  accident,  and  the  other  to 
provide  for  a  special  tax  on  live  stock,  the  proceeds  to  be  used  for  the  destruction 
of  predatory  animals. 

An  appropriation  of  $10,000,  or  so  much  thereof  as  might  be  necessary,  was 
made  to  pay  Wyoming's  share  of  the  cost  of  an  interstate  bridge  over  the  south 
fork  of  the  Snake  River  on  the  Idaho- Wyoming  line. 

Another  act  provided  for  the  establishment  of  an  experimental  farm  in  the 
County  of  Sweetwater,  to  consist  of  not  less  than  160  nor  more  than  320  acres, 
at  an  altitude  not  exceeding  6.300  feet,  to  "demonstrate  the  adaptability  of  the 
soil  and  climatic  conditions  for  producing  different  classes  of  grain,  grasses,  vege- 
tables, fruit  and  shade  trees,  etc..  at  such  an  altitude." 

\\'hat  might  be  termed  a  "pure  food  law"  was  passed  at  this  session.  It  pro- 
vided for  the  inspection  and  sanitation  of  all  places  where  food  products  are 
manufactured,  stored,  collected  or  sold,  such  as  canning  factories,  cheese  factories, 
slaughter  houses,  hotels,  restaurants,  etc.  The  state  dairy  and  food  commissioner 
and  his  deputies  were  authorized  to  make  inspections  as  often  as  they  deemed 


254  HISTORY  OF  ^^'YOMING 

necessary.  Employees  in  such  places  were  required  to  wear  clean  clothing,  and 
penalties  were  provided  for  adulterating  milk,  selling  or  offering  for  sale  diseased 
meats,  feeding  offal  to  animals  intended  for  food,  etc.  An  appropriation  of 
$3,500  was  made  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  act.  For  the  first  violation 
of  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  law  the  penalty  was  a  fine  of  from  ten  to  fifty 
dollars,  and  for  each  subsequent  oft'ense  a  fine  of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  dollars, 
to  which  might  be  added  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  thirty  days,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  court. 

Other  acts  of  this  session  were  those  requiring  coal  mining  companies  to 
install  and  keep  in  working  order  a  system  of  party  line  telephones  in  each  mine; 
creating  the  fifth  and  sixth  judicial  districts;  making  it  the  duty  of  the  county 
commissioners  in  each  county  to  provide  an  office  for  the  county  superintendent 
of  schools ;  extending  the  right  of  eminent  domain  to  pipe  line  companies : 
ordering  cities  and  towns  incorporated  under  special  charters  to  surrender  the 
same  and  reincorporate  under  the  general  law ;  creating  the  Oregon  Trail  Com- 
mission and  appropriating  $2,500  for  marking  the  trail :  and  to  license  and 
register  automobiles. 

POLITICAL  C.\MP.\IGN  OF    I9I4 

In  1914  a  full  state  ticket  was  to  be  elected  and  the  first  nominations  were 
made  under  the  direct  primary  law  of  February  ii,  191 1.  The  republicans 
nominated  Hilliard  S.  Ridgely  for  governor;  Birney  H.  Sage,  secretary  of  state: 
Robert  B.  Forsyth,  auditor  of  state ;  Herman  B.  Gates,  treasurer  of  state ;  Edith 
K.  O.  Clark,  superintendent  of  public  instruction;  Richard  H.  Scott,  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court ;  and  Frank  W.  Mondell,  representative  in  Congress. 

The  democratic  candidates  nominated  by  the  primary  were  as  follows :  John 
B.  Kendrick,  for  governor;  Frank  L.  Houx,  secretary  of  state;  Campbell  H. 
McW'hinnie,  auditor  of  state ;  Fred  L.  Thompson,  treasurer  of  state ;  Iva  T. 
Irish,  superintendent  of  public  instruction;  Charles  E.  Blydenburgh,  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court ;  Douglas  A.  Preston,  representative  in  Congress. 

In  the  primary  the  progressives  voted  for  John  B.  Kendrick  for  governor, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  progressive  ticket  was  as  follows:  E.  C.  Raymond, 
secretary  of  state  :  Mortimer  N.  Grant,  auditor  of  state ;  F.  S.  Knittle,  treasurer 
of  state ;  Minnie  \\'illiams.  superintendent  of  public  instruction ;  Fred  H.  Blume, 
representative  in  Congress.  No  nomination  was  made  by  this  party  for  justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court.  Mortimer  X.  Grant  withdrew  and  the  vacancy  on  the 
ticket  was  filled  by  Thomas  Blyth,  who  had  been  one  of  the  progressive  candidates 
for  presidential  elector  in  1912. 

The  socialists  nominated  their  candidates  by  a  state  convention,  to  wit :  Paul 
J.  Paulsen,  for  governor;  \\'illiam  Hill,  for  secretary  of  state;  John  A.  Green, 
for  auditor  of  state ;  William  \\\  Paterson,  for  treasurer  of  state ;  Robert  Hanna, 
for  superintendent  of  public  instruction ;  E.  D.  MacDougall,  for  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court ;  and  Antony  Carlson,  for  representative  in  Congress. 

John  B.  Kendrick  received  23,387  votes  at  the  general  election  on  November 
3,  1914,  to  19,174  cast  for  Ridgely,  the  republican  candidate,  and  1,816  for 
Paulsen,  socialist.  Frank  L.  Houx  was  reelected  secretary  of  state  by  a  plurality 
of  170,  and  the  republican  candidates  for  all  the  other  offices  were  elected. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  255 

kendrick's  administration 

John  B.  Kendrick,  who  was  elected  governor  of  Wyoming  in  1914,  was 
born  in  Cherokee  County.  Texas,  September  6,  1857.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  a 
ranch,  receiving  his  education  in  the  common  schools.  In  March,  1879,  he  became 
a  cowboy  on  the  "Texas  Trail,"  and  that  season  trailed  cattle  from  the  Gulf 
coast  to  the  Running  Water  in  Wyoming,  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles.  In 
August,  1879,  he  located  in  ^^■yoming  as  foreman  on  the  ranch  of  his  father-in- 
law,  Charles  W.  Wulfjen,  where  he  remained  until  1883,  when  he  established 
the  Ula  ranch.  He  became  foreman  and  part  owner  of  the  Lance  Creek  Cattle 
Company  in  1885.  Two  years  later  he  accepted  the  position  of  range  manager 
for  the  Converse  Cattle  Company  and  in  1897  succeeded  to  the  business.  About 
that  time  he  became  interested  in  the  development  of  the  Sheridan  County  coal 
mines.  From  1900  to  1902  he  was  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Sheridan  and  was  also  extensively  interested  in  real  estate  operations.  In  1910 
he  was  elected  to  the  state  senate ;  was  the  democratic  candidate  for  United 
States  Senator  in  1912;  was  elected  governor  in  1914,  and  in  1916  was  elected 
United  States  Senator,  defeating  Clarence  D.  Clark,  for  the  term  beginning  on 
IMarch  4,  191 7. 

THIRTEENTH    LEGISLATURE 

Governor  Kendrick  took  the  oath  of  office  on  January  4,  1915,  and  the  thirteenth 
State  Legislature  was  convened  on  the  12th.  Edward  W.  Stone,  of  Laramie 
County,  was  elected  president  of  the  Senate  and  James  M.  Graham,  of  Fremont 
County,  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House.  Governor  Kendrick's  message  at  the 
opening  of  the  session  dealt  with  the  usual  topics  relating  to  the  financial  con- 
dition and  general  progress  of  the  state.  Governor  Carey,  in  his  message  of 
1913,  had  urged  the  construction  of  new  wings  to  the  capitol  building.  This 
matter  was  taken  up  at  some  length  by  Governor  Kendrick,  who  indorsed  the 
utterances  of  Governor  Carey  of  two  years  before?  He  also  recommended  the 
establishment  of  more  experimental  farms  and  announced  the  completion  of  the 
Institute  buildings  at  Worland. 

workmen's  compensation  ACT 

"At  the  last  general  election,"  said  Governor  Kendrick  in  his  message  of 
1915,  "an  amendment  to  our  constitution  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  the  electors 
of  the  state,  providing  for  a  workmen's  compensation  act.  The  vote  on  this 
amendment  was  duly  canvassed  and  the  proper  proclamation  of  its  adoption 
was  made  by  my  predecessor.  Governor  Carey.  An  amendment  to  the  constitution 
is  a  direct  mandate  from  the  people,  and  is  therefore  an  obligation  to  be  assumed 
by  the  Legislature  at  its  earliest  opportunity. 

"I  would  recommend  in  framing  such  a  law.  that  due  care  be  exercised  to 
fulfill  every  function  contemplated,  that  every  provision  be  included  to  render 
a  just  compensation  to  the  injured,  or,  in  case  of  death,  to  those  dependent  upon 
him.  But,  at  the  same  time,  such  a  law  should  be  calculated  to  avoid,  so  far 
as  possible,  the  working  of  a  hardship  on  the  industry  that  pays  the  tax." 


256  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

On  February  27.  191 5,  the  governor  approved  a  compensation  act  providing 
for  the  establishment  of  a  "State  Industrial  Accident  Fund."'  Extra-hazardous 
occupations  were  defined  and  an  appropriation  of  $30,000  was  made  at  the  state's 
first  contribution  to  the  fund.  Section  15  also  provided  that  "There  is  also  ap- 
propriated annually,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law.  out  of  any  moneys  in  the 
state  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  a  sum  equal  to  one-fourth  of  the  total 
sum  which  shall  be  received  by  the  state  treasurer  from  employers  under  the 
provisions  of  section  16  hereof,  not,  however,  to  exceed  the  sum  of  $40,000.'' 

Section  16,  above  referred  to,  provided  that  every  employer  engaged  in  any 
of  the  occupations  defined  as  extra-hazardous  should  pay  into  the  Industrial 
Accident  Fund  a  sum  equal  to  two  per  cent  of  the  wages  earned  by  all  his  em- 
ployees. By  a  supplementary  act.  approved  on  February  19,  191 7,  the  state  ap- 
propriations were  discontinued  and  the  tax  on  employers  was  reduced  to  one  and 
one-half  per  cent.  The  amendatory  act  also  fixed  a  schedule  of  compensation 
for  all  classes  of  injuries,  ranging  from  $75  for  the  loss  of  a  toe  (except  the 
great  toe)  to  $1,000  for  the  loss  of  an  arm  above  the  elbow  ot  a  leg  above  the 
knee.  In  cases  of  permanent  total  disability  the  injured  person  receives  $1,400 
if  single  and  $1,600  if  married,  with  $60  per  year  for  each  child  under  the  age  of 
sixteen  years  until  such  child  is  sixteen.  Where  the  total  disability  is  only 
temporary,  the  injured  workman  receives  $18  per  month  if  single,  $24  if  married, 
with  an  addition  of  $5  per  month  for  each  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years, 
until  able  to  resume  work. 

In  the  event  of  death  by  accident,  the  surviving  widow  or  invalid  husband  is 
entitled  to  receive  $1,200  and  $60  per  year  for  each  child  under  sixteen  years 
of  age  until  said  child  reaches  the  age  of  sixteen.  Fifty  dollars  for  funeral 
expenses   are   also   allowed    in   addition   to   the   above. 

County  assessors  are  required  to  furnish  the  state  treasurer  with  a  list  of 
employers  in  their  respective  counties  and  the  state  treasurer  collects  the  i3-< 
per  cent  assessment.  Refusal  on  the  part  of  any  employer  to  pay  the  assessment 
subjects  him  to  a  fine  of  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars.  The  attorney- 
general  is  authorized  to  institute  proceedings  in  the  name  of  the  state  and  if 
judgment  is  given  by  the  court  the  assessment  is  doubled,  together  with  the  costs. 

A  report  of  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Department  of  the  state  treasurer's 
office  for  the  fifteen  months  ending  on  December  31,  1917,  shows  the  receipts  to 
have  been  during  that  period  ( including  a  balance  of  $246,502.57  on  hand  on 
October  i,  1916)  $520,763.24.  During  the  same  period  the  amount  paid  in  com- 
pensation and  expenses  of  administration  was  $107,999.80,  leaving  a  balance  in  the 
Industrial  Accident  Fund  of  $412,763.44. 

MISCELL.\XEOUS    LEGISLATION 

Two  constitutional  amendments  were  submitted  to  the  people  by  the  thirteenth 
Legislature,  to  wit:  One  authorizing  the  investment  of  the  state  public  funds  in 
farm  mortgages,  and  the  other  providing  for  the  construction  and  improvement  of 
highways  by  the  state. 

Following  the  recommendations  of  Governor  Kendrick,  the  Legislature  appro- 
priated $5,000  for  an  experimental  farm  in  Uinta  County;  $5,000  for  another 
in   Sweetwater  County,  and  $13,000  for  a  third  one  in   Goshen  County.     The 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  257 

farms  thus  established  are  so  located  that  the  soil  and  climatic  conditions  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  state  can  be  studied  and  the  results  made  known  to  farmers 
of  all  classes. 

By  an  act  approved  on  February  19,  191 5,  a  tax  of  three-eighths  of  a  mill  on 
each  dollar  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  throughout  the  state  was  levied  for 
the  purpose  of  building  additions  to  the  capitol  at  Cheyenne.  The  capitdl  com- 
missioners were  authorized  to  obtain  plans  and  provided  for  the  erection  of  the 
new  wings  at  the  east  and,  west  ends  of  the  building.  The  commissioners  at  that 
time  were  Robert  B.  Forsyth,  Herman  B.  Gates  and  James  B.  True.  They 
employed  William  R.  Dubois  as  architect  and  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  the 
wings  was  awarded  to  John  W.  Howard.    They  were  completed  in  1917. 

The  sum  of  $12,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  the  military  armory 
at  Lander,  and  $10,000  "to  be  used  under  the  governor's  direction"  in  making 
examinations  and  surveys  of  arid  lands  with  a  view  to  their  reclamation. 

Another  act  of  this  session  provided  that  no  woman  employed  in  any  manu- 
facturing, mercantile,  baking,  canning  or  printing  establishment,  or  in  any  hotel, 
restaurant  or  telephone  exchange,  etc.,  should  be  required  to  work  more  than 
fifty-six  hours  in  any  one  week.  Any  employer  violating  any  of  the  provisions 
of  the  act  was  rendered  liable  to  a  fine  of  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  dollars,  to 
-which  might  be  added  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  a  term  of  not  less  than 
thirty  or  more  than  ninety  days. 

County  commissioners  were  given  power  to  acquire  real  estate  for  fair  grounds, 
parks,  and  for  other  purposes,  and  to  maintain  and  develop  the  same.  They  were 
also  authorized  to  render  financial  assistance  to  fair  associations. 

CAMP.MGN  OF   I916 

Under  the  primary  election  law  of  igti,  four  political  state  conventions  were 
held  in  Wyoming  on  May  8,  1 91 6.  The  republican  convention  met  at  Cheyenne 
and  was  presided  over  by  John  Dillon.  Dwight  E.  Hollister,  John  Hay,  Patrick 
Sullivan,  Curtis  L.  Hinkle  and  Thomas  Sneddon  were  chosen  delegates  to  the 
national  convention,  and  Dr.  H.  R.  Lathrop,  C.  P.  Plummer,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Hams- 
berger,  C.  A.  Zaring,  H.  J.  Chassell  and  T.  A.  Dunn,  alternates.  The  presidential 
electors  nominated  were  John  L.  Baird,  W.  E.  Chaplin  and  Jacob  A.  Del f elder. 

The  democratic  convention  was  held  at  Casper.  The  delegates  to  the  national 
convention  were :  Governor  John  B.  Kendrick,  \'ictor  T.  Johnson,  J.  J.  Cash, 
Peter  Kinney,  P.  J.  O'Connor  and  J.  Ross  Carpenter.  Alternates — Davis  Lewis, 
Mrs.  T.  S.  Taliaferro,  J.  J.  Spriggs,  N.  Farlow,  Alexander  Nesbit  and  Mrs. 
Mary  G.  Bellamy.  Benjamin  Sheldon,  John  L.  Jordan  and  T.  S.  Taliaferro 
were  named  as  presidential  electors,  but  Mr.  Sheldon  and  Mr.  Taliaferro  were 
afterward  succeeded  on  the  ticket  by  James  P.  Smith  and  A.  M.  Brock. 

The  prohibition  convention  nominated  as  presidental  electors  C.  J.  Sawyer, 
Luther  J.  Wood  and  Mrs.  Ella  Watson,  and  the  socialists  nominated  Matilda 
Hautamaki,  W.  S.  Oeland  and  Joseph  Dunning. 

The  only  nominations  made  by  the  primary  election  in  August  this  year  were 
the  candidates  for  Laiited  States  Senator  and  representative  in  Congress.  For 
United  States  Senator  the  republicans  nominated  Clarence  D.  Clark  for  reelection ; 
the    democrats    selected    as    their    candidate    Governor    John    B.    Kendrick:    the 


258  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

socialists,  Paul  J.  Paulsen;  and  the  prohibitionists,  Arthur  B.  Campbell.  Frank 
W.  Mondell  was  again  nominated  by  the  republicans  for  representative  in  Con- 
gress; John  D.  Clark  was  the  democratic  candidate;  the  socialists  nominated 
George  E.  Bateman ;  and  the  prohibitionists,  Orman  C.  King. 

In  national  politics  the  republicans  opened  the  campaign  by  holding  their 
national  convention  at  Chicago,  beginning  on  the  9th  of  June.  The  progressive 
national  convention  was  held  at  the  same  time  and  place  and  a  conference  com- 
mittee from  the  two  conventions  tried  to  arrange  a  plan  by  which  the  two  parties 
could  "get  together.'  The  progressives  insisted  upon  the  nomination  of  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  for  President,  and  after  several  meetings  of  the  conference 
committee  the  attempt  to  establish  harmony  was  abandoned.  On  the  loth  the 
republican  convention  nominated  Charles  E.  Hughes,  of  Xew  York,  for  President 
on  the  third  ballot,  and  Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  of  Indiana,  was  named  for  \'ice 
President.  The  progressives  nominated  Theodore  Roosexelt  for  President  and 
John  M.  Parker,  of  Louisiana,  for  Vice  President.  Roosevelt  declined  to  accept 
the  nomination  and  the  national  committee  of  the  party  then  indorsed  the  candidacy 
of  Hughes  and  Fairbanks 

President  Wilson  and  \'ice  President  Marshall  were  both  renominated  by 
acclamation  by  the  democratic  national  convention,  which  met  at  St.  Louis  on 
June  14,  1916. 

The  prohibition  candidates  for  President  and  \'ice  I'resident  were  J.  Frank 
Hanley,  of  Indiana,  and  Ira  Landrith,  of  ^lassachusetts.  Allan  J.  Benson,  of 
New  York,  was  nominated  by  the  socialists  for  President  and  George  R.  Kirk- 
patrick,  of  New  Jersey,  for  Vice  President, 

At  the  general  election  on  November  7,  191 6,  the  democratic  presidential  electors 
carried  the  state,  receiving  28,316  votes  to  21,698  for  the  republican  electors, 
1,453  for  the  socialists,  and  ^7^  for  the  prohibitionists.  Governor  Kendrick 
defeated  Clarence  D,  Clark  for  United  States  Senator  by  a  vote  of  26,324  to  23,258. 
Frank  W.  Mondell  was  again  elected  to  Congress  by  a  plurality  of  537.  Two 
constitutional  amendments  were  adopted  by  substantial  majorities — one  authoriz- 
ing the  investment  of  the  public  school  funds  in  farm  mortgages  and  the  other 
relating  to  the  construction  and  improvement  of  highways  by  the  state. 

FOURTEENTH  LEGISLATURE 

On  Tuesday.  January  9,  1917,  the  fourteenth  State  Legislature  was  convened 
at  the  capitol  in  Cheyenne,  Joseph  W.  Todd,  of  Johnson  County,  was  elected 
president  of  the  Senate,  and  W,  K,  Jones,  of  Laramie  County  was  chosen  speaker 
of  the  House,  The  session  lasted  until  February  17th.  In  his  message,  Governor 
Kendrick  reviewed  thoroughly  the  condition  of  the  state  finances  and  the  public 
institutions,  and  devoted  considerable  attention  to  the 

PROHIBITIOX  QUESTION 

"Within  the  last  decade,"  said  the  governor,  "there  has  been  a  tremendous 
reversal  of  opinion  throughout  our  country  upon  the  economic  aspects  of  the 
liquor  traffic.  There  has  never  been  anv  question  as  to  the  moral  issues  involved, 
nor  as  to  the  desirability  of  prohibition  from  that  standpoint.     But  the  new  angle 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  259 

from  which  the  traffic  has  been  attacked  has  developed  a  veritable  wave  of 
negative  sentiment,  until  today.  W  yoming  stands  in  a  vast  dry  area,  as  the  one 
state  which  permits  the  sale  of  intoxicants  with  little  or  no  restriction. 

"In  view  of  the  many  petitions  presented  to  the  Legislature  two  years  ago 
and  the  great  interest  manifested  by  the  people  in  the  question  during  the  last 
election,  I  am  confident  that  there  is  a  growing  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  Wyoming,  that  the  time  has  come  for  the  state  to  move  into  line  with  her 
neighbors.  Therefore,  I  earnestly  favor  early  action  on  the  part  of  the  Legis- 
lature at  this  session  which  will  afford  the  citizens  of  the  state  an  opportunity  to 
vote  upon  this  question.  In  fact,  the  right  to  vote  upon  this,  as  upon  every  other 
vital  public  issue,  involves  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  government. 
All  of  which  makes  clear  the  part  of  duty  and  indicates  an  obligation  resting  with 
the  Legislature  which  is  but  little  less  than  mandatory." 

In  response  to  the  governor's  recommendations  upon  this  subject,  the  Legis- 
lature passed  an  act,  approved  on  January  20.  1917,  submitting  the  following 
constitutional  amendment  to  the  people  at  the  general  election  in   igi8: 

"Section  i.  On  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  1920,  the  manufacture,  sale 
and  keeping  for  sale  of  malt,  \inous  or  spirituous  liquors,  wine,  ale,  porter,  beer 
or  any  intoxicating  drink,  mixture  or  preparation  of  like  nature,  except  as  herein- 
after provided,  are  hereby  prohibited  in  this  state.  Provided,  however,  that  the 
manufacture  and  sale  and  keeping  for  sale  of  such  liquors  for  medicinal,  pharma- 
ceutical, mechanical,  sacramental  and  scientific  purposes,  and  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  denatured  alcohol  for  industrial  purposes  may  be  permitted  under 
such  regulations  as  the  Legislature  may  prescribe.  The  Legislature  shall,  without 
delay,  enact  such  laws,  with  regulations,  conditions,  securities  and  penalties  as 
may  be  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  section." 

HIGHWAY  COMMIS.SION 

On  this  subject  the  governor  said  in  his  message :  "In  a  new  and  sparsely 
settled  state  of  widely  separated  communities,  no  problem  is  more  important  than 
that  involving  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  highways.  Congress,  a  few 
months  ago,  passed  a  measure  providing  Federal  aid  in  the  building  of  high- 
ways in  the  difi'erent  states.  At  the  last  election,  the  voters  of  Wyoming  adopted 
an  amendment  to  the  constitution  making  it  possible  for  our  state  to  participate 
in  this  Federal  aid,  and  the  responsibility  now  devolves  upon  the  Legislature  of 
providing  the  necessary  machinery  for  working  out  the  best  plan  for  participation. 
*  *  *  A  highway  commission  should  be  provided,  with  an  active  secretary 
who  would  be  the  principal  executive,  who  would  give  his  entire  time  to  the 
work,  and  who  would,  among  other  qualifications,  be  a  competent  civil  engineer.'' 

An  act  creating  a  state  highw-ay  comnn'ssion  was  approved  by  Governor  Kend- 
rick  on  February  19.  1917,  two  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature. 
r,y  the  provisions  of  that  act,  the  state  was  divided  into  five  highway  districts, 
to  wit:  I.  The  counties  of  Laramie,  Albany,  Platte  and  Goshen;  2.  The  counties 
of  Carbon,  Sweetwater,  Uinta  and  Lincoln ;  3.  The  counties  of  Niobrara,  Con- 
verse, Natrona  and  Fremont ;  4.  The  counties  of  Hot  Springs.  Washakie,  Bighorn 
and  Park ;  5.  The  counties  of  Sheridan.  Johnson.  Campbell.  Crook  and  \^'eston. 

The  governor  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  commission  of  five  members,  one 


260  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

from  each  of  the  above  districts,  and  not  more  than  three  of  which  should  be  of 
one  political  party.  Governor  Kendrick  appointed  M.  R.  Johnston,  of  Wheatland; 
Joseph  Kinney,  of  Cokeville;  Robert  D.  Carey,  of  Careyhurst;  Gus  Holms,  of 
Cody;  Francis  C.  Williams,  of  Sheridan,  as  the  members  of  the  commission  from 
the  respective  districts,  and  Z.  E.  Sevison,  of  Cheyenne,  was  employed  as  secre- 
tary and  state  highway  engineer.  Although  the  governor  recommended  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  commission  composed  of  citizens  interested  in  good  roads,  who 
would  serve  without  compensation  except  actual  expenses,  the  act  provides  that 
each  member  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $600. 

The  act  of  Congress,  approved  on  July  16,  1916,  "to  provide  that  the  United 
States  shall  aid  the  states  in  the  construction  of  rural  post  roads,"  etc.,  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  Wyoming  Legislature  and  the  state  highway  commission  was 
authorized  to  enter  into  contracts  with  the  United  States  Government  relating  to 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  public  highways,  the  roads  thus  designated 
and  improved  in  cooperation  with  the  United  States  department  of  agriculture  to 
be  known  as  "state  roads." 


By  an  act  of  the  fourteenth  Legislature,  approved  on  the  last  day  of  January, 
191 7.  a  state  flag  was  adopted.    The  flag  is  thus  described : 

"Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  a  state  flag  be,  and  is  hereby,  adopted  to  be  used  on 
all  occasions  when  the  state  is  officially  and  publicly  represented,  with  the 
privilege  of  use  by  all  citizens  upon  such  occasions  as  they  may  deem  fitting  and 
appropriate.  The  width  of  said  flag  shall  be  seven-tenths  of  its  length ;  the  outside 
border  to  be  in  red,  the  width  of  which  shall  be  one-twentieth  of  th^  length  of 
the  flag;  next  to  said  border  shall  be  a  stripe  of  white  on  the  four  sides  of  the 
field,  which  shall  be  in  width  one-fortieth  the  length  of  said  flag.  The  remainder 
of  said  flag  to  be  a  blue  field  in  the  center  of  which  shall  be  a  white  silouetted 
buffalo,  the  length  of  which  shall  be  one-half  the  length  of  said  blue  field ;  the 
other  measurements  of  said  buffalo  to  be  in  proportion  to  its  length.  On  the 
ribs  of  said  buffalo  shall  be  the  great  seal  of  Wyoming  in  blue.  Said  seal  shall 
be  in  diameter  one-fifth  the  length  of  said  flag.  Attached  to  the  flag  shall  be  a 
cord  of  gold  with  gold  tassels.  The  colors  to  be  used  in  said  flag  as  red,  white  and 
blue  shall  be  the  same  colors  used  in  the  flag  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

Section  2  of  the  act  provides  that  "All  penalties  provided  by  the  laws  of  this 
state  for  the  misuse  of  the  national  flag  shall  be  applicable  to  this  flag,"  and 
section  3  sets  forth  that  the  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  passage. 

On  the  same  day  that  this  act  was  approved,  the  governor  approved  another 
act  designating  the  castillia  linariaefolia  or  "Indian  Paint  Brush"  as  the  state 
flower  of  Wyoming. 

GENERAL   L.\WS 

Among  the  laws  of  a  general  nature  passed  at  this  session  was  one  providing 
that  no  new  county  should  be  organized,  nor  any  organized  county  already  es- 
tablished so  reduced  as  to  contain  fewer  than  three  thousand  bona  fide  inhabitants 
and  have  an  assessed  valuation  of  less  than  five  million  dollars. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  261 

An  appropriation  of  $750  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  removing  Jim  Baker's 
cabin  from  Carbon  County  to  Cheyenne,  to  preserve  it  as  a  rehc  of  Wyoming's 
early  days  ;  a  branch  fish  hatchery  was  ordered  to  be  established  at  Daniel,  Lincoln 
County ;  cities  and  towns  were  authorized  to  establish  zoological  gardens,  in  or 
within  five  miles  of  said  town  or  city,  and  the  state  game  commission  was  directed 
to  furnish  any  city  or  town  establishing  such  a  garden  with  animals  and  birds, 
the  cost  of  collecting  the  same  to  be  borne  by  the  town  or  city  making  the  request. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  commending  President  Wilson  for  his  action  in 
severing  diplomatic  relations  with  the  German  Government,  and  recommending 
■  that  all  able-bodied  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty-one 
years  be  compelled  to  take  at  least  one  year  of  intensive  military  training.  That 
resolution  was  adopted  several  weeks  before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
declared  war  against  Germany,  but  it  shows  the  trend  of  public  opinion  in 
Wyoming  at  that  time.  After  the  declaration  of  war,  Wyoming  was  one  of  the 
first  states  in  the  Union  to  pledge,  by  her  action,  the  loyalty  of  her  citizens  to 
the  national  administration. 

HOUX's   ADMINISTR.VTION 

Governor  John  B.  Kendrick  resigned  his  office  on  February  26,  1917,  to  enter 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  on  the  same  day  Frank  L.  Hou.x,  secretary  of 
state,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  became  acting  governor. 

Frank  L.  Houx  was  bom  near  Lexington,  Mo.,  December  12,  i860.  His 
early  education  was  acquired  in  the  common  schools,  after  which  he  attended 
business  college  in  Kansas  City  and  then  read  law  for  two  years.  From  1876  to 
1885  he  was  employed  in  commercial  pursuits.  He  then  went  to  Montana,  where 
for  ten  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  cattle  business.  In  1895  he  removed  to 
Cody,  Wyo.,  then  a  young  town,  and  engaged  in  real  estate  and  fire  insurance,  at 
the  same  time  taking  a  keen  interest  in  irrigation  projects.  He  was  elected  the 
first  mayor  of  Cody  when  the  town  was  incorporated  in  1901  ;  was  police  judge 
during  the  years  1902-03;  was  elected  mayor  again  in  1905  and  held  the  office 
continuously  for  four  years;  was  elected  secretary  of  state  in  1910  and  reelected 
in  1914.  When  Governor  Kendrick  resigned,  Mr.  Houx  assumed  the  duties  of 
governor. 

W.-\R    WITH    GERM/\NY 

The  principal  activities  of  Governor  Houx's  administration  were  in  connection 
with  the  "World  War.''  Congress  passed  the  declaration  of  war  on  April  6,  1917, 
and  soon  afterward  the  President  called  upon  the  governors  of  the  different 
states  to  recommend  persons  to  serve  on  the  boards  having  charge  of  the  regis- 
tration of  men  for  the  selective  draft.  Governor  Houx  recommended  members 
of  these  boards  in  each  of  the  twenty-one  counties  of  the  state.  His  recommenda- 
tion virtually  amounted  to  an  appointment. 

To  carry  on  the  work  of  the  war,  each  state  appointed  a  "Council  for  National 
Defense"  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  Federal  authorities  and  carry  out  their 
orders  and  suggestions.  Governor  Houx  appointed  the  Wyoming  Council  for 
National  Defense  on  April  13,   1917,  just  a  week  after  the  declaration  of  war. 


262  •    HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

As  no  funds  were  available  for  the  use  of  this  council,  the  governor  made 
arrangements  with  a  number  of  the  banks  in  the  state  to  borrow  such  sums  as 
might  be  necessary  from  time  to  time,  trusting  that  the  Legislature  of  1919  would 
indorse  and  legalize  his  acts  in  this  respect  and  make  an  emergency  appropriation 
to  reimburse  the  banks.  Some  changes  were  made  during  the  year  191 7  in  the 
membership  of  the  council,  which  on  May  i,  1918,  was  composed  as  follows: 
Maurice  Groshon,  Cheyenne ;  Robert  D.  Carey,  Careyhurst ;  P.  C.  Spencer,  Lan- 
der ;  T.  C.  Diers,  Sheridan ;  Mrs.  R.  A.  Morton,  Cheyenne,  H.  M.  Rollins,  Lyman ; 
J.  M.  Wilson,  McKinley ;  J.  H.  Berry,  Basin ;  J.  W.  Bozorth,  Burns :  E.  A. 
Swezea,  Cheyenne. 

A  declaration  of  war  means  the  raising  and  equipping  of  soldiers.  L'nder 
Governor  Houx's  administration,  and  largely  through  his  personal  efforts,  the 
Third  Regiment  of  the  Wyoming  National  Guard  was  recruited  to  war  strength 
of  1,900.  It  was  one  of  the  first  volunteer  regiments  to  be  offered  to  the  United 
States  for  service  abroad.  The  regiment  was  merged  with  the  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-eighth  Field  Artillery  and  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Ammunition 
Train  and  was  ordered  to  France  among  the  first  of  the  military  organizations 
to  leave  the  United  States. 

Upon  assuming  the  duties  of  the  chief  executive.  Acting  Governor  Houx 
endeavored  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  state  fairly  and  impartially,  especially  the 
laws  aft'ecting  public  morality.  To  this  end  he  became  a  consistent  advocate  of 
prohibition  as  one  of  the  means  of  winning  the  war.  and  he  encouraged  local  of- 
ficials in  closing  up  notorious  resorts  and  shortening  the  hours  that  saloons  could 
keep  open  during  each  twenty-four  hours. 

A  few  months  after  Mr.  Houx  became  acting  governor,  the  State  Board  of 
School  Land  Commissioners,  composed  of  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  state  and 
the  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  adopted  the  policy  of  placing  all  the 
income  derived  from  the  state  lands  into  a  permanent  fund,  the  proceeds  of 
which  are  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  schools  and  other  state  educa- 
tional institutions.  This  ruling  was  made  to  apply  with  special  force  to  the 
oil  lands.  The  time  may  come  when  the  yield  of  oil  will  decrease  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  fields  can  no  longer  be  profitably  worked,  but  under  this  decision 
of  the  land  board  the  state  will  have  reaped  its  share  of  the  profits,  which  will 
form  the  basis  of  a  fund  for  the  education  of  the  young  people  of  Wyoming  in  the 
vears  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XMI 
STATE  INSTITUTIONS 

STATE  BOARD  OF  CHARITIES  AND  REFORM STATE  HOSPITAL  FOR  THE  INSANE WYO- 
MING     STATE      PENITENTIARY WYOMING      SOLDIERS'      AND      SAILORS'      HOME 

WYOMING  GENERAL  HOSPITAL — SHERIDAN  AND  CASPER  BRANCH  HOSPITALS^ 
BIG  HORN  HOT  SPRINGS  RESERVE WYOMING  SCHOOL  FOR  DEFECTIVES WYO- 
MING INDUSTRIAL  INSTITUTE — DEAF,  DUMB  AND  BLIND THE  STATE  CAPITOL. 

STATE  BOARD  OF   CHARITIES  AND  REFORM 

In  the  constitution  of  tlie  State  of  \\"yoming  there  is  the  following: 

"ARTICLE  VII 

"Sec.  1 8.  Such  charitable,  reformatory  and  penal  institutions,  as  the  claims 
of  humanity  and  the  public  good  may  require,  shall  be  established  and  supported 
by  the  state  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  may  prescribe.  They  shall  be  under 
the  general  supervision  of  a  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform,  whose  duties 
and  powers  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

"Sec.  19.  The  property  of  all  charitable  and  penal  institutions  belonging 
to  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  shall,  upon  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  become 
the  property  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  and  such  of  said  institutions  as  are  then  in 
actual  operation  shall  thereafter  have  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Charities 
and  Reform  as  provided  in  the  last  preceding  section  of  this  article,  under  pro- 
visiojis  of  the  Legislature.'' 

The  First  State  Legislature  of  Wyoming  therefore  created  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Reform  by  an  act  approved  January  8,  1891.  By  this  act  it 
was  decreed  that  "the  State  Treasurer,  State  Auditor  and  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  shall  constitute  and  shall  hereafter  be  known  as  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Reform,"  with  "general  supervision  and  control  of  all  «uch 
charitable,  reformatory  and  penal  institutions  as  may  be  established  and  sup- 
ported by  the  State." 

The  establishment  of  this  board  brought  order  out  of  chaos  in  many  ways.  The 
first  board,  which  was  composed  of  Otto  Gramm,  state  treasurer:  Charles  W. 
Burdick,  state  auditor:  and  S.  T.  Farwell,  state' superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction, immediately  assumed  jurisdiction  over  the  state  insane  asylum  at 
Evanston,  the  state  penitentiary  at  Laramie,  prisoners  in  other  penitentiaries, 
juvenile  delinquents  in  schools  outside  of  the  state  and  the  deaf  and  blind  who 
were  also  cared  for  outside  the  state  boundaries. 
263 


264  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  1896  the  board  was  increased  from  three  to  five  members.  The  board 
members  in  1915-6  were:  John  B.  Kendrick,  governor;  Edith  K.  O.  Clark,  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction;  Frank  L.  Houx,  secretary  of  state;  Herman  B. 
Gates,  state  treasurer;  and  Robert  B.  Forsyth,  and  jurisdiction  was  assumed  over 
the  state  hospital  for  the  insane  at  Evanston,  the  Wyoming  state  penitentiary  at 
Rawlins,  the  Wyoming  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Home  at  Buffalo,  the  Big  Horn 
Hot  Springs  Reserve,  the  Wyoming  General  Hospital  at  Rock  Springs,  the 
Casper  and  Sheridan  branches  of  the  general  hospital,  the  Wyoming  School  for 
Defectives  at  Lander  and  the  Wyoming  Industrial  Institute  at  Worland. 

In  the  following  paragraphs  something  of  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
state  institutions  under  the  management  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and 
Reform  is  given. 

ST.\TE  HOSPITAL   FOR  THE  INSANE 

In  the  year  1887  the  insane  asylum  was  located  at  the  Town  of  Evanston  and 
completed  during  the  same  year.  The  control  was  vested  in  a  board  of  commis- 
sioners, which  board  first  consisted  of  A.  C.  Beckwith,  C.  D.  Clark  and  William 
Hinton. 

It  was  in  the  previous  year  that  the  asylum  was  ordered  built.  The  act  for  this 
purpose  was  approved  March  9,  1886,  and  ordered  the  institution  to  be  constructed 
at  Evanston,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  $30,000.  Bonds  to  that  amount,  "or  so  much 
thereof  as  may  be  necessary,"  were  ordered,  with  the  provision  that  none  of  the 
bonds  should  be  sold  for  less  than  their  par  value. 

The  Legislature  of  1888  passed  the  noted  act  in  regard  to  public  buildings 
over  the  veto  of  Governor  Moonlight.  This  act  provided  for  the  "erection, 
completion,  maintenance  and  care  of  certain  public  buildings  and  provided  for 
the  support  and  maintenance  of  certain  public  institutions."  The  capitol  building, 
the  penitentiary  building,  the  insane  asylum  and  the  poor  farm  buildings  were  af- 
fected by  this  act.  There  were  delays  since  the  original  bill  of  1886  and  the 
legislators  in  framing  the  act  of  1888  were  desirous  of  hastening  the  completion 
of  the  buildings  in  question.  Governor  Moonlight  took  the  view  that  the  territory 
could  not  afford  the  heavy  tax  which  such  a  course  would  create  and  by  many 
authorities  he  was  upheld.  However,  despite  his  official  veto,  the  bill  was  passed 
the  second  time  and  became  a  law. 

The  first  report  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform  gave  the  number 
of  patients  at  the  institution  as  twenty-three — fourteen  men  and  nine  women. 
Facilities  for  the  treatment  of  inmates  were  none  too  many  and  the  system  of 
financing  the  care  of  the  patients  was  yet  in  unsatisfactory  state.  The  various 
counties  which  had  residents  at  the  asylum  bore  the  expense  and  the  board  of 
control  experienced  difficulty  freciuently  in  obtaining  the  money  due.  However, 
the  first  report  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform  mentions  the  fact  that 
after  December  31,  1891,  the  insane  patients  became  a  state  charge  and  that  the 
funds  realized  from  the  state  tax  would  be  available  for  the  expense  of  the  in- 
stitution for  the  year  1892,  "but  all  expense  previous  to  the  year  1892  is  a  charge 
against  the  counties  as  provided  in  section  4,  chapter  93,  Laws  of  1890-91."  On 
the  first  day  of  August,  1891,  per  appointment  of  the  board.  Dr.  C.  H.  Solier 
assumed  charge  of  the  asylum. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  265 

Under  the  new  management,  the  insane  asyknn  began  a  noticeable  improvement. 
Quarters  were  improved  gradually,  new  methods  of  treatment  were  inaugurated 
and  the  number  of  patients  increased  with  the  growing  population  of  the  state. 
By  an  act  of  the  fourth  Legislature,  which  met  on  January  12,  1897,  the  name  of 
the  State  Insane  Asylum  was  changed  to  The  Wyoming  State  Hospital  for  the 
Insane. 

In  1907  the  sum  of  $50,000  was  appropriated  for  the  erection  of  a  woman's 
building,  the  number  of  patients  justifying  such  an  improvement.  \\'ork  upon 
this  building  was  begun  during  the  summer  of  igo8  and  was  completed  in  1910. 
The  women  were  transferred  to  their  new  quarters,  known  as  "Brook's  Cottage,'' 
on  January  27,   1910. 

The  report  of  Doctor  .Solier  for  the  biennial  period  ending  September  30.  1916, 
places  the  number  of  patients  treated  during  that  period  as  325.  New  buildings 
are  either  under  construction  or  contemplated  in  order  to  accommodate  the  rapidly 
growing  number  of  patients.  The  institution  is  conducted  in  the  manner  of  similar 
institutions  in  the  United  States. 

WYOMING    .ST.\TE    PENITENTIARY 

Governor  Campbell,  in  his  message  of  October  13,  1869,  stated: 
"By  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  January  22,  1867,  the  proceeds  of  the  internal 
revenue  in  certain  territories  of  the  United  States,  to  the  amount  of  $40,000  in 
each,  were  set  aside  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  penitentiaries  at  such  places  in  the 
several  territories  as  might  be  selected  by  their  respective  Legislatures.  Under  an 
arrangement  I  have  entered  into  with  the  superintendent  of  the  House  of  Cor- 
rection, at  Detroit,  Mich.,  for  the  confinement  and  subsistence  of  prisoners 
convicted  in  our  territorial  courts,  the  details  of  which  will  be  submitted  to  you 
for  your  approval  or  disapproval,  all  criminals  must  be  transported  to  Detroit 
at  considerable  expense  or  with  great  liability  of  their  escaping.  From  motives  of 
economy  and  prudence,  we  should  have  a  penitentiary  at  some  accessible  point 
in  our  territory  and  it  would  be  well  for  you  to  select  a  site  for  a  penitentiary  at 
your  present  session,  in  order  that  should  Congress  pass  a  law  authorizing  the 
retaining  of  any  sum  from  the  internal  revenue  collected  in  the  territory  for  the 
purpose  of  building  the  penitentiary  the  work  may  be  proceeded  with  without  de- 
lay. The  Territory  of  Dakota  has  thus  far  reaped  the  benefit  of  the  revenue  col- 
lected in  what  now  forms  the  Territory  of  Wyoming."  On  December  8,  1869,  Gov- 
ernor Campbell  approved  a  memorial  asking  Congress  to  appropriate  "a  sum  not 
less  than  $60,000"  for  the  erection  of  a  penitentiary  at  Laramie  City. 

In  the  very  early  days  jails  were  erected  at  various  places  in  the  territory  and 
the  sheriffs  were  held  personally  responsible  for  the  prisoners  in  their  keeping.  The 
territorial  penitentiary,  when  located  by  the  Legislature  at  Laramie  City,  brought 
some  relief  to  this  situation.  Congress  was  memoriahzed  that  the  territory  had 
been  neglected,  had  been  deprived  of  the  internal  revenue  income  for  a  large 
portion  of  1867,  all  of  1868  and  the  greater  part  of  1869,  during  which  time  the 
internal  revenue  of  Wyoming  had  gone  to  Dakota,  and  for  which  loss  the  Legis- 
lature asked  reimbursement.  A  second  memorial  declared  that  in  and  about 
Sweetwater  mining  region  and  on  the  border  of  the  Shoshone  reservation,  set 
apart  by  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman  and  his  commissioners  in  1868,  were  congregated 


266  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

many  of  the  criminal  class,  who  carried  on  a  continual  campaign  of  robbery  and 
depredation.  Some  assistance  had  been  given  the  authorities  by  the  military  posts 
at  Fort  Bridger  and  the  camp  on  the  Popo  Agie,  but  these  had  now  refused  to 
take  care  of  any  more  criminals  in  the  guard  houses. 

The  penitentiary  at  Laramie  City  was  completed  in  the  year  1872,  but  un- 
fortunately was  destroyed  by  fire  within  less  than  a  year's  time.  It  was  only 
partially  rebuilt  and  soon  after  an  act  of  Congress  approved  January  24,  1873, 
provided  "that  the  custody  and  control  of  certain  territorial  penitentiaries  exercised 
by  the  United  States  marshals  of  the  territories  be  transferred  to  the  respective 
territories  to  be  managed  and  directed  by  them,  etc.'" 

These  provisions  extended  to  Wyoming,  but  no  provisions  were  made  by  the 
laws  of  the  territory  for  control  until  December  13,  1873,  when  Governor  Campbell 
approved  an  act  "That  in  the  event  of  the  closing  up  or  abandonment  of  the 
penitentiary  of  this  territory,  located  at  or  near  Laramie  City,  in  the  County  of 
Albany,  by  the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  the  sheriflf  of  Albany  County 
take  charge  of  all  prisoners  therein."  On  December  11,  1875,  a  commission  was 
appointed,  consisting  of  Herman  Haas,  James  France  and  W.  H.  Holliday,  to  in- 
vestigate the  cost  of  keeping  prisoners  at  Laramie  City  and  at  other  prisons.  The 
result  of  their  investigations  was  that  the  Legislature  of  1879  named  the  Nebraska 
penitentiary  to  be  the  territorial  penitentiary  of  Wyoming. 

On  December  15,  1877,  the  governor  appointed  Luke  Murrin  of  Laramie 
County,  Simon  Durlacher  of  Albany  and  Thomas  Lanktree  of  Uinta  as  a  com- 
mission to  take  charge  and  control  of  all  prisoners  and  the  penitentiary  at  Laramie. 
As  late  as  1884  a  penitentiary  commission  existed  in  the  Territory  of  Wyoming. 

On  December  13,  i88g,  another  act  was  approved,  creating  a  board  of  three 
citizens  of  the  territory,  to  select  a  penitentiary  or  prison  for  Wyoming  convicts, 
but  without  authority  to  contract  for  the  keeping  of  prisoners  at  Laramie  at 
greater  cost  to  the  territory  than  could  be  made  outside  of  the  territory.  This 
act  also  provided  for  the  erection,  completion,  maintenance  and  care  of  certain 
public  buildings  and  institutions,  including  the  capitol,  penitentiary,  university, 
insane  asylum  and  poor  farm.  Section  19  of  the  bill  provided  that  "a  penitentiary 
building  for  the  use  of  the  territory  shall  be  erected  in  or  near  the  city  of  Rawlins 
at  a  cost  not  exceeding  $100,000.''  The  sum  of  $30,000  was  set  aside  out  of  this 
amount  for  the  purchase  of  the  site  and  the  commissioners  were  authorized  to 
build  all  of  the  penitentiary  at  once  or  part. 

The  penitentiary  building  at  Laramie  City,  which  had  never  been  fully  rebuilt 
since  the  fire,  had  become  a  burden  upon  the  people  and  was  far  from  popular. 
Convicts  were  sent  outside  of  the  territory,  the  Laramie  building  being  considered 
inadecjuate.  However,  it  became  necessary  that  a  certain  number  of  prisoners 
be  received  at  Laramie,  pending  the  construction  of  the  building  at  Rawlins  and  in 
November,  i8gi,  there  are  officially  recorded  thirty  prisoners  therein. 

By  the  year  1893  the  sum  of  $31,844.41  had  been  expended  upon  the  Rawlins 
penitentiary.  A  tax  levy  was  authorized  in  this  year  for  the  erection  of  a  portion 
of  the  building  and  George  East  was  awarded  the  contract  for  $44,740.  The 
third  State  Legislature,  of  1895,  authorized  a  special  tax  for  1895-96  for  the 
completion  of  the  building.  After  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Refomi  had 
advertised  for  bids  the  contract  was  let  September  14,  1895,  to  Robert  W.  Bradley 
of  Cheyenne,  h's  figure  being  $26,801.90.     Again  the  building  was  not  fully  com- 


Herhert   Coffwn   (.'nllectiun 

WYOMING  STATE  HOSPITAL.  SHERIDAN' 


T 


i  ft  i  nil; 


-      ai 

'WVOMIXG  STATE  PENITENTIARY,  RAWLIXS 


268  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

pleted  and  in  June,  1898,  the  board  gave  a  third  contract  to  the  firm  of  Black  & 
Clark  of  Cheyenne,  for  $4,064,  for  the  absolute  completion  of  the  Rawlins  Peni- 
tentiary.   Under  this  arrangement  the  building  was  finished. 

The  old  penitentiary  building  at  Laramie  was  transferred  to  the  University  of 
Wyoming  for  the  use  of  its  agricultural  college  by  legislative  act  approved  Febru- 
ary 9,  1907.     The  building  is  used  by  the  school  as  an  experiment  station. 

The  penitentiary  at  Rawlins  has  been  improved  at  various  times  since  the 
completion  of  the  building  and  is  operated  in  modern  and  efficient  manner  by  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform.  A  broom  factory  building  was  con- 
structed by  convict  labor  in  1913.  New  dining  rooms,  kitchen,  bakery,  chapel 
and  hospital  have  also  been  constructed  recently  by  the  prisoners,  for  which 
improvements  the  Legislature  of  191 5  made  appropriations.  Convict  labor  has 
also  been  used  extensively  in  building  and  improving  roads  throughout  the  state. 
The  prison  population  averages  over  250  now,  where  thirty  years  ago  twenty-five 
prisoners  was  considered  a  large  number. 

WYOMING   soldiers'  .AND  S.MLORS'   HOME 

In  company  with  most  of  the  other  states  of  the  Union,  Wyoming  has  provided 
a  comfortable  home  for  those  of  her  soldiers  and  sailors  unable  to  support  them- 
selves. The  movement  toward  the  establishment  of  such  a  home  began  in  the  year 
1895,  when  Governor  Richards  recommended  a  place  of  abode  for  the  state's  veter- 
ans, wherein  they  might  spend  the  last  days  of  their  lives  in  comfort  at  the  expense 
of  the  state.  In  the  same  message  he  suggested  the  use  of  the  building  erected 
for  the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  at  Cheyenne.  This  building  had  not  been  used  for  the 
latter  purpose,  as  the  limited  number  of  deaf  and  blind  in  the  state  had  been 
educated  in  Colorado  institutions. 

The  third  Legislature,  1895,  recognized  the  value  of  such  a  home  and  ap- 
propriated $7,500  for  establishing  and  maintaining  the  same  for  the  years  1895 
and  1896,  at  the  same  time  donating  30,000  acres  of  land  as  a  permanent  endow- 
ment. The  building  selected  was  enlarged  and  made  to  accommodate  thirty-five 
or  forty  inmates.  By  December  7,  1896,  twenty-seven  veterans  had  been  admitted 
to  the  home. 

Pursuant  to  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  1903,  approved  February  20th,  the 
home  was  moved  from  Cheyenne  to  the  Fort  McKinney  Reservation.  The 
soldiers  were  transferred  to  their  new  quarters  in  July  of  that  year.  L^pon  the 
extensive  acres  of  this  new  home  many  farming  activities  are  carried  on,  also 
stock  raising  to  some  extent. 

The  value  of  the  products  of  this  farm  almost  pay  the  entire  expenses  of  the 
institution,  thus  lessening  the  burden  upon  the  taxpayers.  At  this  writing  there 
are  thirty  members  of  the  soldiers'  and  sailors'  home. 

WYOMING  GENER.AL  HOSPITAL 

The  first  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  which  convened  November  12, 
1890,  and  continued  sixty  days,  provided  that  there  should  be  established  a  hos- 
pital for  disabled  miners  and  enacted  that  the  location  for  this  institution  should 
be  determined  by  popular  vote  at  the  November  election  of  1892.     Rock  Springs 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG  269 

in  Sweetwater  County,  was  selected  by  the  people  for  the  site  of  the  new  hospital. 
The  second  Legislature  authorized  special  tax  levies  for  the  years  1893  and 
1894,  the  proceeds  of  the  former  to  be  used  for  the  erection  of  the  hospital  and 
of  the  latter  to  be  used  for  the  maintenance  of  the  same. 

The  building  was  erected  according  to  plans,  and  the  third  Legislature  author- 
ized a  special  tax  of  one-eighth  mill  on  all  taxable  property  in  the  state  for  the 
year  1895  and  each  year  thereafter.  The  name,  as  officially  adopted,  was  the 
"Wyoming  General  Hospital."  Something  of  the  popularity  of  this  institution 
and  the  need  for  such  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  during  the  first  year  over 
3,000  patients  were  treated. 

On  the  morning  of  January  4.  181)7.  ^^"^  broke  out  in  the  hospital  and  before 
sufficient  assistance  could  be  secured  in  fighting  the  flames  the  entire  building 
was  burned.  The  patients,  however,  were  removed  to  safety  and  the  furniture 
was  all  saved.  The  mayor  and  city  council  of  Rock  Springs  graciously  tendered 
the  use  of  the  second  story  of  the  city  hall  for  the  patients  and  this  offer  was 
gladly  accepted  by  the  hospital  force.  Fortunately,  insurance  amounting  to 
$75,000  was  available  and  with  a  like  amount  appropriated  by  the  fourth  Legis- 
lature, of  1897,  made  a  sufficient  sum  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  hospital.  The  board 
of  charities  and  reform  accepted  the  plans  drawn  by  J.  S.  Matthews,  architect, 
and  on  August  30,  1897,  gave  the  contract  to  James  R.  Grimes  of  Cheyenne.  The 
new  building  was  erected  and  first  occupied  May  15,  1898. 

The  Legislature  of  1901  enacted  a  law  authorizing  the  board  of  charities  and 
reform  to  build  and  equip  a  nurses'  dormitory,  for  which  a  special  tax  was 
levied  in  1901  and  1902.  This  was  built  and  in  1914  was  enlarged.  .A  two-story 
wing,  which  included  a  new  kitchen,  was  added  to  the  hospital  building  in  1908. 

The  Wyoming  General  Hospital  now  has  an  average  of  o\er  twenty-five 
patients  each  day. 

SHERID.XN   AND  C.\SPER   BRAXCH    HOSPITALS 

The  branch  of  the  \\'yoming  General  Hospital  located  at  Sheridan  was  pro- 
vided for  by  the  Legislature  of  1903.  The  board  of  charities  and  reform  secured 
a  tract  of  ground,  300  by  400  feet,  which  was  block  5  in  Westview  Addition  to 
Sheridan,  by  donation,  and  then  gave  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  the  hospital 
to  E.  C.  Williams  of  Sheridan,  whose  bid  was  $19,300.  The  hospital  was  con- 
structed to  accommodate  thirty  patients.  The  institution  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  patients  July  7,  1905,  and  during  the  period  until  September  30, 
1905,  there  were  fifty-eight  people  brought  here  for  treatment.  There  is  an 
average  daily  attendance  of  patients  now  of  about  twenty.  At  first,  a  nearby 
home  was  leased  for  the  nurses  at  a  rental  of  $375  per  year.  This  home  was 
purchased  in  1908  for  $5,000,  also  a  wing  was  added  to  the  hospital  building. 
The  twelfth  Legislature  authorized  the  expenditure  of  $12,000  for  a  new  nurses' 
home  and  this  was  constructed  in  the  same  year. 

The  tenth  Legislature,  1909,  passed  a  bill  known  as  Chapter  20,  Session  Laws, 
1909,  providing  for  the  construction  of  a  branch  of  the  Wyoming  General  Hos- 
pital at  Casper.  An  appropriation  of  $22,500  was  made  for  this  purpose.  The 
Town  of  Casper  agreed  to  donate  the  site  for  the  hospital.  Some  difficulty  was 
experienced  in  securing  satisfactory  bids  for  the  construction  of  this  hospital,  but 


270  HISTORY  OF  WYOAIIXG 

finally,  after  all  bids  had  been  repeatedly  rejected,  one  of  $22,204  was  accepted 
and  the  work  proceeded.  The  average  daily  attendance  at  Casper  is  six,  with  a 
total  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  treated  during  the  year. 

BIG  nORX   HOT  SPRINGS  RESERVE 

Something  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  Big  Horn  hot  springs  is  given  in  con- 
nection with  the  history  of  Hot  Springs  County  in  another  chapter.  This  health 
resort  has,  in  recent  years,  grown  with  great  speed  and  is  becoming  the  mecca  for 
health-seekers  from  the  entire  Middle  West.  Governor  Richards,  in  his  message 
to  the  Legislature  in  1895,  stated : 

"Upon  the  east  bank  of  the  Big  Horn  River,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
Shoshone  Indian  Reservation,  are  situated  the  Big  Horn  Hot  Springs,  which  have 
medicinal  qualities  second  to  no  other  springs  in  the  United  States.  Ten  years 
ago  these  springs  were  known  only  to  the  range  rider  and  hunter  as  natural 
curiosities.  Some  health-seeking  invalid  tested  their  medicinal  virtues  and  was 
healed.  Since  that  day  the  fame  of  these  springs  has  increased.  *  *  *  With 
proper  accommodations  for  visitors  and  a  small  outlay  for  improvements,  these 
springs  would  soon  attain  a  world-wide  reputation,  and  prove  of  great  benefit  to 
the  state,  in  addition  to  being  a  boon  to  sufifering  humanity.  *  *  *  i  recom- 
mend that  the  Legislature,  by  a  memorial  or  otherwise,  invite  the  attention  of 
Congress,  and  especially  our  own  members  thereof,  to  the  advisability  of  having 
the  Indian  title  extinguished  to  the  small  portion  of  the  reservation  containing 
these  springs,  and  that  such  legislation  be  enacted  as  will  secure  them  to  the  people 
forever,  with  as  few  restrictions  and  as  little  expense  as  possible." 

In  accordance  with  the  above  recommendation.  Congress  donated  these  springs 
to  the  State  of  Wyoming,  giving  the  state  exclusive  control  over  them  for  all  time. 
The  Session  Laws  of  Wyoming  for  1899  state: 

"The  lands  granted  by  the  act  of  Congress,  approved  on  the  7th  day  of 
June,  A.  D.  1807.  ceding  to  the  State  of  Wyoming  certain  lands  in  the  northeastern 
portion  of  the  Shoshone  Indian  Reservation,  upon  which  are  located  the  Big 
Horn  Hot  Springs,  are  hereby  placed  upon  the  control  of  the  State  Board  of  Char- 
ities and  Reform  and  are  forever  set  aside  for  the  treatment  and  care  of  diseases 
and  for  sanitary  and  charitable  purposes." 

Early  in  1902  bids  were  received  for  the  construction  of  a  free  bath  house. 
However,  owing  to  many  difficulties,  not  until  October  7th  was  the  contract  let 
to  Jerry  Ryan,  of  Thermopolis,  for  a  building  to  cost  $2,525.  This  bath  house 
was  designed  for  the  use  of  a  portion  of  the  waters  of  the  main  spring.  Since 
the  opening  of  the  springs  many  improvements  have  been  made  each  year. 
Hotels  and  bath  houses,  attractive  landscapes,  trees,  flowers,  walks,  fences  and 
cottages  have  been  added.  The  resort  is  becoming  the  "Baden-Baden  of  the 
West,"  and  with  the  improvements  which  are  to  come  in  the  next  few  years,  will 
undoubtedly  become  one  of  the  most  popular  stopping-places  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region.  On  the  east  side  of  the  river  is  the  Maret  House  and  the  free 
bath  house,  located  at  the' Big  Spring,  while  on  the  west  side  are  the  Pleasant 
View  Hotel  and  bath  house  and  the  new  Hopewell  Hospital.  The  state  has  leased 
sites  for  twelve  more  large  buildings,  the  cheapest  of  which  will  cost  $25,000. 
The  state  has  also  constructed  a  hot  and  cold  water  system  of  waterworks. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  271 

WYOMING  SCHOOL  FOR  DEFKCTIVES 

The  ninth  Legislature,  1907.  passed  a  bill  known  as  Chapter  104,  House  Hill 
No.  70,  being  an  act  to  establish  a  home  and  training  school  for  the  feeble-minded 
and  epileptic,  and  assigning  the  lands  and  property  of  the  state  poor  farm  for 
that  purpose,  also  making  an  appropriation  aggregating  $15,000.  The  property 
considered,  which  was  located  near  the  Town  of  Lander,  was  turned  over  to  the 
Board  of  Charities  and  Reform,  with  instructions  that  it  be  used  for  the  purpose 
indicated  by  the  bill. 

However,  the  old  poor  farm  property  was  located  fully  four  miles  from 
town  and  presented  hygienic  difficulties  which  made  it  highly  desirable  that  it 
be  sold  and  a  tract  of  ground  nearer  Lander  acquired.  This  question  was  dis- 
cussed by  the  authorities,  with  the  result  that  the  tenth  Legislature  autliorized  the 
board  to  sell  the  old  property  and  obtain  new  ground.  The  state  poor  farm  site 
was  finally  sold  for  $6,000.  The  board  then  purchased  ninety-four  acres  of  land 
one-half  mile  northeast  of  Lander  for  $6,000  and  let  the  contract  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  building  for  $43,197. 

Before  the  establishment  of  the  School  for  Defectives,  such  patients  were 
cared  for  outside  of  the  state.  The  number  within  the  boundaries  of  Wyoming 
hardly  justified  the  erection  of  a  local  home  until  1907.  The  last  report  of  the 
superintendent  gave  the  number  of  inmates  as  116,  mostly  young  boys  and  girls. 

WYOMING   INDUSTRIAL   INSTITUTE 

Prior  to  the  year  1911  all  the  juvenile  delinquents  of  ^^'yoming  were  sent  to 
Colorado  schools,  the  males  to  the  State  Industrial  School  at  Golden  and  the 
females  to  the  Good  Shepherd  Industrial  School  at  Denver.  Occasionally  delin- 
quent youths  were  sent  to  the  Washington  School  for  Defective  Youth  at  Van- 
couver. 

The  Legislature  of  191 1  passed  an  "Act  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a 
reform  institution  within  the  state  to  be  known  as  'The  Wyoming  Industrial 
Institute'  and  making  an  appropriation  therefor,  and  providing  the  means  of  its 
location."  This  bill  authorized  a  special  tax  levy,  which  amounted  to  $140,617.99, 
and  gave  the  people  the  right  to  decide  the  location  of  the  school  at  the  Xovember, 
1912,  general  election.  At  this  election  the  majoritv  of  votes  were  polled  for 
Worland.  in  Washakie  County,  and  this  town  was  therefore  chosen  as  the  site  for 
the  new  industrial  school.  The  twelfth  Legislature,  1913,  passed  another  bill 
providing  for  the  purchase  of  land  and  made  a  further  appropriation  of  $40,000. 

The  board  of  charities  and  reform  finally  purchased  960  acres  of  land,  located 
three  miles  south  of  Worland,  for  $53,200,  at  an  average  price  of  $55  per  acre. 
Upon  the  land  the  state  convicts  were  put  to  work,  clearing  the  ground,  building 
roads,  erecting  shelters  and  beginning  the  production  of  crops.  In  1913  the  board 
secured  plans  for  a  large  main  building,  power  house  and  barn.  The  contract 
for  the  main  building  and  power  house  was  let  for  $116,353. 

All  of  the  boys  from  the  Golden  school  have  been  transfeVred  to  the  new 
Worland  Institute,  hut  the  girls  are  yet  maintained  at  the  Good  Shepherd  School 
in  Denver. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


DEAF  AND  BLIND 


At  the  present  time  the  State  of  Wyoming  has  no  state  school  for  the  deaf, 
dumb  and  bhnd. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  March  ii,  1886,  there  was  created  an 
institute  to  be  located  at  Cheyenne  for  the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind,  but  it  was 
"provided  that  no  institute  shall  be  opened  until  there  are  twelve  pupils  ready 
and  that  will  enter  said  school,  and  when  the  number  of  pupils  shall  fall  below 
the  number  of  eight,  then  said  institution  shall  close."  Three  trustees  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  governor.  A  building  was  constructed,  but  was  never  used  for 
the  education  of  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  pupils.  The  number  in  the  territory  and 
state  never  justified  such  a  course.  All  such  cases  were  cared  for  in  schools 
outside  of  Wyoming. 

Finally,  by  an  act  approved  February  9,  1907,  "the  buildings  and  premises 
of  the  state  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  asylum  at  Cheyenne"  were  temporarily  set 
aside  for  use  as  military  headquarters  of  the  state,  office  of  the  adjutant-general, 
and  for  storage  and  care  of  military  supplies.  The  building  is  now  used  in 
this  way. 

Deaf,  dumb  and  blind  pupils  of  Wyoming  are  now  educated  at  Colorado 
Springs,  Colorado ;  Ogden.  Utah ;  Boulder,  ^Montana ;  Omaha,  Nebraska ;  and 
Nebraska  City,  Nebraska.  The  last  report  of  the  Board  of  Charities  and  Reform 
gives  a  total  of  twenty-four  pupils  in  these  various  locations. 

THE    ST.ATE    CAPITOL 

On  March  4,  1886,  Governor  Warren  approved  an  act  providing  that  "a 
capitol  building,  for  the  use  of  the  territor}'.  shall  be  erected  in  the  City  of 
Cheyenne,  the  capital  of  the  territory,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  the  sum  of  $150,000.'' 
By  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  governor  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  building 
commission  of  five  members,  which  should  acquire  a  site  by  donation  or  other- 
wise, approve  plans  and  award  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  building. 
Six  per  cent  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $150,000  were  authorized  also,  not  more 
than  $25,000  of  which  should  be  issued  at  any  one  time,  payable  twenty-five  years 
after  date  of  issue,  although  the  territory  was  given  the  option  of  redeeming 
one-tenth  of  the  bonds  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  and  one-tenth  annually  until  all 
were  paid. 

Governor  Warren  appointed  a  capitol  commission  consisting  of  Erasmus 
Nagle,  Charles  N.  Potter,  Nathaniel  R.  Davis,  Morton  E.  Post  and  Nicholas  J. 
O'Brien.  This  commission  erected  the  central  portion  of  the  capitol  according 
to  plans  supplied  by  D.  W.  Gibbs  &  Company,  A.  Feick  &  Company  being  awarded 
the  contract. 

Then  came  the  additional  appropriation  for  the  capitol,  amounting  to  $125,000, 
which  was  a  part  of  the  bill  which  the  Legislature  passed  over  Governor  Moon- 
light's veto.  The  governor  claimed  that  the  additions  contemplated  would  cost 
more  than  the  af)propriation  and  that  the  building  as  it  stood  was  sufficient  for 
territorial  needs  until  the  people  could  bear  the  cost  of  construction  without 
assuming  undue  burdens  of  taxation.  The  bill  was  passed  over  the  governor's 
objections,    however,    and    Mr.    Moonlight    appointed    as    capitol    commissioners 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  273 

Lawrence  J.  Bresnahan,  George  W.  Baxter,  John  C.  Baird,  Arthur  Poole  and 
Andrew  Gilchrist.  The  Council  refused  for  a  time  to  confirm  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  Bresnahan  and  rejected  Mr.  Baxter  outright.  The  governor  then  named 
Thomas  A.  Kent  to  take  the  place  of  Baxter.  Mr.  Bresnahan  was  elected  chair- 
man o-f  the  commission  and  Mr.  Baird  was  chosen  secretary.  D.  W.  Gibbs  & 
Company  were  again  employed  as  architects  and  the  contract  was  awarded  to 
Moses  P.  Keefe.     The  additions  were  completed  in  1890. 

On  February  19,  191 5,  Governor  John  B.  Kendrick  approved  the  act  authoriz- 
ing the  construction  of  additional  wings  at  the  east  and  west  ends  of  the  capitol 
building.  The  act  provided  for  the  levying  of  a  tax  of  "three-eighths  of  a  mill 
on  each  and  every  dollar  of  the  assessed  valuation  *  *  *  (-q  constitute  a 
fund  in  the  state  treasury  to  be  used  under  the  authority  and  direction  of  the 
state  capitol  commission  in  the  erection  and  completion  of  suitable  additions 
to  the  state  capitol  building." 

The  state  capitol  commission  was  then  composed  of  Robert  B.  Forsyth, 
Herman  B.  Gates  and  James  B.  True.  They  employed  William  R.  Dubois  as 
architect,  and  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  the  wings  was  awarded  to  John 
W.  Howard.  The  additions  were  completed  late  in  the  year  1917.  The  total 
ccst  of  the  capitol  building  has  been  $413,779.13  to  May  15,  1918,  though  these 
figures  do  not  include  the  improvement  of  the  grounds. 

The  architectural  style  of  the  Wyoming  capitol  is  classic,  the  general  outline 
resembling  the  national  capitol  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  building  occupies  a 
commanding  site,  bounded  by  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  streets,  Carey 
and  Central  avenues,  the  main  entrance  facing  Capitol  Avenue,  the  most  beautiful 
street  in  the  city,  extending  southward  from  the  capitol  to  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road station. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
EARLY  MILITARY  HISTORY 

FIRST   UNITED   STATES  TROOPS    IN   WYOMING FIRST   MILITARY    POSTS — THE  OREGON 

BATTALION EARLY      INDIAN      TROUBLES — PROTECTING      THE      OVERLAND RAIDS 

ALONG   THE   PLATTE — POWDER  RIVER    EXPEDITION AFFAIR  AT   PLATTE   BRIDGE 

THE   BOZEMAN    ROAD THE    FETTERMAN    MASSACRE — RED    CLOUD's    DEFEAT — THE 

TROOPS   WITHDRAWN SIOUX   RAIDS  ON  WIND  RIVER — CAMPAIGN   OF   1876 — CUS- 

TER's  LAST  FIGHT — PEACE  AT  LAST. 

Wyoming  was  settled  and  organized  at  a  date  too  late  to  participate  in  any  of 
the  nation's  early  wars,  but  the  state  has  nevertheless  been  the  scene  of  military 
expeditions,  conflicts  with  the  Indians,  etc.,  and  the  site  of  military  posts  of 
more  or  less  historic  importance.  The  first  United  States  soldiers  in  what  is 
now  Wyoming  were  those  forming  the  little  detachment  of  twenty  men  who 
accompanied  Fremont  on  his  first  exploring  expedition  in  1842.  A  few  years 
later  came  the  tide  of  emigration  from  the  older  states  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and 
with  it  came  a  demand  for  military  protection  along  the  line  of  the  Oregon  Trail. 
After  a  long  and  tiresome  discussion.  Congress  passed  an  act  providing  for 
certain  military  stations  along  the  route.  This  act,  which  was  approved  by 
President  Polk  on  May  ig,  1846,  appropriated  $5,000  for  each  post  established— 
$2,000  to  pay  for  the  ground  purchased  of  the  Indians  and  $3,000  for  the  erection 
of  buildings.  The  line  of  posts  began  at  the  Missouri  River  and  were  garrisoned 
by  the  "Oregon  Battalion"  of  five  companies.  The  battalion  was  raised  in  Missouri 
and  was  commanded  by  Col.  Stephen  W.  Kearney.  Posts  were  established  in 
Nebraska  in  1847  and  1848.  The  next  year  Lieut.  Daniel  P.  Woodbury,  of  the 
engineer  corps,  was  authorized  to  purchase  Fort  Laramie  of  the  American  Fur 
Company  and  the  post  was  bought  for  $4,000.  This  was  the  first  military  station 
established  in  Wyoming  by  the  L'^nited  States  authorities. 

EARLY   INDIAN    TROUBLES 

During  the  two  years  following  the  purchase  of  Fort  Laramie  the  Indians 
gave  very  little  trouble,  and  in  1852  the  garrison  there  was  reduced  to  twenty- 
five  men,  under  Lieutenant  Fleming.  That  summer  an  Indian  fired  upon  the 
sergeant  in  charge  of  the  ferry  over  the  Laramie  River.  Lieutenant  Fleming  took 
twenty-three  men  (leaving  only  the  ferry  sergeant  and  two  others  at  the  fort) 
and  went  to  the  Indian  village  to  arrest  the  offender,  who  had  been  recognized. 
The  chief  happened  to  be  absent  and  the  young  braves  declared  in  favor  of  war 
when  Fleming  made  known  through  an  interpreter  the  object  of  his  visit.  The 
274 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  275 

lieutenant  advanced  with  five  of  his  men,  shots  were  exchanged,  four  Indians 
were  killed  and  two  captured  without  loss  on  the  part  of  the  whites.  Later  the 
chief  surrendered  the  man  who  had  fired  upon  the  sergeant  and  the  captive 
Indians  were  released.  The  incident  had  the  effect,  however,  of  a  slight  addition 
being  made  to  the  garrison. 

The  following  year  a  Alormon  emigrant  reported  to  Fleming  that  a  Sioux 
Indian,  one  of  Chief  Bear's  band  and  a  man  noted  for  his  evil  disposition,  had 
killed  one  of  his  cattle.  Fleming  sent  Lieutenant  Grattan,  with  twenty-eight  men 
and  two  howitzers,  to  bring  in  the  Indian.  Grattan  was  just  from  West  Point 
and  knew  very  little  of  the  Indian  character  and  tactics  on  such  occasions.  His 
selection  to  lead  the  party  was  a  mistake,  as  Fleming  afterward  learned  to  his 
sorrow.  Upon  arriving  at  the  Sioux  camp,  Grattan  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn 
into  a  parley,  which  was  prolonged  until  he  discovered  that  his  party  was  about 
to  be  surrounded  by  the  savages.  He  ordered  a  volley  to  be  fired.  Chief  Bear 
fell  mortally  wounded  and  one  Indian  was  killed.  The  Indians  returned  the  fire 
and  the  howitzers  were  then  brought  into  play,  but  were  aimed  so  high  that  no 
damage  was  done  by  their  discharge.  The  Indians  then  rushed  upon  the  little 
detachment  from  all  sides,  and  though  the  troops  fought  valiantly,  only  one  man 
escaped  to  carry  the  news  to  the  fort.  The  Indians,  incensed  by  the  loss  of  their 
chief,  and  realizing  that  the  annihilation  of  Grattan's  company  had  so  weakened 
the  garrison  at  the  fort  as  to  render  it  practically  useless,  turned  their  attention 
to  the  trading  posts,  several  of  which  were  attacked  and  robbed,  after  which 
they  moved  off  toward  the  Black  Hills.  Three  companies  of  infantry  were  then 
sent  to  Fort  Laramie,  under  Maj.  William  Hoffman,  and  the  garrison  was  further 
strengthened  in  1855. 

Gen.  William  S.  Harney,  with  1,500  men,  marched  against  the  Sioux  Indians 
in  the  summer  of  1855.  On  the  3d  of  September  he  attacked  the  camp  of  Little 
Thunder  at  Ash  Hollow,  about  one  hundred  miles  southeast  of  Fort  Laramie, 
and  killed  quite  a  number  of  women  and  children  and  a  few  warriors.  He  then 
moved  northward  to  Dakota  and  in  the  spring  of  1856  held  a  "peace  council'' 
at  Fort  Pierre,  but  the  Sioux  apparently  soon  forgot  the  conditions  of  the  agree- 
ment and  continued  their  depredations.  General  Harney  also  established  Fort 
Randall,  in  what  is  now  South  Dakota,  while  on  this  expedition. 

In  1857  an  expedition  against  the  Cheyenne  Indians  was  organized  at  Fort 
Laramie  and  Port  Leavenworth.  It  was  commanded  by  Col.  E.  V.  Sumner,  of 
the  First  United  States  Dragoons,  and  operated  chiefly  in  Kansas  and  Colorado, 
but  it  wielded  an  influence  upon  the  tribes  farther  north  and  for  the  next  two 
or  three  years  emigrant  trains  were  permitted  to  pass  through  Wyoming  without 
molestation. 

PROTECTING  THE   OVEEL.AND 

During  the  winter  of  1862-63  the  tribes  inhabiting  Wyoming,  relying  upon 
the  fact  that  the  Government  was  engaged  in  prosecuting  the  Civil  war,  and 
encouraged  by  the  Sioux  outbreak  in  Minnesota  the  preceding  summer,  renewed 
their  hostile  activities  along  the  Overland  Route.  Several  miners  were  killed 
and  emigrant  trains  were  attacked.  These  demonstrations  were  made  by  the 
Bannock  and  Shoshone  Indians  under  Chief  Bear  Hunter  and  some  minor  chiefs. 


276  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Col.  P.  E.  Connor  was  ordered  to  protect  the  Overland  from  Fort  Kearney, 
Nebraska,  to  Salt  Lake,  and  early  in  the  year  1863  came  into  Wyoming.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  he  began  to  make  inquiries  and  learned  that  some  of  the  Indians 
associated  with  Bear  Hunter  belonged  to  Washakie's  band,  who  were  supposed 
to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the  whites.  The  chief  explained  that  he  had  remon- 
strated with  his  young  men,  who  argued  that  the  emigrants  would  be  robbed  any- 
how, and  that  they  might  as  well  have  a  share  of  the  plunder.  Between  Connor 
and  the  chief,  most  of  these  young  warriors  were  induced  to  abandon  Bear 
Hunter's  standard,  leaving  him  only  about  three  hundred  men  with  which  to 
continue  his  depredations.  Connor  also  learned  that  certain  Mormons  were  in 
league  with  Bear  Hunter  and  furnished  him  with  information  concerning  every 
movement  of  the  troops,  whereupon  the  new  commander  hit  upon  a  plan  to 
break  up  Bear  Hunter's  band  before  his  Mormon  friends  could  learn  what  was 
going  on. 

He  knew  that  Bear  Hunter  was  encamped  on  the  Bear  River,  near  the  western 
border  of  Wyoming.  On  January  22,  1863,  he  ordered  Captain  Hoyt  to  take 
Company  K,  Third  California  Infantry,  twelve  men  of  the  Second  California 
Cavalry,  two  howitzers  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Honeyman,  and  fifteen 
wagons  loaded  with  supplies  and  reconnoiter  the  Indian  camp.  Encumbered 
with  a  train  of  fifteen  wagons.  Captain  Hoyt's  progress  was  necessarily  slow 
enough  to  permit  the  Mormons  to  get  word  to  the  Indians  that  a  comparatively 
small  detachment  of  troops  was  on  the  way  to  the  camp.  This  was  precisely 
what  Colonel  Connor  intended.  Late  on  the  evening  of  the  24th  he  left  camp 
with  four  companies  of  the  Second  California  Cavalry,  and  by  daylight  he 
was  nearly  seventy  miles  away.  The  next  day  he  overtook  Captain  Hoyt  and  at 
daybreak  on  the  29th  the  entire  command  was  close  to  the  Indian  camp.  Connor 
sent  Major  McGarry,  with  part  of  the  cavalry,  to  get  in  the  rear  of  the  Indians 
to  prevent  their  escape,  but  the  ground  was  such  that  the  camp  could  not  be 
surrounded  and  his  movement  was  discovered.  The  Indians,  thinking  this  was 
the  small  force  mentioned  by  the  Mormons,  rushed  upon  McGarry,  who  dis- 
mounted his  men  and  poured  a  withering  fire  into  the  ranks  of  the  approaching 
redskins.  Hearing  the  firing,  Connor  brought  up  the  main  body  of  the  cavalry 
and  the  howitzers  also  began  their  deadly  work.  The  Indians  retreated  into  a 
ravine,  but  Major  McGarry  succeeded  in  turning  their  flank  and  driving  them 
out.  As  they  emerged  from  the  ravine  they  were  ruthlessly  shot  down  by  the 
cavalrymen.  The  fight  lasted  about  four  hours,  the  Indians  suffering  a  loss  of 
224  killed,  and  the  guards  stationed  along  the  river  before  the  engagement  com- 
menced reported  that  twenty-five  others  were  killed  while  trying  to  cross  the 
stream.  Connor's  loss  was  fourteen  killed  and  fifty-three  wounded.  Upon  Gen- 
eral Halleck's  recommendation.  Colonel  Connor  was  promoted  to  brigadier-general, 
his  commission  dating  from  March  29,  1863.  Bear  Hunter's  band  was  com- 
pletely broken   up. 

About  the  first  of  April,  1863,  a  band  of  Ute  Indians,  that  had  been  annoying 
the  stage  line  beyond  Salt  Lake,  came  into  Wyoming.  On  the  3d  the  station  at 
Sweetwater,  guarded  by  twenty-six  men  of  the  Sixth  Ohio  Cavalry,  was  attacked, 
but  the  Indians  were  driven  off.  One  trooper  was  slightly  wounded.  Ten  days 
after  this  attack  General  Connor  sent  the  following  telegram  to  General  Hal- 
leck :     "Unless  immediately  reinforced  with  cavalry,  the   Indians,  urged  on  by 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  277 

the  Mormons,  will  break  up  the  Overland  Mail  and  make  the  emigrant  road 
impassable.'' 

Halleck  referred  the  matter  to  General  Schofield,  commanding  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Missouri,  who  ordered  Maj.  E.  W.  Wyncoop  to  reinforce  Connor 
with  four  companies  of  the  First  Colorado  Cavalry.  Two  troops  under  Major 
Wyncoop's  command  were  neither  mounted  nor  equipped  and  this  caused  a  delay 
in  carrying  out  the  order.  General  Connor  grew  somewhat  impatient  and  on  the 
28th  wrote  to  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Pacific  that  the  Indians 
were  congregating  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Mormon  settlement  south  of  Fort 
Laramie,  that  they  were  encouraged  by  Brigham  Young,  who  was  supplying 
them  with  arms  and  ammunition,  and  that  there  was  no  doubt  that  Young's  object 
was  to  force  the  Overland  into  a  contract  with  him  to  protect  the  line  for  a  certain 
sum,  etc.  He  asked  for  reinforcements,  and  closed  his  letter  by  saying:  "Send 
me  the  men ;  I  will  do  the  rest." 

Reinforcements  were  sent  and  Fort  Halleck,  a  short  distance  west  of  the 
Medicine  Bow  Mountains,  was  established.  Early  in  June  Connor  made  a  peace 
agreement  with  one  of  the  leading  Shoshone  bands,  and  it  was  not  long  until 
other  bands  begged  for  peace.  Late  in  July  the  Ute  disturbers  also  sued  for  peace 
and  for  the  time  the  Overland  was  safe.    Connor  had  fulfilled  his  promise. 

RAIDS  ALONG  THE  PLATTE 

Just  at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  November  29,  1864,  Col.  John  M.  Chiving- 
ton,  commanding  the  District  of  Colorado,  made  an  attack  upon  a  Cheyenne  vil- 
lage of  130  lodges  and  about  one  thousand  warriors  on  Sand  Creek,  Colorado. 
Chiefs  Black  Kettle,  Little  Robe  and  White  Antelope  and  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty  warriors  were  killed,  and  over  four  hundred  mules  and  ponies  were 
captured. 

Fugitives  from  Sand  Creek  reached  the  Cheyenne  camp  near  the  head  of  the 
Smoky  Hill  River,  where  a  council  was  held  and  it  was  decided  to  "send  a  pipe" 
to  the  Northern  Arapaho  and  Sioux  and  invite  them  to  join  the  Cheyenne  in  a 
war  upon  the  whites.  The  chiefs  of  the  Arapaho  and  Sioux  "smoked  the  pipe," 
which  was  equivalent  to  accepting  the  invitation.  This  was  early  in  December, 
1864.  The  chiefs  waited  until  all  the  small  war  parties  came  into  the  camp  on 
Cherry  Creek,  where  a  force  of  about  one  thousand  warriors  were  gathered,  and 
it  was  then  determined  to  begin  the  war  by  an  attack  on  Julesburg,  where  the 
Overland  stages  formerly  forded  the  South  Platte.  Julesburg  at  that  time  con- 
sisted of  the  station  building,  of  cedar  logs,  the  stables,  corrals,  store  and  a  large 
warehouse  filled  with  the  stage  company's  supplies,  an  express  and  telegraph 
office,  and  a  few  dwellings. 

A  short  distance  west  of  Julesburg,  at  the  mouth  of  Lodge  Pole  Creek,  was 
Fort  Sedgwick,  which  had  been  established  in  August,  1864,  and  was  garrisoned 
by  a  part  of  the  Seventh  Iowa  Cavalry,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  N.  J.  O'Brien. 
Captain  O'Brien  was  afterward  chief  of  artillery  with  General  Connor's  Powder 
River  expedition.  He  established  Camp  Connor  (later  Fort  Reno)  and  was  one 
of  the  first  city  officials  of  Julesburg.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  Cheyenne, 
where  he  served  in  the  city  council,  was  sherifl^  of  Laramie  County,  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  and  United  States  marshal.     The  Indians  knew  his  reputation 


278  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

as  a  fighter  and  adopted  the  plan,  so  often  worked  successfully,  of  drawing  the 
troops  at  the  fort  into  an  ambush  before  the  attack  was  made  on  Julesburg. 

Accordingly,  about  daylight  on  January  7,  1865,  Big  Crow,  the  Cheyenne  chief, 
selected  seven  of  his  fleetest  footed  warriors  to  show  themselves  in  front  of  the 
fort,  with  the  hope  that  the  soldiers  would  pursue  them  into  the  sand  hills,  where 
the  main  body  of  the  Indians  was  secreted.  At  first  the  plan  promised  success. 
When  the  seven  Indians  appeared  a  small  detachment  of  troops  sallied  out  and 
began  the  pursuit,  but  some  of  the  younger  warriors,  in  their  enthusiasm,  acted 
too  quickly,  the  soldiers  saw  the  situation  and  returned  to  the  fort. 

A  few  hours  later  a  large  body  of  Indians  appeared  at  Julesburg.  The  few 
white  men  there  fled  to  the  fort,  leaving  the  savages  to  plunder  the  warehouse. 
They  also  drove  oft"  a  herd  of  cattle  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  the 
town.  During  the  remainder  of  the  month  they  wrecked  about  seventy-five  miles 
of  the  road,  burning  stations,  cutting  the  telegraph  wires,  etc.  On  February 
2,  1865,  some  of  the  Indians  started  for  the  North  Platte,  Julesburg  was  again 
plundered  and  this  time  the  stage  company's  buildings  were  burned.  During 
the  day  about  fifty  miles  of  telegraph  line  were  destroyed  and  that  night  the 
party  encamped  on  the  ridge  between  Lodge  Pole  Creek  and  the  South  Platte, 
where  they  celebrated  their  victory  by  feasting  and  dancing  until  a  late  hour. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  an  attack  was  made  on  the  Mud  Springs  Ranch, 
where  the  Town  of  Simla,  Nebraska,  is  now  located,  and  ran  off  a  large  herd 
of  cattle.  Mud  Springs  Ranch  was  at  that  time  the  only  station  or  settlement  of 
consequence  between  the  North  and  South  Platte.  The  telegraph  operator  at 
the  station  called  Camp  Mitchell  and  Fort  Laramie  and  advised  the  military 
authorities  of  w-hat  was  taking  place  at  the  ranch.  Lieutenant  Ellsworth,  with 
thirty-six  men  of  the  Eleventh  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Collins, 
with  twenty-five  picked  men,  made  a  forced  march  from  Fort  Laramie  and 
arrived  at  the  station  late  on  the  5th.  That  night  100  more  men  joined  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Collins'  command  and  the  Indians  moved  off  to  the  northward.  On  the 
7th  a  severe  fight  occurred  at  the  mouth  of  Brown's  Creek.  The  result  was  a 
drawn  battle,  but  the  Indians  evidently  did  not  care  for  any  more  just  then,  as 
they  retreated  to  the  Powder  River,  where  they  joined  the  Ogallala  Sioux  and 
Northern  Arapaho. 

Collins,  with  his  little  force  of  140  men,  followed  the  Indians  for  some  dis- 
tance, and  on  the  night  of  the  12th  encamped  near  the  mouth  of  Rush  Creek, 
about  eighty-five  miles  north  of  Julesburg.  Here  he  was  attacked  by  about 
twenty-five  hundred  Indians  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  but  with  the  aid  of 
a  brass  twenty-four  pounder  he  held  them  at  bay  for  twenty-four  hours,  with  a 
loss  of  three  men  killed  and  eight  wounded.  Just  before  daylight  on  the  14th 
the  Indians  withdrew.  In  April  another  attack  was  made  on  Collins,  who  was 
then  at  Mud  Springs  with  125  men.  The  Indian  force  on  this  occasion  was  esti- 
mated at  fifteen  hundred.  Again  Collins  held  the  Indians  in  check  for  a  whole 
day,  when  reinforcements  arrived  with  artillery  and  they  were  completely  routed. 
The  loss  of  the  whites  in  this  action  was  two  killed  and  eleven  wounded. 

POWDER  RIVER  EXPEDITION 

Minor    raids   upon   the    Overland   stations   along   the    Platte   continued   until 


spr: 


ng.  which  led  Cen.  Grenville  M.  Dodge,  commanding  the  Department  of  Mis- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  279 

souri,  to  plan  two  expeditions  into  the  Indian  country.  One  of  these  expeditions, 
under  Gen.  Alfred  Sully,  was  to  ascend  the  Missouri  and  approach  the  Black 
Hills  from  the  east.  The  other,  commanded  by  Gen.  P.  E.  Connor,  was  to  attack 
the  Indians  on  Powder  River.  Sully  failed  to  carry  out  his  part  of  the  arrange- 
ment, but  about  the  middle  of  May  Connor  marched  from  Julesburg  and  soon 
reached  Fort  Laramie.  There  he  found  a  number  of  volunteer  soldiers  who  were 
very  much  dissatisfied.  They  claimed  that  the  three  years  for  which  they  had 
enlisted  were  expired,  that  the  war  with  the  South  was  over,  and  that  they  were 
entitled  to  their  discharge.  When  Connor's  order  for  them  to  join  the  expedition 
was  read  they  refused  to  join  the  expedition.  Connor  ordered  a  battery  of  artil- 
lery to  be  trained  upon  the  mutineers,  which  caused  them  to  reconsider  their 
refusal,  and  on  July  5,  1865,  they  left  Fort  Laramie,  under  command  of  Colonel 
Walker  of  the  Sixteenth  Kansas  Cavalry.  About  the  same  time  Colonel  Cole 
marched  from  Columbus,  Nebraska,  under  orders  to  effect  a  junction  with 
Colonel  Walker. 

General  Connor  left  Fort  Laramie  on  the  2d  of  August  with  the  greater  part 
of  the  Seventh  Iowa  Cavalry,  the  Second  California  Cavalry,  ninety-five  Pawnee 
scouts,  commanded  by  Maj.  Frank  North,  and  about  the  same  number  of  Omaha 
and  Winnebago  scouts — about  seven  hundred  men  in  all.  Crossing  the  Platte 
River  near  the  La  Bonte  crossing,  Connor  moved  up  the  river  to  a  point  near 
where  Fort  Fetterman  was  afterward  built.  There  he  turned  toward  the  north- 
west and  struck  Powder  River  about  half  way  between  the  mouth  of  Nine  Mile 
Creek  and  the  mouth  of  Crazy  Woman  Fork,  where  Camp  Connor  (afterward 
Fort  Reno)  was  established.  A  few  days  later  some  of  the  Pawnee  scouts  found 
an  Indian  trail  and  followed  it  until  the  next  morning,  when  they  came  upon  a 
party  of  Cheyennes  just  in  the  act  of  breaking  camp.  The  scouts  attacked  the 
camp,  recovered  a  lot  of  plunder  that  had  been  taken  from  the  Overland  stations 
earlier  in  the  year,  captured  twenty-nine  horses  and  reported  to  Connor  that  all 
the  Cheyennes  were  killed.  Four  of  the  captured  horses  bore  the  Government 
brand  and  one  bore  the  brand  of  the  Overland  Stage  Company.  Not  one  of  the 
scouts  was  killed  or  wounded,  but  they  lost  four  horses. 

Early  in  September  Connor  moved  over  to  the  Tongue  River.  On  the  8th, 
having  heard  nothing  from  Cole  and  Walker,  he  sent  Major  North,  with  twenty 
of  his  scouts,  back  to  Powder  River  to  look  for  their  trail.  On  the  nth  North 
rejoined  the  command  and  reported  that  he  had  found  over  five  hundred  dead 
cavalry  horses  and  in  the  ashes  of  fires  the  remains  of  saddles,  from  which  it 
was  supposed  that  Cole's  command  had  been  annihilated  by  the  Indians.  North 
was  instructed  to  make  a  further  search,  and  on  the  19th  found  the  men  in  a 
starving  condition,  with  only  about  six  hundred  horses,  and  those  unfit  for  service. 
Cole  reported  that  while  passing  through  the  bad  lands  they  were  afraid  to  allow 
the  horses  to  graze,  for  fear  they  would  stray  away  or  be  captured  by  the 
Indians,  and  that  the  horses  actually  died  of  starvation.  He  was  then  forced 
to  burn  his  saddles  and  wagons  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

Cole  and  Walker  formed  a  junction  north  of  the  Black  Hills  and  east  of  the 
Little  Missouri  River.  The  two  commanders  quarreled  regarding  the  course  to 
be  pursued.  On  September  8,  1865,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Powder  River, 
they  were  attacked  by  about  three  thousand  Sioux.  Cole  had  managed  to  retain 
his  artillery,  which  was  the  only  thing  that  held  the  Indians  in  check.  They 
reached  Camp  Connor,  guided  by  Major  North,  on  the  24th. 


280  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

About  the  time  Connor  left  the  Powder  River,  the  Pawnee  scouts  came  upon 
a  plain  trail  and  followed  it  for  twenty  miles,  when  they  discovered  a  strong 
village  of  nearly  three  hundred  lodges.  A  messenger  was  sent  back  to  Connor, 
who  hurried  forward  with  some  four  hundred  men  and  two  pieces  of  artillery. 
The  village  proved -to  be  Black  Bear's  band  of  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  Indians. 
Fire  was  opened  with  the  artillery  and  a  large  number  of  Indians  were  killed, 
the  rest  seeking  safety  in  flight.  Some  women  and  children  and  nearly  seven 
hundred  horses  were  captured. 

When  General  Dodge  received  the  first  news  of  Cole  and  Walker's  move- 
ments, he  believed  their  march  into  the  Indian  country'  was  a  victorious  advance, 
but  when  General  Connor  sent  in  his  report  relating  to  that  part  of  the  expedi- 
tion, it  showed  a  humiliating  retreat.  It  was  impossible  for  Connor  to  foresee 
the  disagreement  between  Cole  and  Walker,  which  resulted  in  the  failure  of  their 
part  of  the  campaign.  Nevertheless,  he  was  criticized  for  his  general  conduct  of 
the  expedition  and  was  withdrawn  from  Wyoming,  much  to  his  personal  regret 
and  the  regret  of  many  of  the  officers  and  men  who  served  under  him. 

AFFAIR  AT  PLATTE  BRIDGE 

After  the  Southern  Cheyenne  came  north  in  the  spring  of  1865  to  raid  the 
Overland  stage  stations,  they  encamped  on  Powder  River,  near  the  Northern 
Cheyenne,  and  for  some  time  the  two  bands  joined  in  daily  feasts.  Then  they 
moved  over  to  the  Little  Powder  River  to  hunt  bufifalo,  and  in  the  latter  part  of 
May  passed  over  to  the  Tongue  River,  which  they  ascended  to  the  Big  Horn 
Mountains.  There  the  chiefs  held  a  war  council,  at  which  it  was  decided  to 
continue  the  raids  upon  the  emigrant  roads  along  the  Platte.  On  May  20,  1865, 
a  party  of  Northern  Cheyenne  raided  the  Deer  Creek  station,  which  had  been 
abandoned  by  the  stage  company  and  was  then  occupied  by  a  small  detachment 
of  the  Eleventh  Kansas  Cavalry.  In  the  fight  which  ensued  one  soldier  was 
killed  and  the  Indians  succeeded  in  running  ofT  about  twenty  horses. 

At  Platte  Bridge,  where  the  City  of  Casper  now  stands,  was  a  small  military 
post  called  "Camp  Dodge,"  which  was  garrisoned  by  two  companies  of  the  Eleventh 
Kansas  Cavalry.  This  post  seemed  to  be  the  one  most  hated  by  the  Indians. 
About  the  middle  of  July  a  large  party  of  Sioux  and  Cheyenne,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horse,  struck  the  river  some  thirty  miles 
below  the  post  and  moved  up  the  stream,  finally  going  into  camp  on  a  small 
creek  behind  the  hills,  where  they  could  not  be  seen  from  the  fort.  No  hostile 
demonstrations  were  made  until  July  25th,  when  the  Indians  undertook  to  stam- 
pede some  horses  that  were  grazing  below  the  bridge.  A  detail  of  troops  went 
out  and  succeeded  in  driving  the  horses  w-ithin  the  stockade.  The  Indians  started 
to  follow,  when  the  chief  High  Backed  Wolf  was  sent  to  bring  them  back.  Instead 
of  obeying  orders,  he  joined  with  the  others,  crossed  the  river  and  led  the  attack 
against  the  post.  The  howitzer  was  brought  into  action  and  a  number  of  the 
savages  were  killed,  among  them  High  Racked  Wolf.  After  his  death  the  Indians 
withdrew  and  the  fighting  was  over  for  the  time. 

Before  daylight  the  next  morning  one-half  of  the  Indians  concealed  them- 
selves below  the  bridge  and  the  other  half  above.  They  then  tried  the  old  trick 
of  sending  out  a  small  party  as  a  decoy,  hoping  the  soldiers  would  pursue  and 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  281 

be  caught  in  the  ambush.  It  so  happened  that  Sergt.  Amos  J.  Custard  was  con- 
ducting a  wagon  train  from  Sweetwater  to  Camp  Dodge.  This  train  came  in 
sight  early  on  the  morning  of  the  26th,  on  the  hills  some  two  miles  west  of  the 
fort,  and  the  howitzer  was  fired  to  warn  the  escort  that  Indians  were  in  the 
neighborhood.  Custard  ordered  a  corporal  to  take  five  men  and  go  forward  to 
see  what  the  firing  meant.  These  six  men  were  soon  cut  oil,  though  two  of 
them  hid  in  the  bushes  along  the  river  and  managed  to  reach  the  fort  that  after- 
noon. The  nineteen  men  of  the  train  escort  were  surrounded,  but  fought  vali- 
antly until  3  o'clock  in  the  aftenoon  before  they  were  all  killed. 

It  was  not  quite  7  o'clock  when  the  train  was  first  seen  coming  over  the 
hills,  and  Major  Howard,  commandant  at  Camp  Dodge,  ordered  Sergeant  Hank- 
hammer  to  take  twenty-five  men  and  go  to  its  relief.  Lieut.  Caspar  W.  Collins 
of  the  Eleventh  Ohio  Cavalry,  who  had  just  arrived  at  the  post  the  day  before, 
begged  permission  to  command  the  relief  party,  although  some  of  his  friends 
tried  to  persuade  him  to  remain  in  the  fort.  Major  Howard  granted  his  request, 
however,  and  at  the  head  of  his  little  troop  he  rode  out  of  the  fort,  crossed  the 
bridge  and  moved  up  the  road  to  meet  the  train.  The  Indians  knew  nothing  of 
the  train  up  to  this  time,  and  supposed  that  Collins  and  his  little  squad  of  cavalry 
were  following  the  decoy  that  had  been  sent  forward  for  the  purpose  of  leading 
the  troops  into  an  ambush.  When  about  half  a  mile  from  the  bridge,  Collins 
found  himself  surrounded  by  five  hundred  or  more  yelling  Indians,  and  upon 
looking  toward  the  hills  saw  seven  or  eight  hundred  more  coming  down  from 
the  bluffs.  Major  Howard  at  the  fort  also  saw  the  perilous  situation  of  the 
relief  party  and  ordered  Captain  Greer,  Company  I,  Eleventh  Kansas  Cavalry, 
to  take  his  company  and  try  to  open  a  retreat  for  Collins.  Captain  Greer  charged 
across  the  bridge  and  poured  a  deadly  fire  into  the  Indians,  which  caused  them  to 
fall  back,  and  Collins  gave  the  order  to  make  for  the  bridge.  The  one  howitzer 
at  the  fort  also  opened  fire  upon  the  Indians,  but  it  was  too  late.  Of  the  twenty- 
five  men  who  went  out  with  Collins,  eight  were  killed  and  seven  wounded,  Collins 
himself  being  among  the  fomier. 

There  are  two  stories  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Lieutenant  Collins  met  his 
death.  One  is  that  he  stopped  to  aid  a  wounded  trooper,  who  begged  his  com- 
rades not  to  leave  him  behind,  and  the  other  is  that  his  horse  became  unmanage- 
able and  carried  him  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  There  is  probably  some  truth 
in  both  of  these  accounts.  He  may  have  halted  to  assist  a  wounded  comrade, 
but  it  is  quite  certain  that  his  horse  ran  away.  His  body  was  found  on  the  29th, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  fort,  on  the  bank  of  the  creek  which  still  bears 
his  name.  On  November  21,  1865,  Maj.-Gen.  John  Pope  issued  the  following 
order; 

"The  military  post  situated  at  Platte  Bridge,  between  Deer  and  Rock  creeks, 
on  the  Platte  River,  will  hereafter  be  known  as  Fort  Casper,  in  honor  of  Lieut. 
Casper  Collins,  Eleventh  Ohio  Cavalry,  who  lost  his  life  while  gallantly  attack- 
ing a  superior  force  of  Indians  at  that  place." 

THE  BOZEMAN    ROAD 

In  the  spring  of  1863,  John  M.  Bozeman.  a  citizen  of  Montana,  assisted  by 
J.  M.  Jacobs,  selected  a  route   for  a  wagon  road  from  the  Red  Buttes  on  the 


282  HISTORY  OF  WYOAIING 

Platte  River  to  the  three  forks  of  the  Missouri  River  in  Western  Montana.  This 
road  ran  through  the  countrj-  of  the  Crow  and  Sioux  Indians  and  was  the 
shortest  route  from  Fort  Laramie  to  the  Montana  mines.  It  was  not  originally 
intended  for  a  mihtary  road,  and,  in  fact,  was  opened  without  the  sanction  of 
the  Government.  The  Indians  objected  to  emigrants  passing  through  their  terri- 
tory, but  the  road  soon  became  a  thoroughfare  almost  as  well  known  as  the  cele- 
brated Oregon  Trail  and  the  United  States  authorities  were  forced  to  recognize 
it.  Late  in  the  year  1865  the  Government  tried  to  induce  the  Indians  to  consent 
to  a  right  of  way  through  their  country  to  Montana.  Several  of  the  Sioux 
bands  gave  their  consent,  but  the  Cheyenne  and  Ogallala  Sioux  refused  to  sign 
the  agreement.  On  June  i,  1865,  Col.  H.  E.  Maynadier,  commandant  at  Fort 
Laramie,  E.  B.  Taylor,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  Thomas  W'istar  of 
Philadelphia,  and  R.  N.  [McLaren  of  Minnesota,  acting  as  commissioners  for  the 
United  States,  met  the  principal  chiefs  at  Fort  Laramie  and  concluded  a  treaty 
of  peace.  The  immigration  to  the  ^lontana  mines  was  then  at  its  height  and  one 
thing  demanded  by  the  commissioners  was  a  right  of  way  for  the  Bozeman  Road 
from  the  Platte  River  to  Bozeman,  Mont.  To  this  all  the  tribes  agreed  except  the 
Ogallala  Sioux.  Red  Cloud,  the  head  chief  of  the  Ogallala,  made  a  speech,  in  which 
he  accused  the  commissioners  of  acting  in  bad  faith  in  asking  the  Indians  to  give 
their  consent,  when  the  white  men  had  already  taken  what  they  wanted,  after 
which  he  withdrew  from  the  council. 

In  one  sense  of  the  word  Red  Cloud  was  right,  for  on  March  10,  1866,  nearly 
three  months  before  the  council  was  held  at  Fort  Laramie,  General  Pope  organized 
the  Mountain  District  and  ordered  the  establishment  of  two  military  posts  for  the 
protection  of  the  Bozeman  Road.  This  order  was  addressed  to  Col.  H.  B.  Car- 
rington  of  the  Eighteenth  United  States  Infantry,  then  stationed  at  Fort  Kearney, 
Xebra.ska.  Colonel  Carrington  left  Fort  Kearney  on  May  19,  1866,  and  arrived 
at  Fort  Laramie  before  the  conclusion  of.  the  council  above  mentioned.  While 
there  he  received  instructions  from  General  Pope  to  name  the  two  new  posts  Fort 
Philip  Kearny  and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith.  Early  in  July,  with  700  men,  Carrington 
left  Fort  Laramie.  Red  Cloud  warned  him  not  to  enter  the  Indian  country  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  new  forts,  and  with  some  three  hundred  warriors  hung  on 
the  heels  of  the  expedition.  Several  slight  skirmishes  occurred,  and  as  Carrington 
was  hampered  with  over  two  hundred  mule  teams  transporting  supplies  for  the 
new  posts  it  required  all  his  skill  to  protect  the  teams  and  wagons. 

Upon  reaching  Camp  Connor  (Fort  Reno)  part  of  the  force  was  left  to  garri- 
son that  post  and  the  remainder  moved  on  up  to  the  Bozeman  Road  to  Big  Piney 
Creek,  near  the  northern  boundary  of  the  present  Johnson  County,  where  on  July 
15,  1866,  Fort  Philip  Kearny  was  staked  off.  Early  in  August  Fort  C.  F.  Smith 
was  located  on  the  Big  Horn  River,  about  ninety  miles  northwest  of  Fort  Philip 
Kearny,  and  the  remainder  of  Carrington's  force  was  used  to  garrison  the  two 
new  posts.  Thus  his  force  of  700  men  was  divided  into  three  parts  and  Carring- 
ton established  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Philip  Kearny,  which  was  completed  on 
the  2 1  St  of  October.  While  it  was  under  construction  the  trains  sent  out  to 
bring  timber  to  the  fort  were  constantly  annoyed  by  Indians  and  pickets  were 
maintained  on  the  Sullivant  Hills  to  watch  their  movements.  Scarcely  was  the 
fort  finished  when  some  of  Red  Cloud's  band  attempted  to  stampede  the  horses 
grazing  near.     A  party  sent  out  to  recover  the  horses  was  attacked  and  several 


HISTORY  OF  WYOAIING  283 

troopers  were  killed  or  wounded.  During  the  two  weeks  following  the  com- 
pletion of  the  fort,  eight  attacks  were  made  on  emigrant  and  supply  trains  between 
Fort  Reno  and  Fort  Philip  Kearny. 

THE  FETTERMAN   MASSACRE 

Never  was  the  old  adage,  "Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  Liberty,"  better 
verified  than  in  the  early  days  of  Fort  Philip  Kearny.  Almost  daily  attacks  were 
made  upon  the  trains  bringing  wood  to  the  post,  and  the  pickets  stationed  upon 
the  Sullivant  Hills  were  never  relaxed  when  any  of  the  garrison  was  outside  the 
stockade.  Early  in  December  Capt.  W.  J.  Fetterman  was  sent  out  with  forty 
men  to  protect  the  wood  train  and  followed  the  attacking  party  of  Indians  into  a 
place  where  he  was  almost  surrounded.  Prompt  action  on  the  part  of  Colonel 
Carrington,  in  coming  to  the  rescue  was  all  that  saved  the  detachment  from  utter 
annihilation.     As  it  was  only  one  man  was  killed  and  two  were  wounded. 

On  December  21,  1866,  the  pickets  on  Sullivant  Hills  signaled  the  fort  that 
the  wood  train  was  again  attacked.  Carrington  selected  forty-nine  men  from 
his  own  regiment  (the  Eighteenth  Infantry)  and  twenty-seven  men  from  the 
Ninth  Cavalry  to  go  to  the  relief  of  the  train.  He  first  gave  the  command  to 
Capt.  James  Powell,  with  Lieutenant  Grummond  to  command  the  cavalry,  but 
Captain  Fetterman,  who  was  probably  anxious  to  redeem  himself  from  his  mis- 
take of  a  few  weeks  before,  begged  to  be  given  the  command,  and  claimed  the 
right  on  account  of  seniority.  Carrington  granted  his  request,  but  warned  him 
not  to  follow  the  Indians  beyond  Lodge  Trail  Ridge,  an  elevation  a  short'  dis- 
taiice  southwest  of  the  fort.  Just  why  this  warning  was  ignored  will  never  be 
known,  but  Fetterman  moved  back  of  the  Sullivant  Hills,  probably  with  the  in- 
tention of  cutting  off  the  attacking  party  from  the  main  body  of  the  Indians. 
In  a  short  time  firing  was  heard  on  the  other  side  of  Lodge  Trail  Ridge  and 
Carrington  ordered  Captain  Ten  Eyck  to  reinforce  Fetterman.  Says  Grinnell: 
"When  the  relief  party  looked  down  from  the  top  of  Lodge  Trail  Ridge  no 
soldiers  were  to  be  seen,  but  all  over  the  valley,  and  abo\e  all  along  the  ridge 
running  down  to  Clear  Creek,  were  Indians  riding  about  and  shouting  their 
war  cries,  evidently  celebrating  a  triumph." 

Captain  Ten  Eyck  sent  a  messenger  to  report  to  Carrington  and  then  descended 
to  the  scene  of  the  slaughter.  That  evening  wagons  brought  in  the  bodies  of 
forty-nine  of  the  victims  of  the  massacre  and  the  others  were  recovered  the  next 
day.  Not  a  man  of  Fetterman's  command  lived  to  tell  the  tale,  but  from  the 
Indians  it  was  learned  that  a  small  party  mounted  on  fast  horses  was  used  as 
a  decoy  to  draw  the  soldiers  into  an  ambush — an  old  trick,  and  one  that  it  might 
be  supposed  the  soldiers  would  learn  in  time,  but  it  seldom  failed  to  work. 

Through  the  efforts  of  Hon.  Frank  Mondell,  member  of  Congress  from 
Wyoming,  the  site  of  Fetterman's  defeat  is  marked  by  a  monument  erected  by 
the  Government  on  "Massacre  Hill,"  about  five  miles  from  the  site  of  Fort 
Philip  Kearny.  The  monument,  built  of  bowlders,  was  dedicated  on  July  4, 
1908.  Among  those  present  were  General  Carrington  and  a  few  of  the  survivors 
of  his  command  in  1866.  Fastened  to  the  monument  is  a  bronze  shield,  which 
bears  the  following  inscription:  "On  this  field  on  the  21st  day  of  December, 
1866,   three   commissioned    officers    and    seventy-six    privates    of   the   Eighteenth 


284  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

United  States  Infantry  and  the  Ninth  United  States  Cavalry,  and  four  civilians, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  and  Brevet  Lieut.-Col.  William  J.  Fetterman, 
were  killed  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  Sioux  under  command  of  Red  Cloud. 
There  were  no  survivors." 

RED  cloud's  DEFE.^T 

In  the  spring  of  1867  reinforcements  were  sent  into  Wyoming  for  the  pur- 
pose of  organizing  an  expedition  against  Red  Cloud.  For  some  reason  the 
original  design  was  not  carried  into  effect,  the  troops  remaining  quartered  at  the 
military  posts  and  in  summer  camps  along  the  Platte  River.  Red  Cloud  lingered 
in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Philip  Kearny,  against  which  post  he  seemed  to  hold  a 
vindictive  hatred.  By  the  middle  of  July  he  had  collected  a  force  of  about  three 
thousand  warriors,  intending  to  take  the  fort  by  assault.  On  the  last  day  of 
July,  Capt.  James  Powell,  of  the  Eighteenth  Infantry,  with  fifty-one  men,  went 
to  the  timber  along  Piney  Creek,  about  five  miles  from  the  fort,  as  an  escort 
and  guard  to  the  workmen  employed  by  the  contractor,  J.  R.  Porter.  Indian 
spies  were  watching  every  movement  made  by  the  garrison,  and  Red  Cloud 
determined  to  cut  off  the  escort,  which  would  lessen  the  resistance  of  the  garri- 
son when  he  attacked  the  fort.  The  attempt  was  not  made,  however,  until  the 
i2d  of  August.  On  that  day  another  small  party  was  sent  out  to  guard  the  live 
stock  while  grazing.  Some  of  Powell's  men  had  returned  to  the  fort,  but  thirty- 
two  still  remained  on  guard  at  the  wood-cutters'  camp.  This  gave  Red  Cloud 
an  opportunity,  as  he  thought,  to  cut  off  two  parties  at  the  same  time. 

Some  two  hundred  Indians  were  sent  to  attack  the  herders  and  a  force  of 
about  five  hundred  was  thrown  against  the  wood  camp.  Most  of  the  former 
managed  to  reach  the  fort  in  safety,  and  Captain  Powell  received  warning  of 
the  approach  of  the  Indians  in  time  to  prepare  for  defense.  The  wagon  beds 
used  by  the  contractor  were  made  of  iron,  or  were  wooden  boxes  shod  with  iron 
of  sufficient  thickness  to  resist  an  ordinary  bullet.  (This  has  been  denied  by 
some  of  the  soldiers  who  took  part  in  the  affair,  but  Captain  Powell's  official 
report  is  responsible  for  the  statement.)  These  wagon  beds  were  hurriedly 
arranged  in  a  circle,  inside  of  which  the  thirty-two  men  took  their  stand.  They 
were  armed  with  the  new  breech-loading  rifles,  and  Captain  Powell,  aware  of 
the  fact  that  their  only  hope  was  "a  cool  head  and  a  steady  aim,"  ordered  that 
the  poor  marksmen  should  keep  the  rifles  loaded  for  those  more  expert.  They 
had  not  long  to  wait  until  the  yelling  hordes  appeared,  evidently  expecting  an 
easy  victory.  On  they  came  until  near  enough  to  make  the  aim  of  the  little  band 
behind  the  wagon  beds  certain,  when  the  breech-loading  rifles  began  their  deadly 
work.    Not  a  bullet  went  wild  and  the  savages  recoiled  before  that  withering  fire. 

When  Red  Cloud  saw  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  his  best  warriors  he  decided 
to  change  his  tactics.  Dismounting  his  men,  they  crawled  forward  through  the 
grass  and  shrubbery,  hoping  to  get  near  enough  to  rush  upon  the  defenders  and 
carry  their  position  by  storm.  But  the  attempt  was  a  failure.  Every  time  an 
Indian  exposed  himself  his  earthly  career  was  cut  short  by  a  bullet  "from  a 
rifle  that  was  never  empty,"  while  the  balls  fired  by  the  assailants  flattened  them- 
selves against  the  iron  wagon  bodies  and  were  thus  rendered  harmless.  More 
Indians  were  brought  up.  but  Red  Cloud's  entire  force  proved  unable  to  conquer 


FORT  KEARNY  MONUMENT 

Site  of   the  Fettermau  massacre,  1866. 


286  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  thirty-two  brave  men,  who  remembered  the  fate  of  Fetterman's  men  and 
fought  with  the  fury  of  desperation.  After  more  than  three  hours,  during  which 
repeated  attacks  were  made,  the  Indians  withdrew,  leaving  hundreds  of  their 
number  dead  upon  the  field.  Powell's  loss  was  insignificant.  His  brave  stand, 
with  its  unexpected  results,  had  a  crushing  effect  upon  Red  Cloud,  and  Fort 
Philip  Kearny  was  allowed  to  remain  unmolested  until  it  was  abandoned  about 
a  year  later. 

Among  Powell's  men  was  on  old  frontiersman,  who  was  an  expert  marksman 
and  was  one  of  those  selected  to  do  the  shooting.    Some  time  later  he  met  General 
Dodge,  who  asked  him  how  many  Indians  were  in  the  attacking  party.     To  this 
the  old  trapper  replied : 
'    "Wall,   General,  I   reckon  there  was  about  three   thousand.'' 

"And  how  many  were  killed  ?"  asked  Dodge. 

"I  can't  say  for  sartin,  but  I've  heard  about  a  thousand." 

"How  many  did  you  kill?" 

"I  don't  know.  General,  but  I  kept  eight  guns  pretty  well  het  up  for  more'n 
three  hours." 

THE  TROOPS  WITHDRAWN 

In  the  meantime,  when  the  news  of  the  Fetterman  Massacre  reached  the  East, 
it  caused  much  excitement.  Colonel  Carrington  was  severely  criticized,  and  he 
in  turn  complained  that  Gen.  P.  St.  George  Cooke,  the  department  commander, 
had  refused  reinforcements  and  that  700  men  were  not  sufficient  to  garrison 
three  posts  in  the  heart  of  the  hostile  Indian  country.  President  Johnson  ordered 
an  investigation,  the  result  of  which  was  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the 
Powder  River  country,  in  accordance  with  the  treaties  then  in  existence.  Forts 
Reno,  Philip  Kearny  and  C.  F.  Smith  were  therefore  abandoned  in  August. 
1868.  The  buildings  at  Fort  Philip  Kearny  were  afterward  burned  by  Little 
Wolf. 

SIOUX   RAIDS   ON   WIND   RIVER 

The  territorial  government  of  Wyoming  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  i86g. 
In  his  message  to  the  first  Legislature  the  following  October.  Govenior  Camp- 
bell mentioned  the  Sioux  raid  in  the  Wind  River  valley,  about  the  time  he  came 
into  office,  when  four  white  men  were  killed  and  a  number  of  horses  and  mules 
were  stolen  by  the  Indians.  The  raid  was  reported  to  the  governor  by  the  com- 
missioners of  Carter  County.  Governor  Campbell  asked  the  commander  of  the 
military  department  for  troops  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers  in  that  section. 
Two  companies — one  of  infantry  and  one  of  cavalry — were  ordered  to  the  valley, 
and  one  still  remained  on  duty  there  at  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature. 

On  July  3,  1869,  another  raid  was  made  by  the  Sioux  and  again  four  white 
men  were  killed,  but  the  Indians  were  driven  off  by  the  two  companies  above 
mentioned  before  they  could  do  any  further  mischief.  On  the  28th  of  the  same 
month  a  raid  was  made  upon  the  mining  settlements  and  three  men  engaged  in 
mining  near  Atlantic  City  were  killed.  At  the  request  of  Governor  Campbell, 
the  department  commander  sent  a  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  com- 


HISTORY  OF  \\YOMING  287 

missioners  of  Carter  County  to  be  distributed  among  the  citizens.  When  the 
Sioux  discovered  that  the  people  were  being  armed  they  withdrew  and  no  further 
hostile  demonstrations  were  made,  though  the  settlers  remained  watchful  until 
the  Sioux  were  quartered  on  their  reservations. 

CAMPAIGN  OF   1876 

For  several  years  after  the  organization  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  the 
Indians  continued  to  commit  depredations  upon  the  frontier  settlements.  During 
the  years  1874  and  1875  General  Crook,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Omaha, 
made  some  incursions  into  the  Indian  country,  but  no  permanent  benefit  was 
derived  from  such  movements.  At  that  time  the  hostile  Indians  about  the  Black 
Hills  and  the  region  of  the  Powder  River  numbered  several  thousands  and  the 
outlook  for  the  settlers  was  anything  but  encouraging.  President  Grant,  Generals 
Sherman,  Sheridan,  and  other  military  commanders  held  a  consultation  and 
decided  to  send  a  force  of  troops  large  enough  to  bring  the  Indians  to  terms. 

Early  in  1876  General  Crook  started  against  the  Sioux,  Northern  Cheyenne, 
Arapaho  and  other  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Black  Hills.  Near  the  head  of 
the  Rosebud  Creek  the  Indians  met  with  such  a  positive  check  at  the  hands  of 
Crook  that  it  amounted  almost  to  a  defeat.  Crook  then  took  up  a  strong  position 
and  waited  for  reinforcements,  which  he  knew  were  on  the  way.  On  May  29th 
Gen.  A.  H.  Terry  reached  the  Little  Missouri  River  and  opened  communication 
with  Crook.  General  Gibbon  pame  up  from  the  west,  and  on  June  8th  joined 
Terry  near  the  mouth  of  the  Powder  River.  It  was  known  that  the  main  body 
of  the  Indians  were  then  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Big  Horn.  With  Terry  was 
Gen.  George  A.  Custer,  one  of  the  most  dashing  cavalry  commanders  in  the  United 
States  army.  The  plan  proposed  by  Terry,  and  adopted,  was  for  Custer  to  take 
a  position  on  the  east,  to  cut  off  escape  in  that  direction,  after  which  Gibbon  was 
to  close  in  on  the  Indian  village  and  drive  the  Indians  either  upon  Custer  or 
upon  Crook,  whose  position  was  farther  to  the  south. 

The  story  of  "Custer's  Last  Fight,''  when  he  and  his  command  were  all 
killed  on  June  25,  1876,  on  the  Little  Big  Horn,  has  been  written  so  many  times 
that  it  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  story  in  all  its  details  here.  It  has 
been  charged  that  Custer  acted  without  orders  and  attacked  the  camp,  instead 
of 'waiting  to  cut  off  the  escape  of  the  Indians  after  Gibbon  opened  the  engage- 
ment. This  charge  is  sustained  in  a  letter  written  by  General  Gibbon  to  Terry 
under  date  of  November  6,  1876,  in  which  the  writer  says : 

"So  great  was  my  fear  that  Custer's  zeal  would  carry  him  forward  too  rapidly, 
that  the  last  thing  I  said  to  him  when  bidding  him  good-by,  after  his  regiment 
had  filed  past  you  when  starting  on  his  march,  was,  'Now,  Custer,  don't  be  greedy, 
but  wait  for  us.'  He  replied  gaily,  as  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  he  dashed  off  to 
follow  his  regiment,  'No,  I  will  not.'  *  *  *  Except  so  far  as  to  draw  profit 
from  past  experience,  it  is  perhaps  useless  to  speculate  as  to  what  would  have 
been  the  result  had  your  plan,  as  originally  agreed  upon,  been  carried  out.  But 
I  cannot  help  reflecting  that  in  case  my  column,  supposing  the  Indian  camp  to 
have  remained  where  it  was  when  Custer  struck  it,  would  have  been  the  first  to 
reach  it;  that  with  our  infantry  and  Catling  guns  we  should  have  been  able 
to  take  care  of  ourselves,  even  though  numbering  about  two-thirds  of  Custer's 


288  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

force,  and  that  with  six  hundred  cavalry  in  the  neighborhood,  led  as  only  Custer 
could  lead  it,  the  result  to  the  Indians  would  have  been  very  different  from  what 
it  was.'' 

After  the  defeat  of  Custer  the  Indians  broke  up  into  small  bands  and  occupied 
different  camps,  which  changed  the  whole  plan  of  the  campaign.  Several  small 
fights  occurred  during  the  months  of  August  and  September,  but  none  was  of 
sufficient  importance  to  render  the  Indians  tractable.  General  Crook  then  decided 
upon  a  winter  campaign.  He  collected  a  force  of  i,6oo  soldiers  and  about  four 
hundred  Indians  (mostly  Pawnee),  and  after  the  capture  of  Red  Cloud's  and 
Swift  Bear's  camps  organized  his  Big  Horn  expedition  at  Fort  Fettennan.  Leav- 
ing there  on  November  14,  1876,  he  moved  northward  into  the  Indian  country. 
On  the  20th  some  of  his  scouts  brought  in  a  young  Cheyenne,  who  said  Crazy 
Horse  was  located  on  the  Rosebud  and  that  there  was  a  small  Indian  village  on 
the  upper  Powder  River.  Two  days  later,  while  camped  on  the  Crazy  Woman 
Fork  of  the  Powder,  scouts  brought  the  information  that  a  large  village,  under 
Dull  Knife  and  Wild  Hog,  was  located  farther  up  the  Crazy  Woman  Fork  in  the 
Big  Horn  Mountains. 

Gen.  R.  S.  Mackenzie,  with  1,100  troops  and  300  Indians,  was  despatched  to 
capture  the  village.  On  the  25th  some  Arapaho  scouts  definitely  located  the  vil- 
lage and  by  making  a  night  march  it  was  surrounded  without  arousing  the  inmates. 
At  dawn  on  the  26th  the  order  was  given  to  charge.  Mackenzie's  men  advanced 
from  all  sides  and  the  Indians  were  thrown  into  a  panic.  A  few  gained  the  moun- 
tains west  of  the  village  and  attempted  to  put  up  a  defense,  but  the  village  was 
completely  destroyed.  Dull  Knife  and  Wild  Hog  both  managed  to  escape,  and 
spent  the  winter  with  Crazy  Horse  (Sioux)  on  the  lower  Powder  River.  In 
the  spring  of  1877  they  surrendered  and  joined  in  the  agreements  made  the 
preceding  year,  by  which  all  the  country  between  the  Platte  and  Powder  rivers 
had  been  ceded  to  the  white  men.  From  this  time  on  the  settlers  of  Wyoming 
enjoyed  greater  security. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SPAXISH-AMERICAX  WAR 

Spain's   oppression   of   cuba — the   ten   years'   war — REvoLrxiox   of    1895 — 

WEYLEr's    CRUELTY PROTESTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES — DESTRUCTION    OF    THE 

MAINE — CONGRESS   DECLARES    WAR — PRESIDENT   MC    KINLEy's   CALL    FOR   VOLUN- 
TEERS— Wyoming's  response — the  infantry  battalion — roster  of  each  of 

THE     companies — IN     THE    PHILIPPINES THE    WYOMING     BATTERY — TORREY's 

rough  RIDERS — CAMP  CUBA  LIBRE SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT. 

For  four  centuries  after  the  discovery  of  America,  the  Island  of  Cuba  was 
one  of  the  colonial  possessions  of  Spain.  While  Spain  was  losing  her  other 
American  provinces,  one  by  one,  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba  remained  steadfast  in  their 
allegiance  to  the  mother  country.  In  1808,  when  Xapoleon  overthrew  the  Spanish 
dynasty,  the  Cubans  declared  war  against  "the  man  of  destiny."  Their  loyalty 
during  all  these  years  received  a  poor  recompense,  however,  for  in  1825  King 
Ferdinand  issued  a  decree  placing  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  Cubans  at  the 
absolute  disposal  of  the  captains-general,  or  governors  of  the  island.  The  "con- 
quistadores''  were  slow  in  coming,  but  they  had  at  last  arrived. 

With  the  decree  of  1825,  Spain's  policy  of  inhumanity  to  her  colonial  subjects 
commenced.  Some  excuse  for  this  policy  may  be  found  in  the  unsettled  condition 
of  the  Spanish  Government  and  the  internal  dissensions  which  rendered  the 
authorities  powerless  as  against  the  will  of  certain  classes  of  citizens.  With  the 
death  of  Ferdinand  in  1833,  his  daughter,  Isabella,  was  proclaimed  Queen.  Don 
■  Carlos,  Ferdinand's  brother,  claimed  that  this  was  a  violation  of  the  Salic  law, 
which  forbids  the  succession  of  women,  and  insisted  that  he  should  have  ascended 
to  the  throne.  He  was  not  without  followers  in  this  claim,  and  for  many  years  the 
"Carlist  Party"  was  a  menace  to  the  Spanish  Government. 

As  early  as  1829  a  conspiracy  was  formed  in  Cuba  for  the  purpose  of  throw- 
ing off  the  Spanish  yoke,  but  it  was  discovered  and  crushed  by  the  Spanish 
Government  before  the  revolutionists  were  prepared  to  begin  active  operations.  In 
1844  came  the  uprising  of  the  blacks,  which,  like  the  former  conspiracy,  was 
suppressed  with  great  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards.  Some  five  years  later 
(1849-50)  Narciso  Lopez,  a  former  resident  of  Cuba,  fatted  out  an  expedition 
at  New  Orleans  for  the  overthrow  of  Spanish  power  upon  the  island.  Lopez 
was  too  quixotic  for  a  military  leader.  His  expedition  ended  in  failure  and 
some  of  his  men  perished  in  Spanish  dungeons. 

In  1868  the  "Ten  Years'  War"  broke  out,  the  revolutionists  taking  advantage 
of  dissensions  in  the  mother  country  and  hoping  to  establish  the  independence  of 
289 


290  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Cuba.  After  the  war  had  been  going  on  for  about  two  years,  Amadeus,  second 
son  of  \'ictor  Emanuel  of  Italy,  was  called  to  the  throne  of  Spain  as  "constitutional 
king."  He  resigned  in  1873,  when  the  provisional  government  under  Castilla 
came  into  power.  Castilla  threatened  to  make  a  desert  island  of  Cuba.  He  sent 
257,000  soldiers  to  the  island  and  so  great  was  the  sacrifice  of  human  life  that 
fewer  than  fifty  thousand  of  them  returned  to  Spain.  Three  hundred  million 
dollars'  worth  of  property  was  destroyed  during  the  war  and  a  heavy  debt  was 
contracted,  which  was  settled  upon  the  Cubans  as  a  penalty  for  their  revolt. 

Not  only  was  the  debt  laid  upon  the  inhabitants,  but  the  captains-general  also 
became  more  tyrannical  in  their  administration  of  affairs.  The  heavy  burden 
of  ta.xation  and  the  unreasonable  demands  of  the  governors  had  the  effect  of 
strengthening  the  determination  of  the  Cubans  to  achieve  their  independence.  It 
was  not  long,  therefore,  until  they  began  planning  another  insurrection.  Ex- 
perience had  taught  them  the  necessity  of  caution,  and  for  more  than  fifteen  years 
they  carried  on  their  preparations  with  the  utmost  secrecy.  In  1895  the  revolution 
was  inaugurated  at  several  places  simultaneously.  The  revolutionists  were  led 
by  Maceo  and  Gomez.  Captain-General  Campos,  then  governor  of  the  island, 
conducted  his  military  movements  along  the  lines  of  warfare  recognized  by 
civilized  nations.  This  pohcy  did  not  meet  the  approval  of  the  Spanish  authorities 
at  Madrid.  Campos  was  therefore  removed  and  General  Weyler  was  placed  in  his 
stead.  Instantly  a  change  could  be  seen.  Weyler  issued  his  "T  order  and  com- 
mand" proclamation  ordering  the  inhabitants  of  the  rural  districts  to  "concentrate 
themselves  in  the  towns  occupied  by  the  troops.'  Any  persons  who  failed  to  obey 
the  order  within  eight  days  were  to  be  considered  rebels  and  were  to  be  treated 
as  such.  The  order  also  prohibited  the  transportation  of  provisions  from  one  town 
to  another  without  permission  of  the  military  authority.  The  supply  of  food  in 
the  cities  and  towns  was  inadequate  to  the  demands  of  the  "reconcentrados,"  as  the 
people  thus  confined  in  them  were  called,  and  many  actually  star\-ed  to  death. 
Wevler  was  no  respecter  of  persons  and  women  and  children  were  the  greatest 
sufferers. 

The  inhumanity  of  such  a  course  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  civilized 
world.  European  nations  sent  protests  to  Madrid,  but  they  met  with  no  response, 
so  far  as  mitigating  the  conditions  in  Cuba  were  concerned.  The  people  of 
the  United  States  raised  funds  and  sent  relief  to  the  starving  reconcentrados,  but 
in  nearly  all  cases  the  contributions  were  diverted  into  the  hands  of  the  Spanish. 

Political  conventions,  commercial  organizations  and  several  of  the  State 
Legislatures  adopted  ringing  resolutions  calling  on  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  intervene  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  Cubans.  The  platform  upon  which 
William  McKinley  was  elected  President  in  1896  insisted  that  some  action  must 
be  taken  in  the  interests  of  humanity.  \\'hen  this  became  known  in  Havana,  riots 
resulted,  friends  of  Weyler  telling  the  people  that  intervention  of  any  kind  by 
the  United  States  meant  the  ultimate  annexation  of  Cuba  to  that  country. 

Nothing  was  done  during  the  year  1897,  but  about  the  beginning  of  1898  the 
Atlantic  Squadron  of  the  United  States  Navy  was  ordered  to  the  Drj'  Tortugas, 
within  six  hours'  sail  of  Havana.  On  January  25,  1898.  the  Battleship  Maine 
dropped  anchor  in  the  Harbor  of  Havana,  the  authorities  having  been  notified  the 
previous  evening  by  the  United  States  consul-general  of  the  Maine's  intended  ar- 
rival.    Prior  to  this,  the  Spanish  Government  had  protested  against  this  nation's 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  291 

sending  cruisers  bearing  supplies  to  the  reconcentrados.  The  presence  of  the 
Maine  in  Havana  Harbor,  while  the  United  States  and  Spain  were  supposed  to  be 
at  peace,  was  not  pleasing  to  the  Spanish  officials,  who,  as  a  measure  of  retaliation, 
ordered  the  Cruiser  Vizcaya  to  New  York.  Thus  matters  stood  until  February  9, 
1898,  when  the  Spanish  minister  to  the  United  States  resigned  his  position  and 
asked  for  his  passports.  About  twenty  minutes  before  10  o'clock,  on  the  evening 
of  February  15,  1898,  the  Maine  was  blown  up,  with  a  total  loss  of  the  vessel  and 
266  of  her  officers  and  men  were  either  killed  by  the  explosion  or  drowned.  A 
court  of  inquiry  afterward  reported  that  "there  were  two  explosions  of  a  dis- 
tinctly different  character,  with  a  short,  but  distinct  interval  between  them,  and 
the  forward  part  of  the  ship  was  lifted  to  a  marked  degree  by  the  first  explosion. 
*  *  *  In  the  opinion  of  the  court  the  Maine  was  destroyed  by  the  explosion 
of  a  submarine  mine,  which  caused  the  partial  explosion  of  two  or  more  of  her 
forward  magazines." 

The  destruction  of  the  Maine,  with  its  consequent  loss  of  life,  increased  the 
excitement  in  the  United  States  and  the  demands  for  intervention  grew  more 
insistent.  Still  the  administration  declined  to  intervene,  chiefly  for  the  reason  that 
General  Weyler  had  been  superseded  by  General  Blanco,  who  issued  a  proclamation 
declaring  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  announced  that  the  reconcentrados  would 
be  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes.  On  March  8,  1898,  Congress  appropriated 
$50,000,000  for  the  national  defense,  but  nothing  further  was  done  for  some  time, 
or  until  it  was  definitely  learned  that  Blanco's  promise  to  release  the  reconcentrados 
had  been,  and  was  being,  systematically  ignored.  Another  reason  for  delay 
was  that  President  McKinley  was  awaiting  the  decision  of  the  court  of  inquiry 
that  was  investigating  the  Maine  disaster.  On  March  28,  1898,  he  sent  a  message 
to  Congress,  submitting  the  report  of  the  court  and  "invoking  the  deliberate  con- 
sideration" of  Congress. 

The  day  following  the  receipt  of  this  message  bills  relating  to  Cuban  affairs 
were  introduced  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  on  April  ist  a  naval  appropriation 
bill  was  passed.  On  the  nth  of  the  same  month  the  President  sent  to  Congress 
another  message,  in  which  he  said:  "In  the  name  of  humanity,  in  the  name  of 
civilization,  in  behalf  of  endangered  American  interests,  which  give  us  the  right 
and  duty  to  speak  and  to  act,  the  war  in  Cuba  must  stop.  In  view  of  these  facts 
and  these  considerations,  I  ask  Congress  to  authorize  and  empower  the  President 
to  take  measures  to  secure  a  full  and  final  termination  of  hostilities  between  the 
Government  of  Spain  and  the  people  of  Cuba,"  etc. 

Congress  was  prompt  with  its  response.  On  the  13th  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives passed  a  resolution  directing  the  President  to  intervene  in  Cuban  affairs 
at  once.  The  resolution  was  amended  by  the  Senate,  stronger  language  being 
used,  and  on  the  i8th  the  House  concurred.  The  resolutions  adopted  on  that 
date  were  as  follows : 

"i.  That  the  people  of  the  Island  of  Cuba  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free 
and  independent. 

"2.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  demand,  and  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  does  demand,  that  the  Government  of  Spain  at  once  re- 
linquish its  authority  and  government  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and  withdraw  its 
land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba  and  Cuban  waters. 

"3.  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be.  and  he  hereby  is,  directed  and 


292  HISTORY  OF  ^^■YOMIXG 

empowered  to  use  the  entire  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
call  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States  the  militia  of  the  several  states 
to  such  an  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  these  resolutions  into  effect. 

"4.  That  the  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any  disposition  or  intention  to 
exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdiction  or  control  over  said  island,  except  for  the 
pacification  thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination  when  that  is  accomplished  to 
leave  the  government  and  control  of  the  island  to  its  people." 

Two  days  after  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions,  the  United  States  Government 
presented  its  ultimatum  to  Spain,  to  relinquish  its  authority  before  noon  on  April 
23,  1898,  and  to  withdraw  its  land  and  naval  forces,  in  accordance  with  the  second 
resolution.  Spain  refused  compliance  and  Rear  Admiral  Sampson  was  ordered  to 
blockade  the  Cuban  ports.  On  the  23d  President  McKinley  issued  his  proclama- 
tion calling  for  123.OCO  volunteers,  "the  same  to  be  apportioned,  as  far  as  practic- 
able, among  the  several  states  and  territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia, 
according  to  population,  and  to  serve  for  two  years  unless  sooner  discharged.'' 

This  proclamation  was  issued  before  a  formal  declaration  of  war  had  been  made 
by  Congress,  but  on  April  25th  it  was  enacted.  "That  war  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby  declared  to  exist,  and  that  war  has  existed  since  the  21st  day  of  April. 
1898.  including  said  day.  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Kingdom 
of  Spain." 

Wyoming's  response 

On  April  25,  1898,  Governor  William  A.  Richards  received  notice  from  the  sec- 
retary of  war  that  Wyoming's  allotment  of  troops  was  one  battalion  of  four  com- 
panies of  infantry.  The  secretary's  communication  also  stated  that  it  was  the 
President's  wish  that  the  National  Guard  should  be  used,  as  far  as  their  numbers 
would  permit,  for  the  reason  that  the  men  were  already  armed,  equipped  and  drilled. 
At  that  time  the  Wyoming  National  Guard  consisted  of  one  infantry  regiment  of 
seven  companies,  commanded  by  Col.  Frank  'SI.  Foote,  and  a  batterv^  of  light 
artillery,  commanded  by  Capt.  Granville  R.  Palmer.  Immediately  upon  receipt  of 
the  call  from  Washington.  Governor  Richards  called  upon  the  several  company 
commanders  to  report  the  number  of  men  in  their  command  who  were  willing 
to  enlist  for  two  years.  When  their  replies  were  received  at  the  executive  office  the 
work  of  selecting  the  four  strongest  companies  devolved  upon  the  governor  and 
Colonel  Foote.  The  companies  chosen  for  the  battalion  were :  C  of  Buffalo. 
G  of  Sheridan,  F  of  Douglas,  and  H  of  Evanston.  Later  a  portion  of  Company 
A  of  Laramie  was  accepted  and  united  with  Company  F. 

On  May  2,  1898,  these  companies  left  their  home  stations  and  the  next  day 
they  were  all  at  the  rendezvous  at  Cheyenne,  which  was  named  "Camp  Richards' 
in  honor  of  the  governor.  Here  a  week  passed  in  recruiting  each  of  the  companies 
to  eighty-one  men  and  three  commissioned  officers  and  in  the  medical  examina- 
tions. As  soon  as  each  company  was  ready  it  was  mustered  into  the  United  States 
service,  and  on  the  morning  of  May  10,  1898,  the  governor  telegraphed  the 
secretary  of  war  that  the  battalion  was  organized  and  awaiting  orders.  In  his 
message  to  the  Legislature  which  assembled  on  January  10,  1899.  Governor 
Richards  said : 

"I  am  relialily  informed  that  no  other  state  had  filled  its  quota  at  that  time,  so 


HISTORY  OF  \\-YOMIXG  293 

that  to  Wyoming  must  be  accorded  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  respond  to  the 
call  for  volunteers  with  a  full  quota.  Our  apportionment  was  231  men.  but  338 
were  mustered  in  with  the  battalion.  The  rather  difficult  task  of  taking  four 
companies,  where  three  times  the  number  were  anxious  to  go,  and  of  selecting 
officers  for  them,  when  there  were  so  many  to  choose  from,  was  successfully 
accomplished,  and,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  there  was  no  dissatisfaction  with 
the  organization  of  the  battalion  among  either  the  officers  or  enlisted  men.  Colonel 
Foote  was  commissioned  major  and  gixen  command."' 


THE   BATTALION    ROSTER 

The  field  and  staff  officers  of  the  battalion  were  as  follows:  Frank  M.  Foote 
major  commanding:  Hard  D.  Coburn,  who  was  mustered  in  as  first  lieutenant  of 
Company  F,  adjutant ;  Johnson  W.  Morgareidge,  second  lieutenant  of  Company  G, 
quartermaster;  John  S.  Morrison,  first  lieutenant  and  assistant  surgeon,  in  charge 
of  the  battalion  hospital  department.  In  the  company  rosters  following  are  in- 
cluded the  names  of  all  who  enlisted  and  were  mustered  into  the  United  States 
service.  Some  of  the  men  were  discharged  before  the  battalion  was  mustered  out, 
and  some  were  transferred  to  other  commands. 


COMPANV  C 

^lost  of  the  members  of  this  company  came  from  JoluL^on  County,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  company  as  a  National  Guard  organization  haxini,^  lieen  located  at 
Buffalo.  Thomas  Millar,  was  captain;  James  D.  Gallup  ami  Charles  Finney, 
first  lieutenants:  Loren  Cheever  and  Henry  A.  Smith,  second  lieutenants:  Charles 
H.  Burritt  and  Christian  J.  Hepp.  first  sergeants;  Frank  Shortill.  quartermaster 
sergeant :  John  D.  Kilpatrick,  William  H.  Fisher,  John  A.  McConnell,  William 
R.  C.  Xewell,  Henry  Sneddon  and  George  Rogers,  sergeants ;  Frank  Ellis.  William 
A.  Miller,  Park  Bateman.  Thomas  H.  Flamilton.  Adam  Freel,  Flarry  E.  Smith, 
William  Shortill  and  William  FI.  Baker,  corporals;  William  A.  Miller,  Joseph  A. 
Owenhouse  and  Arthur  W.  Warner,  musicians :  G.  L.  Kimball  and  Alexander  A. 
Herron,  artificers ;  J.  L.  Campbell  and  Robert  A.  Robinson,  wagoners. 

Privates — Peter  Bertelson,  George  Binnall,  Charles  A.  Birmingham.  Robert  A. 
Brennan,  Thomas  Brown,  Robert  Carlon,  Jerry  Cashman,  Fred  Chapman,  Harry 
H.  Chatterson.  Nels  Christensen.  Harry  Clay.  Ephraim  Cliburn.  Lowell  Coates, 
Sylvester  B.  Coates,  George  Denton,  James  S.  Eddy,  Homer  Evans,  John  Evans, 
Ralph  L.  Ewing,  Philip  Gatch,  William  E.  (iossett.  Arthur  Harrington,  John 
Herron,  Jr.,  Sidney  Jacobs.  Warren  D.  Jenkins,  luncsl  IxnociUcr,  \\'illiam  J. 
Langiewicz,  Frederick  Lehman,  Sterling  S.  Lewis.  William  McKay.  Thomas  R. 
^iIcMaster,  Charles  Martin.  Bruno  ^^lediate.  James  S.  Miller.  Leroy  S.  Minnich, 
Ferdinand  Peer.  Charles  A.  Pettit.  John  T.  Picard,  Fred  W.  Raymond,  Gustav 
Rossknacht,  Andrew  Rusnock,  Henry  Sell,  Charles  N.  Smith,  Joseph  M.  Spaeth, 
George  B.  Taylor,  Basil  E.  Thomas.  John  T.  Wallace,  Ira  H.  Ward.  Issac  C. 
Ward,  George  White,  James  M.  ^^■hite.  Ray  F.  Wiedmer.  James  T.  Wright.  John 
L.  Zook. 


29i  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

COMPANY   F 

This  company  was  recruited  at  Douglas  and  Laramie  and  was  mustered  in  with 
the  following  officers  and  enlisted  men;  John  D.  O'Brien,  captain;  Harol  D. 
Coburn.  first  lieutenant;  Willard  H.  Rouse,  second  lieutenant;  William  E.  Yelton, 
first  sergeant;  Waldo  E.  Sherwin,  quartermaster  sergeant;  Samuel  L.  Harris, 
William  J.  Mast.  James  L.  Scanlon,  Wallace  F.  Pease  and  Charles  B.  Negus, 
sergeants ;  Nathan  E.  Burns,  Walter  S.  Briggs,  Thomas  Olson,  John  G.  Pouting, 
Edward  Rose,  George  E.  Triggs  and  Frederick  Frick,  corporals ;  Walter  Bartlett, 
cook;  Edgar  R.  Rouse  and  John  Frick,  Jr.,  musicians  :  Jed  A.  Smith  and  Carl  W. 
Fisher,  artificers ;  Richard  Eberhart,  wagoner. 

Privates — Ernest  Adams,  Charles  H.  Barton,  Thomas  B.  Barton,  Ernest  R. 
Bowker,  Charles  W.  Brandis,  Joseph  .\.  Brown,  Arthur  W.  Brownlee,  James 
Burton,  Stephen  A.  D.  Byerly,  W^ells  Byers,  Ralph  C.  Caylor,  Charles  A.  Cole, 
Harry  R.  Crumrine,  Benjamin  F.  Cunningham,  Ernest  A.  Cunningham,  Bert  E. 
Dennis,  Alexander  Dobby,  William  T.  Donahoo,  Eric  Ericson,  William  J.  Evans, 
Joseph  Frick,  Jonathan  E.  Frisby,  Edward  M.  Garfield,  Arthur  W.  Gray,  William 

D.  Hudson,  William  A.  Kellogg,  Charles  M.  Knadler,  John  Knox,  Jr.,  George 
R.  Laird,  Carl  H.  Lange,  Charles  J.  Larson,  John  J.  Lohlein,  Orange  S.  Lucas, 
Wesley  Lytle,  James  E.  McCumber,  George  Marsh.  John  J.  Marsh,  Carl  F.  Miller, 
Fred  A.  Miller,  George  R.  Moyer,  Edward  Niedheimer,  Emile  Olday,  Reuben  J. 
Reals,  Albert  Richards,  Henry  N.  Roach,  Howard  Robb,  Charles  E.  Robinson, 
Edwin  O.  Ruhl,  Henry  Ruhsert,  Frank  K.  Schmidt,  Mark  A.  Skinner,  William 
F.  Smith,  George  W.  Snow,  William  B.  Stockton,  Joseph  S.  Trosper,  James  A. 
\Tdal.  William  R.  Watt,  Harry  G.  Waechter,  Ernest  Wesche,  Arthur  White, 
Robert  J.  White,  Henry  J.  Wiese,  John  F.  Wyatt. 

COMPANY  G 

Company  G  was  composed  chiefly  of  men  from  Sheridan  and  Cheyenne.  It 
was  mustered  in  with  Daniel  C.  Wrighter  as  captain;  Hezekiah  P.  Howe,  first 
lieutenant;  Johnson  W.  Morgareidge,  second  lieutenant.  The  non-commissioned 
officers  during  the  term  of  service  were :  Chester  Z.  Zander,  Charles  Fuer  and 
Maynard  J.  Herron,  quartermaster  sergeants;  John  O.  McClure,  first  sergeant; 
Frank  Geere.  John  A.  Brown,  Edmund  G.  Guyer,  Oscar  E.  Hoback,  Alva  T. 
Morgareidge  and  William  D.  June,  sergeants ;  Henry  T.  Rule,  Aimer  D.  Zander, 
Charles  H.  Cahill,  Alfred  A.  Florida  and  James  E.  Morrison,  corporals ;  Paul 
Spehr,  cook ;  George  E.  Small,  Joseph  A.  Owenhouse,  Harry  H.  Clubb  and  Robert 
B.  Robinson,  musicians;  Herbert  E.  Zullig,  artificer;  David  Lewis,  wagoner. 

Privates — George  N.  Akin,  Carl  M.  Anderson,  Peter  W.  Anderson,  Charles 
A.  Ballard,  Edwin  Blackmer,  George  Briggs,  Leslie  S.  Brookhart,  Frank  M. 
Bruner,  Arlester  L.  Burnell,  Wells  Byers  (transferred  to  Company  F),  Frank  A. 
Cahill,  Carter  E.  Calder,  Charles  C.  Caldwell,  George  J.  Clause,  John  E.  Coleman, 
Niles  R.  Coleman,  Martin  L.  Davidson,  Cory  W.  Dudley,  George  H.  Evans, 
William  H.  Ferris,  Jeremiah  J.  Galvin,  Herman  J.  Gaulke,  Henry  George,  Emil 
R.  Grable,  William  B.  Grigg,  Seeley  S.  Hawes,  Thomas  J.  Henry,  Charles 
Hohrman,  Bert  Humphrey,  Max  Idleman,  Jr.,  Charles  E.  Jones,  Maximilian  P. 

E.  Jordan.  Robert  C.  Koontz,  Andrew  Lindberg.  Richard  B.  Lloyd,  Charles  M. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  295 

McClure,  Vincent  L.  McGuire,  Thomas  McVeigh,  John  A.  Monical,  John  C. 
Oder,  Arthur  W.  Parker,  James  X.  Petersen,  Peter  W.  Petersen,  Henry  H. 
Preston,  Charles  N.  Reece,  Henry  A.  Richardson,  Wilbur  A.  Richardson,  Thomas 
Ryder,  Lewis  R.  Schmidt,  Charles  J.  Schubert,  William  D.  Skinner,  Eugene 
H.  Stevens,  Madison  U.  Stoneman,  Olaf  E.  Strom,  Daniel  Sullivan,  Everett  W. 
Taylor.  Sylvester  B.  Trowbridge,  Oliver  M.  Walsh,  Charles  H.  Wells.  Tim 
Williams.  Charles  Wilseck. 


Company  H  came  from  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state,  the  Xational  Guard 
company  from  which  it  was  formed  having  its  headquarters  at  Evanston.  After 
reporting  at  Camp  Richards  a  number  of  recruits  were  added  from  Rock  Springs 
and  Cheyenne.  The  organization  of  the  company  during  its  term  of  service  was 
as  follows  :  Edward  P.  Holtenhouse,  captain  ;  Henry  Ohlenkamp.  first  lieutenant ; 
George  F.  Fast  and  Thomas  A.  Williams,  second  lieutenants ;  Benjamin  Moore, 
battalion  sergeant-major;  William  C.  De  Loney,  first  sergeant;  William  O.  Taylor 
and  Charles  W.  Fox,  quartermaster  sergeants ;  James  A.  Morganson,  Frank  A. 
Crase.  James  H.  Winslow  and  John  L.  Townson,  sergeants ;  Thomas  Holden. 
William  H.  Houston,  John  J.  Code,  Rea  Bender,  Jacob  Sherman,  Peter  F.  Pat- 
terson and  James  E.  Raferty.  corporals :  Harry  Miller  and  Fred  L.  Siegel, 
musicians;  John  W.  Thatcher,  cook;  Harry  Jones,  artificer;  Joseph  Shaw,  Jr., 
wagoner. 

Privates — Ferdinand  Abel.  Lloyd  W.  Allen,  Andrew  Anderson,  Anton  Ander- 
son, Albert  E.  Arthurs,  Frank  Bowen,  Harry  Brown,  Louis  Burmeister,  William 
C.  Burns,  William  T.  Byrnes,  William  F.  Caldwell,  Albert  M.  Calkins.  Calvin 
Carpenter,  Oscar  O.  Carson,  Peter  Christensen,  William  J.  Clark,  Robert  Crosbie, 
Charles  Ericksen,  Reinhart  Fermazin.  William  Freerks,  Harry  E.  Hall,  John 
Hangartner,  John  B.  Hanson,  Morley  L.  Hassard,  Joseph  Hemmelwright,  James 
A.  Howard.  Philip  S.  Jackson.  Ira  Johns,  Emil  Johnson,  Francis  M.  Jones, 
Lawrence  A.  Jones,  Thomas  O.  M.  Jones,  John  E.  Karlburg,  Christian  Kaus, 
William  Kelley,  Edward  La  Comb,  Joseph  D.  Leyshon,  Edward  Lyst,  Alfred  C. 
McDowell.  Thomas  Meguire.  James  Miles,  William  Nichols.  Dennis  Perry.  John 
Raferty,  Peter  Roberts,  Samuel  C.  Joslyn,  Michael  J.  Rowland.  Philip  Schopp, 
Jr.,  Martin  Sedlack,  Edward  L.  Sellon,  George  W.  Sessions.  Peter  E.  Sperling, 
Hans  Tuesen,  Orie  A.  Vanblaricon.  Paul  Wilkinson,  Robert  Wilkinson,  William 
A.   Woolani.   Dana   N.   Woods.   Herbert   S.    Wright.   Alfred   Zemp. 

IN  THE  PIIILIPriNES 

On  May  i8.  1898.  the  battalion  entrained  at  the  Cnion  Pacific  Railroad  station 
in  Cheyenne  for  San  Francisco,  where  it  arrived  on  the  morning  of  the  21st 
and  went  into  camp  at  Camp  Merritt,  where  the  boys  remained,  drilling  and 
doing  camp  duty  until  June  27,  1898.  On  that  date  the  battalion  embarked  upon 
the  steamer  Ohio,  which  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Manila  Bay  on  the  last  day  of 
July.  The  troops  remained  on  board  until  the  6th  of  August,  when  they  were 
disembarked  and  went  into  camp  at  Paranaque.  After  a  week's  experience  in  the 
trenches  came  the  Battle  of  Manila  on  August  13.  1898. 

The  battalion  was  assigned  to  the  reserve  of  the  First  Brigade.  First  Division, 


296  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Hue.  This  position  caused  some  complaints  among  the 
men,  who  wanted  to  be  "where  there  was  something  doing."  Before  noon  Fort 
Malate  was  in  the  hands  of  the  American  troops  and  the  reserves  were  ordered 
forward.  Then  the  Wyoming  boys  made  up  for  lost  time  and  at  4:45  P.  M.  their 
battalion  flag— the  first  United  States  flag  raised  in  Manila — was  seen  floating 
over  the  captured  city.  General  Anderson,  commanding  the  First  Division,  as  a 
mark  of  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  the  battalion  was  the  first  organization 
to  reach  the  city,  designated  the  Wyoming  troops  as  his  body  guard. 

After  the  Battle  of  Manila  the  battalion  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city 
until  February  4,  1899,  when  it  was  attached  to  the  Second  Brigade,  First  Division. 
Early  the  next  morning  Major  Foote  received  orders  to  join  the  movement  toward 
San  Pedro  Macati.  Some  fierce  fighting  occurred  along  the  Pasig  River  as  the 
troops  advanced  toward  Paco  Church,  but  the  California  and  Wyoming  troops 
drove  the  insurgents  steadily  before  them  until  the  enemy  made  a  stand  in  the 
churchyard  of  San  Pedro  Macati,  from  which  position  they  opened  a  deadly  fire 
upon  the  advancing  line.  Here  Sergt.  George  Rogers  and  Private  Ray  F. 
Wiedmer  of  Company  C  were  mortally  wounded,  and  Harry  Crumrine,  a  private 
in  Company  F,  was  slightly  wounded  as  the  battalion  was  taking  a  position  behind 
some  levees  in  a  rice  field.  Once  this  position  was  gained  the  insurgents  were 
driven  from  the  churchyard  and  the  Wyoming  men  occupied  the  firing  line  all 
the  way  into  San  Pedro  Macati,  which  place  was  captured  before  11  o'clock. 

Upon  being  driven  from  the  village,  the  insurgents  retreated  to  Guadalupe 
Church.  That  afternoon  a  small  party  of  the  enemy  were  seen  maneuvering  on 
a  hill  south  of  the  church  and  Companies  F  and  G,  under  command  of  Captain 
O'Brien,  were  sent  to  drive  them  out.  The  movement  was  successfully  executed 
without  casualties,  the  two  companies  returning  in  about  two  hours,  .\bout  9 
o'clock  that  evening  Captain  O'Brien  was  ordered  to  surround  the  church  and  hold 
his  position  until  morning.  He  found  the  church  deserted,  broke  in  the  door  and 
found  a  small  brass  cannon  and  a  number  of  rifles  that  had  been  left  by  the  in- 
surgents in  their  hasty  departure. 

On  February  22,  1899,  the  battalion  was  engaged  in  the  operations  about 
Guadalupe  Church,  but  no  casualties  resulted.  Several  days  of  comparative  quiet 
followed,  but  on  March  2d  Company  G  was  moved  half  a  mile  up  the  Pasig  River, 
where  trenches  were  constructed.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  "tli  the  Battle 
of  San  Juan  del  Monte  was  commenced  by  the  Wyoming  sharpshooters.  A  little 
later  the  line  of  Wyoming  and  Nebraska  troops  advanced  and  occupied  a  ridge 
about  four  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  breastworks.  The  insurgents  showed 
no  signs  of  weakening  until  Companies  C,  F  and  H  were  ordered  to  charge.  In 
this  charge  Private  Joseph  M.  Spaeth  of  Company  C  fell  mortally  wounded  near 
the  enemy's  works,  Sergt.  John  A.  McConnell  of  Company  C,  Capt.  John  D. 
O'Brien  of  Company  F,  and  Oscar  O.  Carson  of  Company  H  were  slightly 
wounded,  but  the  insurgents  fled  precipitately  before  the  impetuous  charge.  George 
E.  Small  of  Company  G  was  wounded  near  the  Pasig  River. 

During  the  next  three  months  several  slight  skirmishes  with  the  insurgents 
occurred.  In  one  of  these  on  March  27,  1899,  Private  James  M.  White  of  Com- 
pany C  was  slightly  wounded,  and  on  May  15th  Private  Alexander  Dobby  of 
Company  F  was  wounded.  Early  in  June  the  battalion  took  part  in  the  ]\Iorong 
expedition  and  on  July  6,   1899,  orders  were  received  to  return  to  the  United 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG  •  297 

States.     The  troops  embarked  on  the  steamer  Grant,  which  sailed  out  of  Manihi 
Bay  on  the  last  dav  of  July  and  arrived  at  San  Francisco  on  the  29th  of  August. 


On  May  25,  i8g8.  President  AlcKinley  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for 
75,000  more  volunteers.  I'nder  lliis  call  the  Alger  Light  Artillery  of  Cheyenne 
was  accepted,  on  the  condition  that  it  should  number  125  men.  The  work  of 
recruiting  commenced  on  June  11,  i8y8,  and  four  days  later  the  organization  was 
mustered  into  the  United  States  service  as  "Battery  A.  \\'yoming  Light  Artillery," 
with  127  names  on  the  roll,  to  wit: 

Granville  R.  Palmer,  captain:  Harry  A.  Clarke.*  first  lieutenant;  James  ^L 
Gilmore,*  second  lieutenant;  Elton  E.  Fay,*  first  sergeant;  Edwin  O.  Glenn, 
quartermaster  sergeant ;  James  L.  Madden,  veterinary  sergeant ;  Charles  A.  Bris- 
tol,* Granville  M.  King.*  Robert  N.  La  Fontaine,*  John  E.  McCabe,  William  M. 
Daily  and  John  F.  Rigdon,  sergeants;  Edward  W.  Hirst,  Rufus  W.  Shrader, 
William  C.  Mills,-  Joseph  T.  Dyer,  William  C.  Wolcott,  Robert  B.  Graham, 
Albert  G.  Cayler  and  Charles  W.  Mahan,*  corporals ;  Thomas  A.  Sladden  and 
Robert  McFadden,  farriers ;  Edwin  C.  Mentz  and  James  Sullivan,  artificers  ;  John 
Olson,  saddler:  William  Dillman  *  and  Isaac  W.  Dreifuss,  trumpeters;  John  F. 
Farrell,*  wagoner. 

Privates— Glenn  \\'.  Abbott,*  Emil  G.  Abry,*  John  Anderson.  Peter  Anderson, 
Alonzo  A.  Bailey,*  David  Barnett,*  George  Barth,*  Frank  Bradley,  George  Bris- 
tol, Herman  A.  Brookhart,*  Cliiiford  H.  Buck,*  Charles  Bushman,*  John  Cafl'rey,* 
James  H.  Connors,*  Ernest  R.  B.  Croston,*  Henry  L.  Dale,  John  Darling,*  George 
k.  Davis,*  John  L.  DeCory,*  William  DeHaas,*  Charles  S.  Elkins.  Daniel  R. 
Ellis,*  William  M.  Enslow.*  Gus  Fardy,  Edward  B.  Fear,  Fay  Fifield,*  ^lalcolni 
L.  Freed.  George  B.  Gale.  Ira  L.  Garner,*  William  Gauflf,  William  Gideon.* 
Martin  E.  Goden,  Sidney  D.  Gonser,*  Joseph  P.  Green,  Edward  Guinan,  August 
Gustafson,  William  Haner.*  Albert  Hefele,  Andrew  Hofifman,  Arthur  C.  Holway, 
Herbert  Hollyman.*  John  G.  Honnold,  James  Humphrey.  George  A.  Jackson, 
James  S.  Jackson,*  Howard  H.  Jordan,  Martin  Joyce.*  August  Keilquist.  John 
Kroeger,  John  T.  Lane.*  \'ictor  Lardi,*  Lauritz  A.  P.  Lasson,  Peter  Lawless,* 
Abe  Levett,  Alsinon  C.  Lish.  \\'iliiam  J.  McCall.*  Marion  IMcCullum.*  Robert 
S.  McDole.  Edward  L.  McKiernan.  Charles  J.  Marble,  John  Martin,  Edward 
Meredith,*  George  Monroe,*  John  Mulligan,  Flerbert  A.  Murphy,  John  Oliver, 
Otto  Pearson,  John  Peterson.  Peter  Peterson,*  John  Pointinen,*  Charles  Porter- 
field.*  John  J.  Quinn,  Andreas  Rasmussen,  John  Rawson,*  John  P.  Reedy,* 
Frank  Robidon,*  James  F.  Roberts,*  Lee  B.  Sackett,  Emil  A.  Sandberg,*  W.  A. 
Schilling.*  \Mlliam  Sehestedt.  Don  L.  Shirley.  Frank  J.  Sinex,  James  T.  Slane, 
George  H.  Smith.*  Leslie  E.  Snow,*  Martin  Stamm.*  Henry  Steinhofl:',  William 
A.  Stone,  Oliver  E.  Swartz,*  Edwin  P.  Taylor.  Joseph  Templin,  William  L. 
Tighe,  Frank  J.  Timmins,*  Bryant  Turner,*  Wilh'am  \'an  Noy,  Herbert  E.  Wale. 
Charles  Willard,  ^^■illiam  ^^■eir.* 

NoTK — I.ipiit.  Harry  A.  Clarke  was  promoted  to  the  captaincj'  on  November  12.  1898, 
upon  the  death  of  Captain  Palmer.  Not  all  the  men  named  on  the  above  muster  roll  accom- 
panied the  battery  to  the  Philippines,  and  several  were  discharged  before  the  battery  returned 
home.  Those  who  were  mustered  out  with  the  battery  on  September  23,  1899,  are  marked 
with  a  *. 


298  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

On  June  24,  1898,  the  battery  started  for  San  Francisco,  where  it  remained 
in  different  camps  and  under  different  commanders  until  November  8,  1898,  when 
it  embarked  on  the  transport  Newport,  with  Brig.-Gen.  M.  P.  Miller's  command, 
and  arrived  at  Manila  on  the  7th  of  December.  It  served  under  various  com- 
manders in  the  Military  District  of  Cavite  until  July  8,  1899,  when  the  guns  were 
turned  over  to  the  Sixth  United  States  Artillery  and  the  men  returned  home 
with  the  Wyoming  battalion  on  the  steamer  Grant,  arriving  at  San  Francisco  or. 
Augtist  29,  1899. 

In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  on  January  9,  1901,  Governor  De  Forest 
Richards  said  :  "When  the  news  reached  Wyoming  that  our  state  troops,  after  their 
arduous  campaign  in  the  Philippines,  were  about  to  be  returned  to  their  homes,  it 
was  the  general  sentiment  of  our  people  that  Wyoming  should  follow  the  example 
of  other  states  and  provide  transportation  for  our  soldiers  from  San  Francisco  to 
their  homes.  The  intention  in  doing  this  was  to  arrange  it  so  that  our  brave  soldiers, 
many  of  whom  were  weak  and  debilitated  from  a  long  service  in  a  foreign  clime, 
might  save  the  travel  pay  allowed  them  by  the  General  Government  and  not  reach 
their  homes  utterly  destitute. 

"The  people  of  the  state  demanded  that  this  be  done,  and  as  there  were  no 
funds  available,  several  hundred  public  spirited  gentlemen  from  all  over  the  state, 
signed  two  notes,  one  to  the  Stockgrowers  National  Bank  and  one  to  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Cheyenne,  dated  August  24,  1899,  for  $4,442.10  bearing  6  per 
cent  interest  per  annum,  and  with  these  funds  our  volunteers  were  transported 
to  their  various  homes  without  cost  to  themselves,  thus  being  shown  in  the  most 
satisfactory  manner  the  appreciation  in  which  their  services  were  held  by  the 
state." 

Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  governor,  the  Legislature  made  an  appro- 
priation sufficient  to  pay  the  notes,  and  also  made  an  appropriation  of  $750  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  medals  for  the  members  of  the  battalion  and  battery, 
each  medal  being  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  recipient,  etc. 

TORREV'S   ROUGH    RIDERS 

In  addition  to  the  troops  already  mentioned,  Wyoming  furnished  seven  troops 
to  the  Second  United  States  A'olunteer  Cavalry,  more  commonly  known  as  "Tor- 
rey's  Rough  Riders."  The  regiment  was  raised  by  Col.  Jay  L.  Torrey,  a  Wyoming 
man,  who  commanded  it  during  its  entire  term  of  service.  Troops  A  and  B  came 
from  Colorado;  C,  E,  F,  G,  H,  K  and  L,  from  Wyoming;  D,  from  Idaho;  I,  from 
LTtah :  and  M,  from  Nevada.  Of  the  field  and  staff  officers,  Wyoming  furnished 
Col.  Jay  L.  Torrey;  Maj.  James  G.  Marbord ;  Lieut.  Herbert  V.  Lacey.  adjutant; 
Lieut.  Fred  Rapp,  quartermaster;  Capt.  Henry  G.  Golden,  chaplain;  Alaj.  Morti- 
mer Jesurum,  chief  surgeon. 

Troop  C  was  recruited  in  the  vicinity  of  Laramie  and  was  mustered  in  at  Fort 
D.  A.  Russell  on  May  23,  1898,  with  the  following  officers  and  enlisted  men: 
George  R.  Shanton,  captain;  Morgan  F.  Knadler,  first  lieutenant;  William  J. 
Abrams,  second  lieutenant;  Charles  W.  Gilmore,  first  sergeant;  Otto  Zoller, 
quartermaster  sergeant ;  George  S.  Kline,  Brutus  H.  Clay,  Joseph  T.  Orr,  Charles 
K.  Harrington  and  Chris  J.  Silberg,  sergeants ;  William  A.  Grosvenor,  William 
J.  Sine,  Herman  C.  Peterson,  Winter  P.  Hepburn,  Thomas  C.  Hunt,  Albert  R. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING    .  299 

King,  Mortimer  McKnight  and  Fred  C.  Hecht,  corporals ;  Herbert  Wallis  and 
Hiram  F.  Davis,  trumpeters;  Charles  M.  Johnson  and  Jonas  H.  Farr,  farriers; 
Charles  Trew,  saddler ;  Willis  D.  Jacus,  wagoner. 

Troopers — Joseph  Aaron,  Kirt  Acor,  Daniel  L.  Aldridge,  James  Barber,  George 
W.  Barker,  Alfred  A.  Benjamin,  Patrick  Boyle,  Henry  A.  Brown,  Harvey  B. 
Burk,  George  H.  Burke,  Arthur  W.  Chesebro,  DeWitt  Clary,  Samuel  Coen,  Wil- 
liam Craver,  Tony  Cuerden,  Frank  Curren,  Alfred  Daykin,  Charles  S.  Dunlap, 
Sidney  H.  Dyer,  Jack  Fee,  Jr.,  Hugh  A.  Ferguson,  Paul  Flackstein,  Frank 
Flaherty,  George  R.  Gardner,  Harry  Griffin,  Rasmus  Hansen,  Hans  T.  Hansen, 
Tim  Hamlin,  Frederick  C.  Jenkins,  Samuel  Johnson,  William  E.  Johnston, 
Meredith  Jones,  Fred  Kassahn,  William  E.  King,  Hans  T.  Kulewatz,  Cornelius 
Lenihan,  Frank  A.  May,  Charles  W.  Mans,  Henry  S.  Mapes,  John  C.  Matheson, 
Christian  W.  Miller,  Hugh  M.  McPhee,  Andrew  C.  Neilsen,  James  U.  Nisbet, 
Adolph  A.  Olsen,  Perry  Parish,  Albert  F.  Price,  Frank  P.  Price,  Charles  B. 
Peirce,  John  J.  Schenck.  Lewis  Sherwood,  George  Schaefer,  Henry  Steltz,  William 
C.  Tipler,  Hugh  Vass,  William  B.  Wallace.  James  E.  Walsh,  Harry  H.  Whitman, 
William  C.  Whittenberg. 

Troop  E  was  recruited  in  the  counties  of  Sheridan,  Crook  and  Weston  and 
was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell  on  May  23,  1898, 
with  the  following  officers  and  men:  Henry  H.  Austin,  captain;  Norvel  H. 
Baker,  first  lieutenant ;  Lewis  S.  Magruder,  second  lieutenant ;  T.  J.  Gatchell, 
first  sergeant ;  Daniel  L.  Van  Meter,  quartermaster  sergeant ;  George  L.  Wade, 
Harve  Springer,  Patrick  J.  Conway,  Philo  Carmon,  George  Skinner  and  Robert 
Long,  sergeants ;  Arthur  C.  Schneider,  Guy  Campbell,  Charles  S.  Brown,  Ellioft 
W.  Brown,  Joseph  Sellers,  Edward  Anderson,  William  Hymer  and  Bird  Moore, 
corporals :  Truman  L.  Fox  and  Anton  Jenson,  trumpeters,  Herman  Gerdel  and 
William  McWilliams,  farriers;  Milo  Hamilton,  saddler;  Frank  Valentine, 
wagoner. 

Troopers — Richard  Alleyne.  Guy  R.  Barton,  Ross  Bennett,  Charles  C.  Blake, 
William  E.  Bollen,  Joseph  L.  Bomar,  Marnus  J.  Cannon,  Peter  Cannon,  Edward 
Clark,  John  Cole,  Russell  Conger,  Harry  L.  Cooper,  Harry  CosgrifT,  Albert  M. 
Crafts,  James  W.  Croghan,  John  Davey,  William  Davis,  John  Davaney,  Frank 
Dooley,  Benjamin  F.  Draper,  Arthur  Evans,  Benjamin  Freeman,  Carl  Gleason, 
John  Gurney,  Clarence  E.  Hefiner,  William  J.  House,  Charles  Hulett,  Charles 
Kolberg,  Arthur  Krusee,  Harry  M.  Krusee,  Wesley  Leaming,  John  Loafman, 
Finley  Lowry,  Roland  J.  Lytle,  Eugene  McCarthy,  Henry  McConaghy,  James  H. 
Magoon,  William  Moncriefife,  Samuel  B.  Pohlman,  Chris  Rasmussen,  Burl 
Robinett,  Alonzo  Robinett,  Walter  Robinson,  James  F.  Rose,  Charles  Ross, 
Luther  M.  Roush,  Warren  Sawyer,  Nelson  Simpson,  Edward  J.  Smith,  Guy  L. 
Smith,  Archie  Sollars,  David  Spitz,  Jacob  E.  StaufTer,  Daniel  Sweeney,  Robert 
C.  Wilkerson,  Paul  Willitts,  Charles  F.  Wilson,  Frank  E.  Wood. 

Troop  F  came  from  Rock  Springs,  Green  River  and  Cheyenne.  It  was 
mustered  in  at  Fort  Russell  on  May  27,  1898,  with  Willis  F.  Hoadley  as  captain; 
Leonard  L.  Deitrick,  first  lieutenant;  Thomas  J.  King,  second  lieutenant;  Frank 
Kidd,  first  sergeant ;  Daniel  B.  Shields,  quartermaster  sergeant ;  John  A.  Jackson, 
George  E.  Artist,  George  Landenberger,  George  D.  Solomon,  William  A.  Craw- 
ford and  Jeremiah  Maly,  sergeants ;  John  W.  Peters,  Bert  McClure,  Angus  J. 
Matheson,  Jacob   L.    Parrott,    Frank   C.   Wells,    Melville   W.   James,   Josiah   H. 


300  HISTORY  OF  WYO^IIXG 

Eardley  and  John  E.  O'Riley,  corporals;  Frank  J.  Gunther  and  Edward  F.  Ely, 
trumpeters;  Lucius  A.  Place,  saddler:  James  Paulson,  wagoner. 

Troopers — Benjamin  Benz,  Joseph  Bird,  Henry  C.  Bloom,  John  N.  Bodendick, 
John  E.  Brooks,  Samuel  K.  Brown,  Morrison  Chester,  Charles  W.  Cole,  Bert 
Collins,  Thomas  Craig,  Allison  Davis,  Walter  Durbin,  Albert  B.  Ekdall,  Max 
Fairbanks,  William  Farley,  Rufus  E.  Garner,  Frederick  Hagen,  Patrick  W. 
Haley,  Frank  O.  Johnson,  Leo  Leffler,  Milton  ^L  Lewis,  George  H.  McBride, 
James  AA'.  McGuire,  Robert  McKlem.  Arthur  ]\Iaher.  Robert  Manassa,  Philip 
Michaels,  William  D.  r^Ioffatt,  John  Muir,  Robert  ^Nlyers,  Charles  O'Brien,  Wil- 
liam O'Brien,  James  H.  Patterson,  Harry  X.  Pauley,  \\'alter  J.  Peckham,  Emile 
Peterson,  Edward  Petteys,  Charles  A.  Pierson,  Ellsworth  Porter,  Lawrence 
Riordan,  George  G.  Robinson,  George  W.  Sadlier,  Adolph  C.  Saunders,  Edward 
G.  Schoel,  Benjamin  Smith,  Edgar  M.  Smith,  Eugen  Tiberghein,  Frederick  O. 
^^•ale. 

Troop  G  was  raised  in  and  around  Sheridan,  Charles  Lenwood  being  especially 
active  in  recruiting.  Owing  to  a  defect  in  his  sight,  Mr.  Lenwood  was  rejected  by 
the  board  of  medical  examiners.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  captain  of  the  troop.  It  has  been  said  of  Troop  G  that  it  had  "on  its 
roster  more  representatives  of  the  genus  frontiersman  than  any  other  troop  in 
the  regiment.  To  the  manner  born,  these  men  were  most  at  home  on  the  arid 
plain?  of  the  west.  Sitting  their  horses  like  centaurs,  they  handle  their  'shooting 
irons'  with  that  perfection  of  ease  and  deadly  aim  which  springs  only  from  long 
familiarity." 

The  personnel  of  the  troop  at  the  time  it  was  mustered  in  was  as  follows: 
John  B.  Mahardi,  captain;  John  H.  Ivey,  first  lieutenant;  Ralph  B.  Cooper,  second 
lieutenant ;  John  Timothy,  first  sergeant ;  Joseph  \'.  E.  ^larsh,  quartermaster 
sergeant;  John  G.  Thornton,  Robert  Holland,  \\'allace  B.  Hodge.  Homer  R. 
Peret.  Samuel  L.  Brown  and  Adelbert  Flores,  sergeants ;  Thomas  L.  Coble, 
Charles  W.  Fischer,  Peter  H.  Jones,  Clarence  Milner,  Oscar  Palmer.  Thomas 
H.  MacCallum  and  James  A.  Brown,  corporals;  Ethan  T.  Chilcott.  farrier; 
Thomas  E.  DeNike.  blacksmith ;  George  E.  Dorsey  and  George  P.  \\'ebster, 
trumpeters ;  Samuel  E.  Bayless,  saddler,  Augustus  C.  Hitt,  wagoner. 

Troopers — Edward  F.  Beam,  Frank  Bodle,  Albert  W.  Bristol,  Bert  R.  Bross. 
Elijah  L.  Brown,  Frederick  G.  Burto,  William  Callahan,  Alden  Carpenter,  George 
A\'.  Curtis,  John  S.  Dugan.  John  W.  Embree,  John  G.  Fletcher.  \\'illiam  J.  Fox. 
Thomas  Gallagher,  George  R.  Goulding.  August  Gronen.  Alexander  Hagan.  Lester 
B.  Haley,  Hans  P.  Hansen,  William  C.  Hopkins.  Marion  V.  Inskeep.  John  F. 
Karling,  George  L.  LaDomas,  Charles  C.  Langley,  John  H.  Latta,  John  C.  Lee. 
Thorwald  Leesborg,  Ira  Loud,  John  D.  L6wry,  William  McAdam,  George  W. 
McDonald.  Rudolph  R.  Mayer,  Walter  Meldrum.  James  Menecle,  Leonard  Metz, 
Elias  O.  Moore,  Merion  M.  Moore.  Joseph  M.  Morrow,  Charles  A.  Peavey,  John 
:\I.  Pelfrey,  William  I.  Powell,  Richard  H.  Redmond,  Arthur  Reece,  A.  S.  Rey- 
nolds, Charles  W.  Reynolds,  Archie  A.  Sackett,  Thomas  Saven,',  Ara  Sawyer,  \Vi\- 
liam  B.  Schrantz.  William  Schurr,  William  Shoemaker,  James  H.  Skillen.  William 
H.  Smith,  Emerie  Swick,  Charles  R.  Thompson.  William  A.  Waldo,  Jeffrey  E. 
Walker,  Ford  L.  Wanamaker,  Roy  Withington. 

Troop  H  was  raised  in  Carbon  County  by  Louis  G.  Davis,  who  resigned  the 
office  of  sheriff'  for  the  purpose,  and  who  was  elected  captain  of  the  troop.     The 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  301 

other  officers  were :  Charles  B.  Osborne,  first  lieutenant :  John  H.  Albro,  second 
lieutenant;  John  J.  Fagan,  first  sergeant;  h'rank  J.  Do}-le,  quartermaster  sergeant; 
George  \\'.  Sisson,  Frank  Wyman,  Richard  Higbee,  Xorris  P.  Ballou,  Herman 
C.  Franke  and  James  Blackball,  sergeants ;  Daniel  J.  Callahan,  William  M.  Collins, 
Xelson  A.  Ekdahl,  Edgar  \\\  Hewitt,  Clarke  E.  McGregor,  Hartly  B.  Keeler, 
F"red  M.  Wolfe  and  William  E.  Lamb,  corporals;  Louis  Stellenberger,  trumpeter; 
George  \\'.  McDonald,  farrier ;  Alfred  Gasswint,  saddler ;  John  W.  Hollandsworth, 
wagoner. 

Troopers — George  W.  Adams,  Joseph  il.  Adams,  Herman  F.  J.  Anderson. 
Stuart  M.  Anderson,  Edgar  F.  Bailey,  Ernest  Brink,  John  R.  Brown.  William 
W.  Brown,  James  Buckley,  Albert  Cariboni,  Duncan  Carr,  William  H.  Childers, 
Richard  Clark,  Charles  H.  Cook,  Luke  Corrigan,  John  Cripe,  Frederick  J.  Davis, 
John  H.  Davis,  James  Demaree,  John  Doner,  George  E.  Franklin.  Jesse  D. 
Fonts.  John  H.  Glazier,  Ambrose  Hemingway,  John  M.  Mott,  Robert  J.  Houston, 
Oliver  E.  Hunter,  Thomas  M.  Hutchinson,  Chauncy  Hurlburt,  Evan  Jones, 
William  .S.  Kinnaman.  \\'illiam  Kruger.  Ralph  W.  Leach,  John  J.  Madden.  Edward 
J.  Marsh,  Joseph  Matthews,  Charles  A.  Meeker,  Elkana  B.  Miller.  Richard  Moran, 
Lawrence  T.  MuKaney.  Martin  O'Brien,  George  E.  Parker,  George  E.  Priest, 
Perry  M.  Richardson.  Conrad  Rowland,  Henry  W.  Sacknus,  James  Sherwood, 
John  Siltomaki.  William  H.  Slee.  Charles  J.  Talbott.  Hugh  Thompson.  ]\Iatthew 
\\'alsh,  Robert  L.  Wheeler,  Julius  U'olff.  " 

Troop  K  was  made  up  of  men  from  Rawlins.  Casper  and  Douglas,  and  was 
composed  of  expert  riders  and  marksmen.  It  was  mustered  in  at  Fort  D.  A. 
Russell  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1898,  with  the  following  officers  and  enlisted 
men :  Morgan  H.  Maghee,  captain ;  Hugh  L.  Patton.  first  lieutenant ;  Alva  C. 
Rice,  second  lieutenant ;  Edward  S.  White,  first  sergeant ;  Edward  D.  Johnson, 
quartermaster  sergeant;  William  A.  Duncan.  Robert  i\IcAdams.  Robert  W. 
Wallace.  Louis  \\'.  Launiere.  Don  A.  Williams  and  George  C.  Thompson,  ser- 
geants :  Albert  J.  Cook,  Charles  C.  Carnham,  Robert  J.  Allen,  George  W.  Dufl:'y, 
David  A.  Williams.  Sheridan  H.  Reilly.  George  W.  Timmons  and  Charles  E. 
Nichols,  corporals ;  Gustave  Hakola  and  Albert  W.  Reed,  farriers ;  Charles  H. 
Lilly  and  William  J.  Faulkner,  trumpeters ;  Hugi  A.  Beck,  cook ;  Frank  Fay. 
saddler;  Melvin  P.  Wain,  wagoner. 

Troopers — John  W.  Arden,  ]Mathew  Barber,  Otto  C.  Bartz,  Frank  F.  Berry, 
Frank  H.  Betz,  Fred  G.  Boiler,  Lyman  Brown,  William  O.  Comstock,  Thomas 
G.  Cook.  John  B.  Dawson,  Jesse  L  Dement,  Jacob  N.  Doersam.  Oscar  Donoho, 
Richard  C.  Doyle,  Elmer  C.  Edgerly,  Albert  L.  Evans,  Horace  Evans.  James 
H.  Finley,  Frank  E.  Fletcher,  Raymond  N.  Gourley,  Randall  Hayes,  Gilman 
A  Hackett,  Frank  M.  Heuet.  Charles  Holland,  Fred  R.  Ingalls,  John  F.  Janecek, 
Samuel  P.  Kennison.  Charles  H.  Laughrey.  George  Lobmeir.  Maurice  Locknane, 
James  McGinners.  Colin  J.  Mackenzie.  Anton  Maybaum.  Walter  Merrill.  Charles 
H.  Aloore.  Jonathan  Morris.  Roy  W.  Morse,  August  F.  Neeseman,  Eugene  H. 
O'Brien.  Charles  T.  Paden.  Frank  J.  Payne,  Fred^  Roediger,  Erastus  W.  Ruhl. 
Albert  N.  Sandberg,  Frank  L.  Schott,  Lewis  D.  Scott,  Booker  L.  Smith.  Bryden 
F.  Spencer.  Percy  E.  Springford.  William  E.  \'an  Curen,  James  H.  Webber, 
Elmer  E.  Wheeler.  George  E.  \\'hite.  Grant  E.  \\'illiams.  Thomas  H.  Williams. 

Troop  L  was  composed  of  men  from  around  Evanston  and  Kemmerer  and  was 
mustered  into  the  L^nited  States  service  on  May  18,  1898,  being  one  of  the  first 


302  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

to  complete  its  organization.  Robert  A.  Hocker  was  commissioned  captain; 
Edgar  D.  Shurtliff,  first  lieutenant;  Thomas  W.  Davies,  second  lieutenant.  The 
non-commissioned  officers  were:  Charles  E.  Davis,  first  sergeant;  George  Ellis, 
quartermaster  sergeant ;  Frederick  Richardson,  Charles  Dempsey,  A.  C.  B.  Lauder, 
Lewii  C.  Marx,  Martin  J.  Cleary  and  Harry  Shepherd,  sergeants;  Henry  B. 
Dexter,  William  H.  Evans,  Henry  X.  Laskey.  Sylvester  Whalen,  Curtis  Durnford, 
Thomas  Fife.  Charles  F.  Coggle  and  James  Walton,  corporals ;  William  Morrow, 
trumpeter ;  William  T.  Lane  and  William  R.  Welch,  farriers ;  John  L.  Lee,  sad- 
dler; Edward  C.  Sims,  wagoner. 

Troopers — Harold  R.  Aniens,  Cas.e  Bennett,  Charles  S.  Beveridge,  John  B. 
Dowdige,  \Mlliam  J.  L.  Carpenter,  John  C.  Christensen,  Thomas  Cook,  William 
Cook,  Ralph  Crumbaugh.  \\"illiam  P.  Darby,  Byron  C.  DeLano,  Norman  E. 
Dempsey,  George  De\'ore,  Samuel  J.  Dickey,  James  Eardley.  Dell  GeHove, 
Clarence  E.  Gimmer,  Arthur  Goodman,  Frank  Hall,  William  P.  Hartzell.  Clarence 
Johnson,  Joseph  Johnson,  Peter  J.  Johnson,  Walter  M.  Johnston.  Jonathan  Jones, 
Jr.,  Frank  Kennedy,  Henry  Lanstring,  ClilTord  W.  Long,  Hiram  Loveday,  Garrett 
Lowham,  Joseph  Lowham,  William  R.  Lush,  Lewis  W.  McCarl,  Orin  McRea, 
James  O.  Mansfield,  Orson  Mathews,  William  T.  Moore,  Olaf  Naster,  Andrew 
Niemela,  Harry  Nye,  E.  Perkins,  Glen  J.  Purdy,  Orin  Oueal,  Arthur  L.  Quinn, 
Tohn  Reed,  Reuben  A.  Robinson,  Henry  Scharff',  John  Simpson,  Charles  H. 
Smith,  Samuel  Stover,  Calvin  E.  Sturm,  Jesse  M.  Taylor,  James  R.  Tennant, 
Ernest  Weeks,  Joseph  Wilkinson. 

C.\MP  CUBA  LIBRE 

The  regiment  left  Cheyenne  on  June  22,  1898,  for  Camp  Cuba  Libre,  Jack- 
sonville, Fla.  At  Tupelo,  Miss.,  on  the  26th,  the  second  section  of  the  troop  train 
ran  into  the  first  section,  which  resulted  in  the  immediate  death  of  three  troopers, 
three  others  died  later,  and  eleven  others  were  more  or  less  injured.  The  killed 
were  Samuel  Johnson,  Cornelius  Lenihan  and  William  B.  Wallace,  all  of  Troop 
C.  Those  who  died  later  were  Henry  S.  Mapes  and  Henry  Stehz  of  Troop  C, 
and  Clarence  E.  Gimmer,  of  Troop  L.  The  injured  who  recovered  were  Col. 
Jay  L.  Torrey,  Joseph  Aaron,  Hiran  F.  Davis,  Jonas  H.  Farr,  George  R.  Gardner, 
William  A.  Grosvenor  and  John  J.  Schenck  of  Troop  C,  Arthur  Evans  of  Troop 
E,  Wallace  B.  Hodge  of  Troop  G,  and  E.  Perkins  and  Joseph  Wilkinson  of  Troop 
L.  Two  Colorado  men  were  also  slightly  injured.  The  regiment  remained  at 
Camp  Cuba  Libre  until  October,  when  it  was  mustered  out. 

In  the  battalion,  the  battery  and  the  Second  United  States  Volunteer  Cavalry, 
the  State  of  Wyoming  furnished  a  number  of  men  aggregating  four  and  a  half 
times  her  proper  quota,  as  apportioned  by  the  war  department — more  in  propor- 
tion to  population  than  any  other  state  in  the  L'uion. 

soldiers'  monument 

In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  in  January,  1899,  Governor  Richards  said: 
"The  Wyoming  Volunteer  Aid  Association,  composed  of  the  patriotic  women  of 
the  state,  has  inaugurated  a  movement  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the 
memorv  of  the  volunteers  from  this  state  who  sacrificed  their  lives  in  maintaining 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  303 

the  honor  of  their  country.  It  is  desired  that  permission  be  given  for  the  erection 
of  this  monument  within  the  grounds  of  the  capitol,  and  that  a  suitable  contribu- 
tion to  the  fund  be  made  by  the  state." 

By  the  act  of  February  20,  1899,  the  requested  permission  was  given  and  the 
sum  of  $1,500  was  set  apart  as  a  "Heroes'  Alonument  Fund,"  to  be  delivered  to 
the  Volunteer  Aid  Association  when  so  ordered  by  the  governor.  The  monument 
was  erected  in  1900  by  LaFontaine  &  Bradley  and  was  at  first  located  immediately 
east  of  the  walk  leading  to  the  main  entrance  of  the  capitol.  In  1917  it  was 
removed  to  its  present  location  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  capitol  grounds. 
The  monument  is  of  Vermont  granite,  surmounted  by  the  figure  of  a  soldier  in 
the  attitude  of  "Taking  the  Oath,"  and  inscribed  with  the  names  of  the  organiza- 
tions it  was  erected  to  honor.  The  figure  on  the  top  of  the  monument  is  supposed 
to  be  that  of  Tack  Owens  of  Kentucky,  then  a  soldier  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  but  the 
statue  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  a  "speaking  likeness." 


^    5 


CHAPTER  XX 
FORTS  AND  MILITARY  POSTS 

EARLY      TRADING      POSTS — FORT      LARAMIE FREMONt's      DESCRIPTION PARKMAN's 

FIRST    GLIMPSES — GENERAL    KEARNEY    AND   THE    INDIANS — EARLY    EXPLORERS — 

THE    FORT    ESTABLISHED TIDE   OF    EMIGRATION EXPEDITIONS    AND   TREATIES — ■ 

THE    ROMANCE    OF    AH-IIO-AP-PA — UNIQUE    BURIAL    CEREMONIES — THE    SEQUEL 

FORTS  BRIDGER,  WALBACH,  HALLECK,  CASPER,  RENO,  SANDERS,  PHILIP  KEARNY, 

FETTERMAN,  FRED  STEELE,   WASHAKIE,  STAMBAUGH,   MC  KINNEY,    MACKENZIE — • 
FORTS  IN  ADJOINING  STATES. 

In  the  chapter  on  Fur  Traders  are  given  descriptions  of  many  of  the  early 
trading  posts,  notably  Forts  Adams,  Bonneville,  Fraeb,  Hall,  Henry.  John,  Platte, 
William,  the  Portuguese  Houses,  as  well  as  some  of  lesser  note.  These  were 
not  military  posts  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  as  they  were  not  authorized  by 
the  Government,  though  they  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  early  history  of 
A\'yoming, 

FORT    LARAMIE 

For  more  than  half  a  century  Fort  Laramie  was  the  most  important  historical 
point  in  the  great  Northwest  region  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Pacific 
Coast.  It  was  the  central  base  of  supplies  and  a  military  station  on  the  overland 
trails  across  the  plains  and  mountains  to  Oregon,  California  and  Utah,  over  which 
the  "forty-niners,''  Mormons  and  Oregon  emigrants  treked  in  huge  trains  and 
cavalcades.  For  many  years  it  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  most  powerful  Indian 
tribes  of  the  Northwest.  It  was  the  headquarters  of  the  most  famous  explorers, 
hunters,  trappers,  scouts,  guides  and  fur  traders  known  in  western  history,  in- 
cluding such  men  as  Kit  Carson,  Jim  Bridger,  Jim  Baker,  Bordeau,  Chatillion. 
La  Ramie,  St.  \'rain.  etc.,  and  later  Buffalo  Bill,  Frank  Grouard.  Big  l!at  and 
others. 

Among  the  noted  explorers  and  authors  who  at  different  times  made  camps  or 
visits  at  Fort  Laramie  may  be  mentioned  Captain  Bonneville,  Gen.  John  C.  Fre- 
mont, Theodore  Winthrop,  Captain  King,  Francis  Parkman,  the  historian,  Henry 
M.  Stanley,  the  African  explorer,  Marcus  Whitman,  Captain  Stansbury,  Eugene 
F.  ^Vare  and  many  others.  Nearly  all  of  the  early  United  States  geological  sur- 
veys and  reconnaissances  made  Fort  Laramie  a  base  of  operations  or  supplies. 
Many  important  military  expeditions  were  organized  there  and  some  of  the  most 
noted  Indian  treaties  were  there  concluded. 
305 


306  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

As  a  midway  station  on  the  old  Government  trail,  it  afforded  protection  and  a 
resting  place  to  thousands  of  emigrants  crossing  the  plains  bound  westward,  who 
recuperated  their  stock  on  the  grasses  of  the  valleys  of  the  North  Platte  and 
Laramie  rivers  and  here  they  purchased  needed  supplies  before  entering  on  their 
long  and  tedious  journey  through  the  mountains.  When  the  Indians  were  on  the 
war  path  they  were  here  given  military  escort.  During  its  early  days  as  a  mili- 
tary post  many  of  the  most  famous  generals  of  the  Civil  war  were  stationed  here, 
such  as  Merritt,  Gibbon,  Crook,  Dodge,  Sumner  and  others. 

THE  OLD  TRADING  POST 

The  old  fort  or  trading  post  was  built  in  1834  by  Smith,  Jackson  &  Sublette 
and  afterward  sold  to  Robert  Campbell,  who  named  it  Fort  William  after  his  part- 
ner, ^Villiam  L.  Sublette.  Mr.  Campbell  soon  after  named  it  Laramie,  in- honor 
of  a  brave  French  trapper  who  was  killed  on  the  river  which  also  bears  his  name. 
The  names,  Adams,  John  and  Platte  have  also  been  attributed  to  Fort  Laramie,  but 
they  were  simply  other  trading  posts  in  that  vicinity  and  were  independent  estab- 
lishments. Investigation  shows  that  they  were  not  located  at  the  point  where 
Fort  Laramie  stood  and  were  not  transferred  with  the  old  trading  post  when  it  was 
sold  to  the  government  Robert  Campbell  sold  the  trading  post  which  he  had 
named  Fort  Laramie,  to  the  American  Fur  Company  in  1836. 

To  establish  the  separate  identity  of  Forts  Adams,  John  and  Platte  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  Fort  Adams  is  described  by  Fremont  as  being  two  miles  from  Fort 
Laramie;  that  Fort  John  was  built  several  miles  away  in  1839,  and  abandoned 
in  1846:  and  Fort  Platte,  three  miles  distant  on  the  Platte,  was  not  built  till  1840. 

DESCRIBED   BY    FREMONT 

The  fort  as  built  by  the  American  Fur  Company  is  described  by  Fremont  on 
his  first  expedition  in  May,  1842.  He  says:  "This  was  a  large  post  having 
more  the  air  of  military  construction  than  Fort  Adams,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
being  some  twenty-five  feet  above  the  water,  and  its  lofty  walls  whitewashed 
and  picketed,  with  large  bastions  at  the  angles,  gave  it  quite  an  imposing  appear- 
ance in  the  uncertain  light  of  evening.  A  cluster  of  lodges  belonging  to  Sioux 
Indians  was  pitched  under  the  walls  outside  and  with  the  fine  background  of  the 
Black  Hills  and  the  prominent  peak  of  the  Laramie  Mountains,  strongly  drawn 
in  the  clear  western  sky,  where  the  sun  had  already  set,  the  whole  formed  at 
the  moment  a  strikingly  beautiful  picture. 

"I  walked  up  to  visit  our  friends  at  the  fort,  which  is  a  quadrangular  struc- 
ture built  of  clay  adobe,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Mexicans,  who  are  generally 
employed  in  building  them.  The  walls  are  fifteen  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a 
wooden  palisade  and  form  the  outside  portions  of  the  rows  of  houses  which 
entirely  surround  a  yard  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  square.  Every 
apartment  has  its  door  and  window  opening  inside.  There  are  two  entrances, 
the  main  entrance  having  two  gates  with  an  arched  passage  intervening.  A  little 
square  window  high  above  the  ground  opened  from  an  adjoining  chamber,  so 
that  when  the  inner  gate  is  closed  and  barred  anyone  inside  may  communicate 
with  outside  parties.    This  obviated  the  necessity  of  admitting  suspicious  persons." 


308  HISTORY  OF  \VYO:\IIXG 

parkman's  description 

Francis  Parkman,  the  historian,  visited  Fort  Laramie  in  the  spring  of  1846, 
with  Flenry  Chatilhon  as  a  guide.  He  started  from  St.  Louis,  went  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Platte  and  forded  the  Laramie  Ri\er  directly  at  the  fort.  Parkman 
stayed  at  the  fort  for  a  while  and  then  went  out  and  lived  among  the  Indians 
to  study  their  habits  and  customs.  The  Indian  \illage  where  he  lived  was  at  the 
point  on  the  Laramie  River  now  called  LU'a.  some  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
fort,  with  which  he  always  kept  in  touch.  When  he  reached  Fort  Laramie  with 
his  party,  Bordeaux  was  in  charge,  Papin,  the  manager  of  the  fur  company's 
affairs,  being  absent.  He  welcomed  Parkman's  party  and  took  them  into  the 
fort.  Parkman's  description  of  the  fort  agrees  with  Fremont's.  He  describes 
the  scene  as  they  came  in  as  follows :  "Tall  Indians  in  their  buffalo  robes  were 
striding  across  the  area  or  reclining  at  full  length  on  the  low  roofs  of  the  build- 
ings. Numerous  squaws  gaily  bedizened  sat  grouped  about  in  front  of  the  rooms 
they  occupied,  their  mongrel  offsprings,  restless  and  vociferous,  rambled  in  every 
direction,  and  the  trappers,  traders  and  employees  of  the  establishment  were  busy 
in  their  labors  or  amusements." 

He  says  the  officials  of  the  fur  company  had  absolute  sway  over  the  vast  region 
around  them,  as  the  nearest  United  States  troops  at  that  time  were  700  miles  to 
the  east,  while  the  west  was  practically  an  unexplored  wilderness.  Looking  from 
the  walls  upon  the  surrounding  hills,  he  observed  scaft'olds  rising  in  the  distance 
against  the  red  western  sky.  They  bore  upon  them  the  dead  of  the  Dakota  chiefs 
whose  remains  were  placed  in  the  \icinity  of  the  fort  for  protection  from  enemy 
tribes,  yet  frequently  the  Crows  ranging  through  had  broken  down  the  scaft'olds 
and  thrown  the  bodies  to  the  wolves.  Around  many  of  these  scaft'olds  were 
placed  white  buft'alo  skulls  arranged  in  a  mystic  circle. 

Parkman  bravely  took  his  chances  in  living  among  the  Indians,  but  he  saw 
that  the  country  must  soon  be  garrisoned  with  troops,  for  he  observes :  "A  mili- 
tary force  and  military  law  are  urgently  ■  needed  in  this  perilous  region,  and 
unless  troops  are  speedily  stationed  at  Fort  Laramie  or  in  the  neighborhood, 
emigrants  and  travelers  will  be  exposed  to  imminent   risks." 

CICXERAL  KEARXEV   .\\D  THE   IXDIAXS 

The  first  troops  to  reach  Fort  Laramie  before  it  became  a  military  post  was 
an  expedition  organized  under  Gen.  Stephen  W.  Kearney  in  1845.  Kearney, 
with  several  companies  of  dragoons,  left  Fort  Leavenworth  and  marched  to  Fort 
Laramie.  From  there  he  sent  a  part  of  his  command  to  the  Sweetwater,  while 
he  remained  at  the  fort.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  the  Indian  tribes  of  that  vicinity 
saw  white  warriors  and  were  lost  in  astonishment  at  their  fine  equipment  and 
gay  attire,  and  at  the  regular  order  of  their  marches  and  evolutions. 

The  Arapahoes  at  that  time  having  committed  several  murders,  General  Kear- 
ney had  them  called  in,  and  told  them  he  would  annihilate  the  whole  tribe  if 
they  killed  any  more  white  people.  To  add  to  the  eft'ect  of  his  threat,  he  ordered 
a  howitzer  fired  and  a  rocket  thrown  up.  This  created  the  utmost  consternation 
among  them.  Many  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  and  others  ran  away  in 
terror  and  amazement.     It  is  related  that  on  his  trip  across  the  plains  Kearney 


••MIKE"  HEXEY,  OF  DOUGLAS 
At  the  age  of  tliiiteeii.     Drummer  boy  and  bugler  at  old  Fort  Laramie. 


310  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

had  a  mountain  howitzer  loaded  on  his  rear  wagon  and  concealed  by  the  canvas 
wagon  cover.  On  one  occasion  the  train  was  attacked  by  a  large  band  of  Indians 
on  horseback,  who  rode  up  behind  and  began  to  shoot  arrows  into  the  train.  The 
howitzer  was  turned  loose  on  them  with  great  effect.  Many  were  knocked  off 
their  horses  and  killed.  It  was  as  if  a  bolt  of  lightning  had  come  out  of  a  clear 
sky.  They  were  terribly  surprised.  As  a  frontiersman  would  say,  they  "hit 
the  breeze"  with  great  suddenness  and  unanimity.  For  a  long  time  they  would 
not  go  near  a  wagon,  as  they  had  a  superstition  that  a  "white  man's  wagon  heap 
shoot." 

EARLY  EXPLORERS 

Captain  Bonneville's  party  encamped  on  the  Laramie  River,  May  25,  1832, 
and  spent  six  weeks  between  Fort  Laramie  and  the  Sweetwater  examining  the 
country.     An  account  of  this  expedition  is  given  in  another  part  of  this  history. 

The  Oregon  expedition,  undertaken  by  Nathaniel  J-  Wyeth  in  1834,  reached 
Fort  Laramie  on  June  ist  of  that  year.  On  this  expedition  Wyeth  built  a  fort 
near  Jackson's  Hole. 

The  first  considerable  emigration  across  the  continent  by  the  Oregon  Trail 
began  in  1841.  and  most  of  it  went  to  Oregon  up  to  about  1847,  when  the  Mormon 
influx  began,  which  was  followed  by  the  California  gold  seekers  in  1849.  The 
caravans  were  mostly  made  up  of  ox  teams  which  traveled  slowly.  All  the 
trains  made  a  stop  at  Fort  Laramie,  whether  it  was  a  trading  post  or  a  fort. 

In  1846  Congress  passed  an  act  providing  for  the  building  of  forts  along 
the  Oregon-California  Trail.  The  Mexican  war,  then  in  progress,  stimulated 
overland  travel  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  the  new  explorations  of  the  West  and 
the  increasing  trade  with  the  Indian  tribes  aroused  the  ambition  and  enterprise 
of  Americans  to  plunge  into  the  frontier. 

THE  FORT  ESTABLISHED 

It  was  not  until  1848,  however,  that  Lieut.  Daniel  P.  Woodbury  of  the  L'nited 
States  Engineer  Corps  was  sent  out  to  select  sites  for  the  new  forts.  He  first 
recommended  the  site  of  the  American  Fur  Company  at  the  fork  of  the  Laramie 
and  Platte  rivers  as  a  proper  and  needed  location  for  a  fort,  and  having  obtained 
an  offer  of  the  property  for  $4,000,  he  was  authorized  to  make  the  purchase  from 
the  fur  company.  Soon  thereafter  new  buildings  were  constructed,  the  first 
structure  of  good  size  being  the  building  which  afterwards  was  named  "Old 
Bedlam,"  the  lumber  for  its  construction  having  been  brought  800  miles  in  wagons 
from  Fort  Leavenworth  at  a  cost  of  $60,000.  This  building  was  used  for  quar- 
ters and  clubhouse  of  bachelor  officers  and  was  the  scene  of  Captain  King's  story 
entitled  "Laramie,  or  the  Queen  of  Bedlam,"  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  his 
popular  military  novels.  The  first  United  States  troops  garrisoned  at  the  fort 
were  Companies  C  and  D,  Third  Cavalry,  under  Major  Sanderson.  A  little  later 
they  were  followed  by  Company  G,  Sixth  L'nited  States  Infantry.  The  Govern- 
ment afterwards  set  apart  a  military  reservation  of  fifty-four  square  miles,  being 
a  parallelogram  nine  miles  north  and  soutli  and  six  miles  east  and  west.  A  timber 
reserve  was  also  established  near  Laramie  Peak,  about  fifty  miles  west  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  ■      311 

fort,  where  the  post  thereafter  secured  its  wood  and  lumber  supplies.  Other 
buildings  were  added  from  time  to  time,  mostly  built  of  concrete.  Officers' 
quarters,  cavalry  and  infantry  barracks,  large  supply  warehouses,  stables,  black- 
smith and  other  workshops  were  substantially  built.  Numerous  small  cottages 
were  built  for  married  sergeants  and  civil  employees,  together  with  a  guard- 
house and  hospital,  which  in  early  days  were  utilized  by  citizens,  settlers  and 
civilian  employees.  Many  settlers  located  on  ranches  nearby,  to  be  under  the 
protection  of  the  military  forces.  They  engaged  in  raising  grain,  vegetables,  cattle, 
horses  and  hay,  and  working  teams  on  Government  contracts.  Thus  Fort  Laramie 
became  not  only  a  military  post,  but  a  busy  emporium  of  trade  for  the  whole 
surrounding  region — a  city  in  the  wilderness. 

THE  TIDE  OF  EMIGR.\TION 

The  Oregon  emigration  was  greatest  from  1841  to  1845.  The  Mormon  immi- 
gration began  in  1847,  the  first  Mormon  colony  reaching  the  fort  in  the  spring 
of  that  year.  They  were  followed  by  another  Mormon  party,  which  reached  Fort 
I.aramie  in  June,  both  expeditions  moving  on  to  Salt  Lake  after  a  brief  stay  at 
the  fort.  It  is  estimated  that  one  hundred  thousand  Mormons  crossed  the  plains 
by  way  of  Fort  Laramie  in  the  succeeding  five  years. 

But  the  high  tide  of  emigration  was  reached  about  1850-51.  A  new  era  in 
the  life  and  settlement  of  the  mountain  West  began  with  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  California.  To  the  dull  routine  of  ox  team  travel  over  the  Oregon  Trail  was 
added  the  zest  of  fortune  hunting  and  adventure.  The  rush  of  the  gold  seekers 
was  one  of  the  most  unique  phases  of  American  history  and  led  to  the  rapid 
settlement  and  development  of  all  the  far  western  states.  In  the  early  season 
of  1850.  Langworthy  says  60,000  gold  seekers  went  over  the  Government  Trail, 
and  teams  had  gone  forward  before  he  arrived  at  Fort  Laramie  on  June  13th 
of  that  year.  He  says  the  excitement  and  hurry  of  the  travelers  were  so  great 
that  they  threw  away  much  of  the  freight  which  impeded  their  progress.  Thus 
the  trail  was  marked  with  an\ils,  crowbars,  drills,  axes,  grindstones,  trunks,  cloth- 
ing, etc.  Another  estimate  says  that  ninety  thousand  animals  went  over  the  trail 
during  one  season.  One  tra\eler,  in  going  five  miles,  counted  429  wagons  with 
their  human  freight  and  supplies.  One  might  travel  a  hundred  miles  and  never 
be  out  of  sight  of  moving  trains.  Thus  Fort  Laramie  became  the  center,  the  "Mid- 
way Plaisance,"  of  all  these  trains  and  the  immense  traffic  they  brought. 

EXPEDITIONS  .AND  TREATIE.S 

The  various  expeditions  fitted  out  for  Indian  campaigns  at  Fort  Laramie  and 
the  important  Indian  treaties  made  there  are  described  in  other  portions  of  this 
history.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  them  without  details.  Passing  over  the 
early  expeditions  of  Bonneville,  Marcus  Whitman,  Wyeth  and  Fremont,  which 
became  history  before  the  L'nited  States  made  Fort  Laramie  a  military  post,  we 
can  refer  to  the  following: 

Captain  Stansbury's  expedition  in  1849,  to  make  a  reconnaisance  for  a  rail- 
road from  Fort  Laramie  to  Fort  Bridger ;  General  Harney's  expedition  in  1855 
against  the  Siou.x ;  Lieutenant  Warren's  expedition  in  1857  from  Fort  Laramie 


312  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

to  the  Black  Hills  for  geologic  and  topographic  investigations ;  General  Sumner's 
expedition  in  1857  to  suppress  Indian  outbreaks;  General  Connor's  expedition 
in  1865  against  the  tribes  of  Western  \\'yoming  and  Utah ;  Colonel  Carrington's 
expedition  in  1865  to  establish  Forts  Phil  Kearny,  Reno  and  C.  F.  Smith;  and 
General  Crook's  expeditions  of  1875  and  1876  against  the  Crazy  Horse  and  Sitting 
Bull  bands  of  Indians. 

Of  the  treaties  made  at  Fort  Laramie,  that  of  September,  1851,  was  the  first. 
Col.  D.  D.  Mitchell,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  called  a  council  at  the  fort 
to  fix  the  boundaries  of  the  different  tribes.  The  council  was  in  session  twenty- 
three  days  and  was  attended  by  10,000  Sioux,  Cheyenne,  Arapaho  and  Crow 
Indians.  When  the  provision  trains  arrived  the  Indians  and  whites  joined  in  a 
grand  feast.  Under  this  treaty  the  Government  paid  the  Indians  $50,000  annually 
for  ten  years  for  a  trail  and  right  of  way  over  their  lands,  and  each  tribe  accepted 
certain  boundaries  as  hunting  territory. 

On  June  i,  1865,  Col.  H.  F.  Maynadier,  commandant  at  Fort  Laramie;  E.  B. 
Taylor,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs ;  Thomas  Wister,  of  Philadelphia ;  and 
R.  N.  McLaren,  of  Minnesota,  as  United  States  commissioners,  met  the  principal 
chiefs  of  that  section  and  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  and  the  concession  of  a 
right  of  wa^  over  the  Bozeman  Road  to  Montana.  Red  Cloud  refused  to  sign 
this  treaty  and  withdrew  from  the  council,  resulting  in  further  Indian  wars. 
Another  treaty  was  made  in  1866,  which  was  not  ratified  by  the  Government. 
The  Indians  began  to  get  bad  and  committed  many  depredations.  Early  in 
1868  all  the  ranches  between  Fort  Laramie  and  Fort  Fetterman  were  destroyed 
and  several  settlers  were  killed  at  Horse  Shoe,  Twin  Springs  and  La  Bonte. 

F.\MOU.S  TRE.\TV  OF   l86S 

This  condition  precipitated  the  famous  treaty  of  1868,  when  Generals  Sher- 
man, Terry  and  Augur,  representing  the  army,  and  John  Sanborn,  Samuel  F. 
Tappan,  Nathaniel  G.  Taylor  and  J.  B.  Henderson,  civilians,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  negotiate  with  the  Indians.  Henry  M.  Stanley  accompanied  the 
commission  as  newspaper  correspondent.  They  came  to  Fort  Laramie  in  May 
and  called  the  Indians  together.  The  treaty  gave  the  Indians  the  country  north 
of  the  Platte  as  hunting  ground.  The  Indians  who  signed  the  treaty  were  the 
Sioux  chiefs.  Red  Cloud.  Medicine  Eagle,  Black  Tiger,  Man-Afraid-of-His- 
Horse,  and  a  number  of  minor  chiefs. 

A  treaty  made  by  the  same  commission  with  the  head  men  of  the  Crow  nation 
gave  that  tribe  a  reservation  in  Southern  Montana,  and  they  in  return  ceded 
the  greater  part  of  their  lands  in  Wyoming  to  the  whites.  Three  days  later  the 
commission  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  by  which  they 
relinquished  all  claims  to  lands  and  agreed  to  accept  homes  and  Government  aid 
on  specified  reserves.  Later  in  1875  the  Arapahoes  agreed  to  accept  homes  on 
the  Wind  River  reserve,  where  they  are  now  located. 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  .\H-H0-AP-P.\ 

The  romance  of  the  love  story  and  death  of  Spotted-Tail's  daughter  has  been 
made  the  basis  of  much  writing,  interspersed  with  fact  and  fiction. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  313 

For  several  years  Ah-ho-ap-pa  lived  in  the  Indian  village  near  the  fort  and 
became  a  constant  visitor,  until  she  was  well  known  to  the  officers  and  soldiers. 
She  especially  enjoyed  seeing  dress  parade  and  guard  mount. 

It  seems  to  be  a  well  authenticated  fact  that  she  fell  in  love  with  a  cavalry 
officer,  Captain  Rhinehart,  and  became  deeply  infatuated  with  him,  although  he 
showed  her  only  polite  attention,  which  was  her  due  as  daughter  of  a  celebrated 
chief.  The  captain  was  killed  in  an  expedition  against  the  Sioux,  and  the  Indian 
maid  mourned  him  inconsolably.  In  the  meantime  Spotted-Tail  took  his  band 
up  into  the  Powder  River  country  and  moved  backwards  and  forwards  to  Big 
Horn,  Rosebud  and  Tongue  rivers,  taking  his  daughter  with  him. 

Eugene  F.  Ware,  afterwards  United  States  commissioner  of  pensions,  who 
was  then  adjutant  at  Fort  Laramie,  wrote  at  that  time  as  follows  of  the  situation 
in  .Spotted-Tail's  camp: 

"Ah-ho-ap-pa  was  living  in  a  chilly  and  lonesome  tepee  among  the  pines  on 
the  west  bank  of  Powder  River.  She  had  not  seen  a  white  person  since  her  visit 
to  Laramie  in  August,  1864.  Ah-ho-ap-pa's  heart  was  broken.  She  could  not 
stand  up  against  her  surroundings.  In  vain  her  father  had  urged  her  to  accept 
the  conditions  as  they  were,  to  be  happy  and  contented,  and  not  worry  about 
things  out  of  her  reach.  She  had  an  ambition — a  vague  one ;  but  her  hopes 
were  gone. 

"Shortly  before  her  death  a  runner  from  Fort  Laramie  announced  to  the 
Indians  on  Powder  River  that  commissioners  would  come,  with  the  grass,  who 
would  bring  the  words  of  the  Great  Father  to  his  Indian  children.  Shan-tag-alisk 
I  Spotted-Tail)  was  urged  to  send  runners  to  all  the  bands  south  and  west  of 
the  Alissouri  River  and  to  meet  at  Fort  Laramie  as  soon  as  their  ponies  could  live 
on  the  grass. 

"Ah-ho-ap-pa  heard  the  news,  but  it  did  not  revive  her.  She  told  her  father 
that  she  wanted  to  go,  but  she  would  be  dead ;  that  it  was  her  wish  to  be  buried 
in  the  cemetery  at  Fort  Laramie,  near  the  grave  of  'Old  Smoke,'  a  distant  relative 
and  a  great  chief  among  the  Sioux  in  former  years.  This  her  relative  promised 
her. 

"When  her  death  took  place,  after  great  lamentations  among  the  band,  the 
skin  of  a  freshly  killed  deer  was  held  over  the  fire  and  thoroughly  permeated  and 
creosoted  with  smoke.  Ah-ho-ap-pa  was  wrapped  in  it  and  it  was  tightly  bound 
around  her  with  thongs  so  that  she  was  temporarily  embalmed." 

This  was  in  the  spring  of  1868.  Spotted-Tail  started  with  the  body  on  their 
sad  journey  to  Fort  Laramie,  200  miles  distant.  When  the  funeral  party  arrived 
within  fifteen  miles  of  Fort  Laramie  it  camped  and  a  runner  was  sent  in  to 
announce  its  coming  to  Colonel  Maynadier.  That  officer  was  a  prince  at  heart, 
as  well  as  a  good  soldier.  Moreover,  he  had  been  sent  to  Fort  Laramie  to  smooth 
the  way  for  the  big  peace  commission.  Spotted-Tail  still  stood  high  among  his 
people.  Why  not  take  pains  to  impress  him  with  the  good  intentions  and  peaceful 
views  of  the  whites?  The  post  commander  at  the  time  was  Maj.  George  IM. 
O'Brien,  a  graduate  of  Dublin  University,  subsequently  brevetted  to  the  rank  of 
general.  He  afterwards  practiced  law  at  Omaha  and  died  there.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Col.  "Nick"  O'Brien  of  Cheyenne,  now  known  as  the  hero  of  Julesburg. 


314  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

BURIAL  CEREMONIES 

The  result  of  a  consultation  held  by  the  officers  was  that  an  ambulance  was 
dispatched  to  the  Indian  camp,  guarded  by  a  company  of  cavalry  in  full  uniform, 
followed  by  two  twelve-pound  mountain  howitzers  with  postilions  in  red  chevrons. 
When  the  camp  was  reached,  Ah-ho-ap-pa's  body  was  placed  in  the  ambulance, 
her  two  white  ponies  were  tethered  behind  the  vehicle,  and  the  procession  slowly 
moved  toward  the  fort.     Concerning  what  follows,  Eugene  F.  Ware  says: 

"When  the  cavalcade  had  reached  the  river,  a  couple  of  miles  from  the  post, 
the  garrison  turned  out  and,  with  Colonel  Maynadier  at  the  head,  met  and  escorted 
them  into  the  post,  and  the  party  were  assigned  quarters.  The  next  day  a  scaffold 
was  erected  in  the  military  cemetery  near  the  grave  of  "Old  Smoke.'  It  was 
made  of  tent  poles,  twelve  feet  long,  embedded  in  the  ground  and  fastened  with 
thongs,  over  which  a  buiifalo  robe  was  laid  and  on  which  the  coffin  was  to  be  placed. 

"To  the  poles  of  the  scafifold  were  nailed  the  heads  and  tails  of  the  two  white 
ponies,  so  that  Ah-ho-ap-pa  could  ride  through  the  fair  hunting  grounds  of  the 
skies.  A  coffin  was  made  and  lavishly  decorated.  The  body  was  not  unbound 
from  the  deerskin  shroud,  but  was  wrapped  in  the  coffin  mounted  on  the  wheels 
of  an  artillery  caisson.  After  the  coffin  came  a  twelve-pound  howitzer,  and  the 
whole  was  followed  to  the  cemetery  by  the  entire  garrison  in  full  uniform. 

"The  tempestuous  and  chilly  weather  moderated  somewhat.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Wright,  who  was  the  post  chaplain,  suggested  an  elaborate  burial  service.  Shan- 
tag-a-lisk  was  consulted.  He  said  he  wanted  his  daughter  buried  Indian  fashion, 
so  she  would  go  not  where  the  white  people  went,  but  where  the  red  people  went. 
Every  request  of  Shan-tag-a-lisk  was  met  by  Colonel  Maynadier  with  a  hearty 
and  satisfactory  'Yes.'  "  . 

The  Indian  customs  were  adopted,  according  to  the  chief's  request,  but  in  his 
honor  the  military  burial  service  was  added,  with  the  post  band,  flags,  detach- 
ments of  troops,  etc.  When  the  parade  reached  the  burial  ground  each  of  the 
Indian  women  came  up,  one  at  a  time,  and  talked  to  Ah-ho-ap-pa.  Some  of  them 
whispered  to  her  long  and  earnestly  as  if  they  were  sending  by  her  a  hopeful 
message  to  a  lost  child.  Each  put  some  little  remembrance  in  the  coffin.  One 
put  in  a  little  looking  glass,  another  a  string  of  colored  beads,  another  a  pine 
cone  with  some  sort  of  embroidery  of  sinew  in  it.  Then  the  lid  was  fastened 
on,  the  women  took  the  coffin,  raised  it  and  placed  it  on  the  scaffold.  The  Indian 
men  stood  mutely  and  stolidly  around  looking  on,  and  none  of  them  moved  a 
muscle  or  tendered  any  help. 

The  sequel  to  this  interesting  story  is  told  in  the  return  of  Spotted-Tail  to 
the  fort  for  the  remains  of  his  daughter  in  1875.  John  S.  Collins,  who  was  post 
trader  at  the  time,  says  in  his  book  of  "Frontier  Experiences": 

"Spotted-Tail  came  to  the  fort  in  1875  for  his  daughter,  who  had  died  several 
years  before  and  had  been  placed  in  a  box  and  set  up  on  four  posts  at  the 
sand  bluffs.  At  her  head  w-as  nailed  the  head  of  her  favorite  white  pony  and 
at  her  feet  its  tail,  to  travel  with  her  to  the  happy  hunting  grounds.  In  the  box 
were  placed  trinkets  and  ornaments  she  wore  when  alive. 

"  'Spot'  said  to  me,  "My  daughter  was  buried  here  where  my  Indians  lived 
and  many  of  our  children  were  born.     \\'e  traded  here,  raced  our  ponies  here. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  315 

and  the  soldiers  were  good  to  us.  Now  that  has  passed,  we  want  our  dead  at 
one  place.     I  came  to  take  her  to  my  agency  at  Beaver  Creek.'  " 

Thus  the  story  of  .\h-ho-ap-pa  ends.  Her  father,  Spotted-Tail,  was  greatest 
among  the  chiefs  of  his  day.  He  was  a  born  orator  and  a  natural  diplomat  and 
statesman. 

Up  to  August,  1865,  Fort  Laramie  was  headquarters  of  the  military  division 
called  the  "District  of  the  Plains."  The  district  was  abolished  by  General  Pope 
and  the  District  of  Nebraska  was  formed  to  include  Montana,  Nebraska  and 
Wyoming,  with  Major  General  Wheaton  in  command. 

The  fort  was  abandoned  by  the  Government  in  the  spring  of  1890,  and  the 
reserve  opened  to  homestead  settlers.  The  last  troops  left  the  fort  April  20,  1890. 
The  Government  sold  the  military  supplies  by  an  auction  sale  in  March  and  the 
buildings  were  sold  at  another  sale  in  April,  that  year.  Following  this,  homestead 
filings  were  made  on  the  best  lands  of  the  reserve,  John  Hunton,  the  last  post 
trader  at  the  fort,  locating  the  most  central  and  valuable  quarter  section,  contain- 
ing a  number  of  fort  buildings,  some  of  which  he  built  at  his  own  expense  for 
carrying  on  his  trade  at  the  post.  Joe  Wilde,  another  old-timer,  got  by  purchase 
and  entry  other  valuable  lands  and  buildings.  Together  they  projected  a  fine 
irrigation  system,  and  constructed  a  large  canal  from  a  point  on  the  Laramie 
River  several  miles  southwest,  and  thus  the  new  Fort  Laramie  was  made  "to 
blossom  as  the  rose." 

The  writer  visited  the  fort  in  May,  1918,  as  the  guest  of  Mr.  Hunton  and 
his  estimable  wife,  and  while  the  vestiges  of  the  old  fort  are  still  standing,  some 
of  the  buildings  in  ruins  and  others  rehabilitated,  the  scene  was  indeed  an  attrac- 
tive one.  The  glistening  waters  of  the  Laramie  winding  in  and  out  through 
grassy  meadows  and  cottonwood  groves,  the  fields  of  alfalfa,  beautifully  green, 
from  which  the  meadow  larks  were  rising  and  singing,  the  surrounding  hills  in 
-the  distance  cut  through  into  deep  gorges  by  the  big  Government  Platte  River 
project,  and  showing  piles  of  sand  resembling  the  great  pyramids,  made  a  new 
and  impressive  picture  of  nature  in  its  quiet  and  serene  moods,  in  which  the 
Indian,  the  trapper,  the  soldier  and  the  mule  skinner  faded  from  view  and  the 
memories  of  those  old,  stirring,  heroic  times  became  but  a  fleeting  vision  of  "a 
tale  that  is  told.'' 

FORT    D.    A.   RUSSELL 

For  the  protection  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  military  camps  were  established  along  the  line  in  advance  of  the 
working  forces.  A  year  before  the  road  was  completed  to  the  present  site 
of  Cheyenne,  Gen.  Grenville  M.  Dodge  with  his  corps  of  engineers  and  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers,  encamped  on  Crow  Creek  where  Fort  Russell  is  now  located. 
They  lived  in  tents  but  soon  began  to  erect  log  cabins.  Early  in  1867,  the 
Government  decided  to  make  Fort  Russell  a  permanent  post  and  erect  sub- 
stantial buildings.  The  first  trip  made  by  John  Hunton  into  Wyoming  was 
when  he  took  a  freight  train  with  finishing  lumber  from  Julesburg  to  be  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  fort.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1867.  before  Cheyenne 
was  on  the  map.     Therefore  the  origin  of  Fort  Russell  antedates  Cheyenne. 

Fort  Russell   thus  established  over  fifty  years  ago,  has  been   from  time   to 


316  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

time  enlarged  and  improved  until  it  has  become  one  of  the  most  important,  per- 
manent military  establishments  of  this  country.  Including  its  new,  modern 
construction,  military  reserves  and  water  supply  system,  it  has  cost  the  Govern- 
ment about  $7,000,000. 

It  is  centrally  located  at  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  two  great 
continental  railway  systems,  the  Union  Pacific  and  Burlington,  running  north, 
south,  east  and  west,  thus  giving  direct  connection  with  every  section  of  the 
country.  Its  elevation  is  6,000  feet  above  sea  level  with  climatic  conditions  un- 
surpassed for  healthfulness,  being  cool  in  summer  and  moderate  in  winter.  Its 
pure  air  and  bright  sunshine  are  a  perpetual  tonic  and  the  surrounding  region 
is  admirably  adapted  to  the  rough  and  hardy  physical  exercises  and  open  air 
life  pertaining  to  the  school  of  the  soldier. 

The  reserve  proper  on  which  the  post  is  located  consists  of  5.560  acres  or 
nine  and  one-seventh  square  miles,  giving  ample  room  for  any  enlargement 
in  the  future.  Crow  Creek,  a  fine  mountain  stream  flows  centrally  through 
the  reserve.  The  buildings  are  nearly  all  new,  substantial,  brick  structures 
expressly  built  for  and  adapted  to,  the  various  branches  of  military  service, 
including  infantry,  cavalry,  artillery,  signal  service,  pack  trains,  hospital  service, 
target  practice,  etc.,  together  with  all  the  necessary  auxiliary  equipment  of  stables, 
warehouses^  workshops,  gymnasium,  guard  houses,  club  houses,  riding  school 
building,  etc.  It  has  a  fine  hospital  training  school  building  for  the  education 
of  nurses  and  medical  assistants.  Its  main  hospital  building  is  the  largest 
structure  at  the  fort  and  is  probably  the  largest  military  hospital  in  the  country. 

Auxiliary  to  Fort  Russell  the  Government  has  established  the  largest  military 
maneuver  reserve  in  this  country  covering  an  area  of  nearly  one  hundred 
square  miles.  This  reserv^e  is  ideal  in  topography  and  situation  for  handling 
large  bodies  of  troops  in  brigades  and  divisions,  for  militar\-  exercises,  mimic 
battles  and  marches,  being  remote  from  settlements  and  comprising  hills,  valleys, 
ravines,  open  and  rolling  ground,  mountain  streams  and  timbered  areas. 

Two  secretaries  of  war  ( Stimson  and  Garrison),  have  personally  visited  this 
reserve  and  have  expressed  their  admiration  not  only  of  its  scenic  beauty  but  of 
its  rare,  practical  adaptability  for  military  maneuvers  on  an  extended  scale, 
and  as  a  beautiful  summer  and  winter  camp  for  large  bodies  of  troops.  These 
maneuver  grounds  are  situated  about  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Fort  Russell. 

FIXE  WATER  SYSTEM 

Fort  Russell  has  the  largest,  finest  and  most  complete  water  system  of  any 
army  post  in  this  country.  It  has  an  unlimited  supply  of  pure  mountain  water 
piped  some  twenty-five  miles  from  reservoirs  filled  from  running  streams. 
This  is  brought  to  the  fort  through  a  new  sand  filter  and  purifying  plant  built 
by  the  city  of  Cheyenne  at  a  cost  of  $80,000.  The  entire  water  system  cost  about 
$2,000,000  of  which  the  United  States  Government  paid  $400,000  and  thus 
became  a  partner  and  co-owner  with  the  city  of  Cheyenne  under  a  contract 
which  assures  to  the  fort  a  perpetual  supply  of  pure  water  for  all  purposes  for 
domestic,  irrigation  and  garrison  uses. 

The  total  supply  of  \vater  from  the  mountain  streams  of  the  water  shed  is 
estimated  by  the  engineers  at  20.000,000  gallons  daily.     In  ordinary  seasons  with 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  317 

a  garrison  of  5,000  men  the  city  and  fort  together  use  about  5,000,000  gallons 
daily,  leaving  15,000,000  gallons  daily  surplus  unused.  The  reservoirs  of  the 
system  contain  4,178,093,000  gallons,  enough  to  supply  the  city  and  fort  for 
•nearly  three  years  without  any  rain  or  inflow  at  all.  An  army  of  50,000  can 
be  assembled  here  and  be  amply  supplied  with  water  for  all  purposes.  The 
City  of  Cheyenne  pays  the  entire  expense  of  the  upkeep  of  the  system  for 
itself  and  the  garrison  at  the  fort.  The  Government  contract  with  the  city  reads 
as  follows: 

"It  is  understood  that  the  City  of  Cheyenne  grants  a  perpetual  water 
right  in  the  system  to  the  extent  required  for  the  use  of  the  military  post  and 
its  appurtenant  reservation,  and  it  hereby  agrees  to  furnish  to  the  United  States 
perpetually  a  sufficient  sujij^ly  of  potable,  wholesome  water  for  the  uses  of  said 
militarv  post  and  reservation  through  its  connecting  mains  and  service  pipes." 

In  addition  to  this  the  fort  has  five  artesian  wells,  one  being  connected  with 
a  pumping  plant  with  facilities  for  supplying  water  at  any  time.  This  well 
alone  flows  sufficient  water  to  supply  the  entire  domestic  wants  of  the  fort 
at  any  time  should  an  emergency  arise  when  it  would  be  needed. 

This  fort  being  practically  in  the  center  of  the  continent  remote  from  any 
probable  war  zone  and  exempt  from  foreign  invasion  by  armies  advancing 
from  either  the  Atlantic  or  Pacific  coasts,  is  the  most  admirably  situated  of 
any  army  post  in  this  country  for  the  mobilization  and  assemblage  of  troops  and 
supplies  and  with  its  great  reserve  camp  for  drill  and  practice  in  the  school 
of  the  soldier  where  long  marches  and  maneuvers  of  large  army  divisions  are 
required.     Its  other  important  advantages  have  already  been  cited. 

C.\MP  C.\RLIN 

Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  Fort  Russell  and  the  completion  of 
the  railroad  across  the  continent,  supplies  that  were  formerly  transported  by 
wagon  were  shipped  by  rail  and  it  became  necessary  to  establish  distributing 
points  for  handling  army  freight.  Accordingly  a  quartermaster's  depot  was 
located  at  Cheyenne,  or  more  properly,  on  the  Fort  Russell  reserve  about  half 
way  between  the  city  and  the  fort.  When  first  located  it  was  given  the  name 
of  Camp  Carlin,  but  when  enlarged  and  completed  it  obtained  the  official  name 
of  "Cheyenne  Depot." 

The  central  situation  of  Cheyenne  between  Omaha  and  Salt  Lake  City  and 
its  military  trails  going  into  the  mountains  and  connecting  with  ten  dift'erent 
army  posts  made  it  an  especially  advantageous  location  for  an  army  depot,  and 
in  a  short  time  it  became  the  second  in  size  of  the  military  depots  of  this 
country,  having  sixteen  large  warehouses  and  many  workshops  for  wheelwrights, 
blacksmiths,  carpenters,  saddle  and  harness  makers,  painters,  etc.  Two  lines  of 
railway  side  track  ran  through  the  depot  connecting  with  the  platforms  of  the 
warehouse  for  shipping  or  receiving  freight.  From  three  hundred  to  five  hun- 
dred civilian  laborers  and  teamsters  were  employed. 

But  its  principal  feature  was  the  handling  of  wagon  transportation  to  ten 
or  twelve  military  posts,  some  of  them  four  hundred  miles  away.  Over  one 
thousand  mules  were  kept  in  the  corrals  of  the  depot  and  five  trains  of  twenty, 
six-mule  wagons  and  from  three  to  five  pack  trains  were  a  part  of  the  regular 


318  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

equipment  of  the  camp.  The  workshops  were  kept  busy  shoeing  mules  and 
horses,  repairing  wagons,  making  saddles  and  harness  and  outfitting  expedi- 
tions into  the  Indian  country. 

Millions  of  dollars  worth  of  supplies  were  assembled  and  sent  out  from 
this  depot,  including  quartermaster  stores,  commissary  stores,  and  ordnance  and 
wagon  equipment.  Various  Indian  expeditions  were  outfitted  at  Camp  Carlin, 
the  last  being  the  Milk  River  expedition,  which  under  General  Crook  went 
to  the  relief  of  Thornburg  forces  in  1879.  With  the  peaceful  settlement  of  the 
Northwest  and  the  subsidence  of  Indian  outbreaks  many  forts  were  abandoned 
and  the  necessity  for  a  supply  depot  disappeared,  and  Camp  Carlin  was  aban- 
doned by  the  Government  in  the  spring  of  1882. 

FORT    BRIt>GER 

Some  time  in  the  year  1842  James  Bridger  and  Benito  Vasquez  established 
a  trading  post  on  Black's  Fork  of  the  Green  River,  about  thirty  miles  east  of 
the  present  city  of  Evanston  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Fort  Bridger.  Here  was 
made  the  second  permanent  settlement  in  Wyoming.  The  post  was  several  times 
attacked  by  Indians,  one  of  the  most  disastrous  occurring  in  August,  1843.  The 
fort  was  surrounded  by  a  number  of  Shoshone  Indian  lodges,  that  tribe  being 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  old  trader  and  his  partner.  While  the  men  were 
absent  on  an  antelope  hunt  a  large  party  of  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  made  a 
descent  upon  the  place,  killed  several  squaws  and  ran  off  a  herd  of  ponies. 
They  were  pursued  by  the  Shoshone  warriors,  the  horses  were  recovered  and 
several  Arapaho  Indians  were  killed  in  the  encounter.  Lieut.  John  C.  Fremont, 
then  on  his  Rocky  Mountain  expedition,  encountered  the  same  war  party  shortly 
after  the  fight  and  reported  that  a  number  of  wounded  men  "were  trailing 
along  in  the  rear."  These  savages  made  a  hostile  demonstration  against  Fre- 
mont, but  a  shot  from  the  howitzer  put  them  to  flight. 

Joel  Palmer,  who  led  a  company  of  Oregon  emigrants  westward  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1845,  made  this  entry  in  his  journal  for  July  25th:  "This  day  we  trav- 
eled about  sixteen  miles,  crossed  the  creek  several  times,  and  encamped  near  Fort 
Bridger.  This  is  a  trading  post  owned  by  Bridger  and  Bascus  (Vasquez).  It 
is  built  of  poles  and  daubed  with  mud ;  it  is  a  shabby  concern.  The  fort  is  sur- 
rounded by  about  twenty-five  lodges  of  Indians,  or  white  trappers  who  have 
married  Indian  wives." 

In  1854  Bridger  sold  his  fort  and  a  Mexican  grant  of  thirty  square  miles 
of  land  to  a  Mormon  named  Lewis  Robinson,  for  $8,000.  The  next  year  the 
Mormons  built  a  bowlder  wall  fourteen  feet  high  enclosing  a  space  100  feet 
square  and  a  large  corral  for  live  stock.  They  changed  the  name  of  the  post 
to  "Fort  Supply,"  the  new  post  being  intended  as  a  supply  point  for  westbound 
emigrant  trains.  When  Col.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston's  expedition  reached  this 
place  in  the  fall  of  1857,  the  Mormons  evacuated  the  fort  and  returned  to  Salt 
Lake.  Part  of  Johnston's  men  wintered  there  during  the  winter  of  1857-58,  and 
when  Colonel  Johnston  moved  on  toward  Salt  Lake  City,  Lieut.-Col.  William 
Hofifman  was  left  with  a  detachment  of  troops  at  Fort  Bridger. 

During  the  summer  of  1858  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hoffman  erected  a  number  of 
log  buildings,  cleaned  up  the  place  and  the  Government  then  established  there 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  319 

a  military  post  and  reservation  bearing  the  old  name  of  Fort  Bridger.  A  gar- 
rison was  maintained  there  for  about  thirty  years,  during  which  time  numerous 
changes  were  made  in  the  fort  and  the  adjacent  country.  In  May,  1861,  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war.  Colonel  Cook  sold  the  Government  supplies 
at  Fort  Bridger  to  the  Mormons  and  left  the  post  in  charge  of  an  orderly  sergeant. 
About  a  year  later  the  Indians  began  to  assume  a  threatening  attitude  toward 
emigrants,  and  a  detachment  of  the  Third  United  States  Cavalry  was  ordered 
to  Fort  Bridger.  During  the  next  three  years  these  soldiers  were  kept  busy  in 
guarding  the  mails,  escorting  trains  and  holding  in  check  the  hostile  Indians  in 
the  vicinity. 

In  the  fall  of  1867  five  companies  were  stationed  at  Fort  Bridger  to  protect 
the  surveyors  and  construction  camps  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  The  fol- 
lowing summer  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  Gen.  A.  H.  Terry,  Gen.  C.  C.  Augur  and 
Gen.  W.  S.  Harney  all  visited  the  fort  and  there  concluded  a  treaty  with  the 
chiefs  of  the  Shoshone  and  Bannock  tribes  on  July  3,  1868,  by  which  those 
Indians  relinquished  all  their  lands  in  Wyoming  except  the  reservation  in  the 
Wind  River  \'alley.  A  full  account  of  the  negotiation  of  this  treaty  is  given  in 
another  chapter  of  this  work. 

After  the  treaty  a  portion  of  the  garrison  was  removed  to  other  posts  and 
for  a  number  of  years  only  a  small  detachment  was  kept  at  Fort  Bridger.  In 
1881  Post  Trader  Carter  constructed  a  road  from  the  fort  to  Fort  Thornburg, 
which  was  located  at  the  junction  of  the  Du  Chesne  and  Green  rivers  in  Utah. 
Two  years  later  new  barracks  and  quarters  were  erected  and  in  1884  the  garrison 
was  increased.    Fort  Bridger  was  finally  abandoned  about  1890. 

FORT   WALB.\CH 

Under  an  order  dated  September  20,  1858,  Fort  Walbach  was  established  on 
Lodge  Pole  Creek,  near  Cheyenne  Pass,  eighty-five  miles  southwest  of  Fort 
Laramie.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Brig.-Gen.  John  DeB.  Walbach,  a  dis- 
tinguished soldier  of  the  War  of  181 2.  As  the  post  was  not  intended  as  a  perma- 
nent institution,  only  buildings  of  a  temporary  nature  were  constructed.  The 
fort  was  abandoned  on  April  19,  1859.  The  site  of  this  old  fort  was  marked 
by  the  Wyoming  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  in  1914. 

FORT    H.\LLECK 

Fort  Halleck,  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Henry  W.  Halleck,  one  of  the  noted 
Union  .generals  in  the  Civil  war,  was  established  on  July  20,  1862.  It  was  located 
near  the  foot  of  the  Medicine  Bow  Mountains  and  was  for  a  time  the  most 
important  military  post  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  being  the  center  of  the 
Indian  warfare  of  that  period.  In  the  spring  of  1863,  when  Capt.  J.  L.  Humfre- 
ville  of  the  Eleventh  Ohio  Cavalry  was  in  command  of  the  post,  the  troops  worked 
both  east  and  west  from  the  fort,  guarding  mail  coaches  and  emigrant  trains, 
and  saw  hard  service.  Early  in  1865,  when  the  Indians  began  their  raids  on  the 
Overland  stations,  the  garrison  at  Fort  Halleck  was  increased.  A  year  later  the 
seat  of  Indian  warfare  had  shifted  to  the  valleys  of  the  Big  Horn  and  Powder 
rivers,  and  on  July  4,  1866,  Fort  Halleck  was  abandoned. 


320  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

FORT    CASPER 

Early  in  the  year  1865  a  military  camp  was  established  near  the  present  City 
of  Casper  and  was  known  as  "Platte  Bridge."  Upon  the  recommendation  of 
Lieut.-Col.  W.  O.  Collins  of  the  Eleventh  Ohio  Cavarly,  it  was  changed  from  a 
small  and  occasional  troop  station  to  a  permanent  post.  In  his  official  communi- 
cation, Lieutenant-Colonel  Collins  said:  "The  permanent  cure  for  the  hostilities 
of  the  northern  Indians  is  to  go  into  the  heart  of  their  buffalo  country  and  build 
and  hold  forts  until  the  trouble  is  over." 

On  March  28,  1865,  the  District  of  the  Plains  was  established  by  order  of 
Gen.  Granville  M.  Dodge,  with  Gen.  P.  E.  Connor  in  command  of  the  new  dis- 
trict. Platte  Bridge  was  then  made  one  of  the  most  important  posts  of  the 
district.  Being  located  as  it  was,  on  the  North  Platte  River,  120  miles  west  of 
Fort  Laramie,  it  was  in  the  center  of  the  Indian  hostilities.  Lieut.  Caspar  Collins, 
a  son  of  Lieut.-Col.  W.  O.  Collins,  had  come  west  with  his  father  in  1862,  and 
when  the  latter  returned  east,  remained  with  his  company  on  the  plains.  An 
account  of  his  death  at  Platte  Bridge,  in  the  engagement  with  the  Indians  on 
July  26,  1865,  is  given  in  the  chapter  on  Early  Military  History,  and  on  November 
21,  1865,  Maj.-Gen.  John  Pope  issued  the  order  changing  the  name  of  the  post  to 
Fort  Casper,  in  his  honor.     The  fort  was  finally  abandoned  in  1867. 

FORT   REXO 

On  August  II,  1865,  when  Gen.  P.  E.  Connor  reached  the  Powder  River. 
23I4  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Crazy  Woman  Fork,  he  established  there  a  small 
post  which  was  named  Camp  Connor.  In  the  latter  part  of  June,  1866,  Col.  H.  B. 
Carrington  repaired  and  garrisoned  the  fort  and  the  name  was  changed  to  Fort 
Reno,  in  honor  of  Gen.  Isaac  Reno,  a  hero  of  the  Civil  war.  It  was  abandoned 
under  an  order  issued  by  General  Grant  on  March  2,  1868. 

FORT  S.XNDERS 

By  orders  from  the  war  department,  Fort  Sanders  was  established  on  July 
10,  1866,  three  miles  south  of  Laramie  City,  and  was  at  first  known  as  "Fort  John 
Buford."  On  September  5.  1866,  the  name  was  changed  to  Fort  Sanders,  in 
honor  of  W.  P.  Sanders,  captain  in  the  Second  United  States  Cavalry  and  later 
a  brigadier-general  of  volunteers.  It  was  established  as  a  protection  for  the 
Denver  &  Salt  Lake  stage  line  and  the  emigrant  trains  passing  over  the  Oregon 
Trail.  The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  to  this  point  late  in  the  spring 
of  1868,  and  on  June  28th  of  that  year  the  reservation  was  enlarged  to  embrace 
a  tract  of  land  nine  miles  square.  At  that  time  the  buildings  consisted  of  log 
structures  with  cjuarters  for  six  companies,  officers'  quarters,  a  guardhouse,  post 
store  and  stables.  The  fort  was  abandoned  in  May,  1882,  and  in  1889  part  of 
the  reservation  was  granted  to  the  State  of  Wyoming  for  a  fish  hatchery. 

On  the  highway  from  Laramie  to  Denver,  where  the  old  fort  formerly  stood, 
there  is  now  a  monument  bearing  the  following  inscription:  "This  monument 
marks  the  site  of  Fort  Sanders,  established  September  5.  1866.  abandoned  May 
18.   1882.     Named  in  honor  of  Brig.-Gen.  William  P.  Sanders.     Erected  by  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  321 

State  of  Wyoming  and  Jacques  Laramie  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  June,  1914.  From  July  10  to  September  5,  1866,  known  as  Fort 
John  Buford." 

FORT  PHILIP  KEARNY 

This  is  one  of  two  forts  established  by  order  of  Maj.-Gen.  John  Pope  on  the 
Bozeman  Road  in  1866.  Col.  H.  B.  Carrington  was  commissioned  to  select  the 
sites  and  build  Forts  Phil  Kearny  and  C.  F.  Smith.  The  former  was  staked 
off  on  July  15,  1866,  and  the  latter,  ninety  miles  northwest,  in  Montana,  early  in 
August.  Fort  Phil  Kearny  was  completed  on  the  21st  of  October  and  for  several 
months  the  posts  and  the  country  immediately  surrounding  it  were  the  scene 
of  several  conflicts  with  the  hostile  Indians.  An  account  of  the  massacre  of 
Capt.  W.  J.  Fetterman  and  his  command  on  December  21,  1866,  is  given  in  the 
chapter  on  Early  Military  History. 

On  March  2,  1868,  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  issued  an  order  for  the  abandonment 
of  all  the  forts  on  the  Bozeman  Road  and  the  withdrawal  of  all  troops  from 
the  Indian  country  in  Northern  Wyoming.  Fort  Phil  Kearny  was  abandoned 
under  this  order  in  August,  1868,  and  the  buildings  were  afterward  burned  by 
the  chief  Little  Wolf.  A  monument  commemorating  the  Fetterman  Massacre 
was  unveiled  on  the  site  of  the  fight  on  July  4,  1908.  The  massacre  occurred 
seven  miles  from  the  fort,  which  was  located  on  Piney  Creek,  four  miles  from 
the  Big  Horn  Mountains  and  about  fifteen  miles  northwest  of  the  present  City 
of  Bufl:'alo.  After  the  fort  was  abandoned,  George  Geier  purchased  that  part 
of  the  reservation  where  the  buildings  formerly  stood  and  established  thereon 
a  ranch. 

FORT  FETTERMAN 

On  July  19,  1867,  Fort  Fetterman  was  established  at  the  mouth  of  the  La 
Prele  Creek  and  was  named  in  honor  of  brevet  Lieut.-Col.  W.  J.  Fetterman, 
captain  in  the  Twenty-fourth  Regular  Infantry,  who  was  killed  near  Fort  Phil 
Kearny  on  December  21,  1866.  By  1872  it  had  been  enlarged  to  a  post  of  four 
companies  and  was  one  of  the  best  equipped  military  establishments  in  the  state. 
At  that  time  the  nearest  Indians  were  the  Ogallala  Sioux,  385  lodges ;  the  Chey- 
enne, 300  lodges;  the  Arapaho,  150  lodges;  and  a  few  straggling  bands  of  other 
tribes.  A  small  garrison  was  maintained  here  until  1878,  when  the  necessity  for 
a  military  post  in  the  locality  no  longer  existed  and  the  fort  was  abandoned  by 
order  of  the  secretary  of  war,  nearly  all  of  the  reservation  of  sixty  square  miles 
being  then  transferred  to  the  interior  department. 


FORT  FRED  STEELE 

This  fort  was  located  at  the  point  where  the  L'nion  Pacific  Railroad  crosses 

the  North  Platte  River,  in  Carbon  County,  and  was  established  by  Col.  Richard 

I.  Dodge  on  June  30,   1868.  as  a  protection  to  the  builders  of  the  railroad.     It 

was  named  in  honor  of  Maj.-Gen.  Frederick  Steele  of  Civil  war  fame.     Within 

Vol.  1—21 


322  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

forty-eight  hours  after  the  completion  of  the  fort,  camp  followers  to  the  number 
of  five  hundred  or  more  had  established  the  town  of  "Brownsville"  near  by. 
Five  days  later  the  population  of  the  town  was  estimated  at  fifteen  hundred. 

On  June  28,  1869,  the  Government  established  the  reservation  of  thirty-six 
square  miles.  The  frame  buildings  of  the  post  provided  quarters  for  four  com- 
panies and  a  garrison  was  maintained  here  for  more  than  ten  years.  On  January 
24,  1878,  Gen.  George  Crook,  in  his  annual  report,  stated:  "While  no  military 
necessity  now  exists  for  troops  at  Fort  Fred  Steele  or  Fort  Sanders  *  *  * 
yet  they  are  cheap  places  for  the  stationing  of  troops."  The  fort  was  finally 
abandoned  in  188 i. 

FORT  WA.SH.M<IE 

The  Shoshone  or  \\'ind  River  Reservation  was  estaljl'shed  by  the  treaty  con- 
cluded at  Fort  Bridger  on  July  3,  1868,  and  on  June  28,  1869,  an  order  was  issued 
for  the  establishment  of  a  garrison  at  some  point  upon  the  reservation.  A  site 
was  selected  near  the  junction  of  Trout  Creek  and  the  Little  Wind  River  and 
a  post  was  established  under  the  name  of  Camp  Augur,  in  honor  of  Gen.  C.  C. 
Augur,  one  of  the  officers  who  had  negotiated  the  treaty  the  year  before.  On 
March  28,  1870,  the  name  was  changed  to  Camp  Brown  and  on  December  30, 
1878,  it  was  changed  to  Fort  Washakie,  in  honor  of  Chief  Washakie  of  the 
Shoshone  tribe.  As  early  as  1872  the  post  consisted  of  log  buildings  with  accom- 
modations for  a  garrison  of  115  men.  A  few  additional  buildings  were  erected 
during  the  next  twenty  years,  and  in  1893  Congress  made  a  considerable  appro- 
priation for  permanent  improvements  at  the  fort.  Troops  were  stationed  at 
Fort  Washakie  until  1909. 

FORT   ST.AMBAUGH 

Soon  after  the  disco\'ery  of  gold  in  the  South  Pass  region  in  1867,  a  request 
was  made  for  troops  to  protect  the  miners  from  Indian  depredations.  The 
request  was  ignored  for  a  time,  but  in  June,  1870,  a  small  military  station  was 
established  in  Smith's  Gulch,  near  .Atlantic  City,  and  given  the  name  of  Camp 
Stambaugh.  Two  years  later  it  was  garrisoned  by  two  companies,  which  were 
quartered  in  four  large  log  buildings.  The  presence  of  these  troops  kept  the 
Shoshone  and  Bannock  Indians  from  a  possible  outbreak.  On  January  27,  1878, 
Gen.  Philip  H,  Sheridan  recommended  the  removal  of  the  garrison,  and  on 
August  17,  1878,  the  official  order  for  the  abandonment  of  the  post  was  issued  l)y 
the  war  department. 

FORT   MC  KINNEY 

On  October  12,  1876,  Fort  McKinney  was  established  on  the  northwest  bank 
of  Powder  River,  three  miles  above  and  south  of  the  site  of  old  Fort  Reno.  It 
was  at  first  called  "Cantonment  Reno.''  On  July  18,  1877,  the  location  was  changed 
to  the  north  bank  of  Clear  Creek,  a  short  distance  west  of  the  present  Citv  of 
Buffalo  and  about  two  miles  above  the  crossing  of  the  old  Bozeman  Road.     The 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  323 

old  site  was  then  used  as  a  depot.  The  name  of  Fort  McKinney  was  given  to  the 
post  on  August  30,  1S77,  after  the  removal.  The  first  substantial  buildings  were 
erected  in  the  fall  of  that  year. 

Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  in  a  report  dated  March  9,  1882,  stated  that  the  fort 
was  still  incomplete  and  recommended  that  it  be  improved,  as  it  would  be  a 
"necessity  in  Indian  warfare  for  many  years  to  come."  Upon  this  showing  Con- 
gress appropriated  $40,000  for  the  improvement  of  the  fort.  In  1892  three  cav- 
alry barracks  were  destroyed  by  fire  and  the  following  session  of  Congress  made 
an  appropriation  to  rebuild  them. 

Even  then  it  was  apparent  to  military  experts  that  no  further  necessity  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  post  existed.  As  early  as  1889  a  small  portion  of  the 
reservation  had  been  annexed  to  the  City  of  Buffalo.  In  1895  ^11  °^  the  fort 
buildings  and  two  sections  of  land  were  donated  to  the  State  of  Wyoming  and 
the  remainder  of  the  land  was  transferred  to  the  department  of  the  interior. 


FORT    MACKENZIE 

On  January  13,  1899,  I-'rancis  E.  Warren,  United  States  Senator  from  ^^'yo- 
ming,  introduced  a  bill  for  the  erection  of  a  Government  military  post  near  the 
City  of  Sheridan.  The  necessity  for  such  a  post  had  been  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  President  ^IcKinley  the  year  before  and  an  executive  order  had  been 
issued  for  the  establishment  of  temporary  barracks,  under  the  supervision  of 
Gen.  E.  \'.  Sumner.  In  the  debate  on  the  Warren  Bill  the  fact  was  brought  out 
that  there  were  over  twenty-three  thousand  Indians  upon  the  various  reservations 
tributary  to  the  proposed  fort.  These  included  the  Fort  Benton,  Standing  Rock, 
Cheyenne  River,  Lower  Brule,  Rosebud  and  Pine  Ridge  reservations  in  the 
Dakotas;  the  Blackfoot,  Flathead,  Northern  Cheyenne,  Crow,  Fort  Belknap  and 
Fort  Peck  Indians  in  Alontana ;  the  Fort  Hall  Indians  in  Idaho;  and  the  Uintah 
and  Uncompahgre  Utes  in  Utah. 

In  1905  the  fort  had  become  a  well  equipped  military  establishment.  In 
February  of  that  year  the  State  of  Wyoming  granted  to  the  post  a  large  tract 
of  land  for  the  enlargement  of  the  reservation,  taking  in  exchange  other  Gov- 
ernment lands.  The  same  year  the  post  hospital  was  built  and  since  then  other 
buildings  have  been  erected.  A  system  of  waterworks  was  constructed  for  the 
post  at  a  considerable  cost,  and  Fort  Mackenzie  became  the  second  post  of 
the  state  in  importance,  being  exceeded  only  by  Fort  D.  A.  Russell  at  Cheyenne. 

In  the  spring  of  1918  the  garrison  consisted  of  Lieut.  Herman  Hurring  and 
six  men  belonging  to  the  quartermaster's  department,  and  a  movement  for  the 
abandonment  of  the  post  was  inaugurated.  In  an  article  contributed  to  the 
Cheyenne  Leader,  the  writer  says :  "Fort  Mackenzie,  with  its  5.000  acres  of  land, 
would  make  an  ideal  location  for  a  military  school.  Its  buildings  are  of  pressed 
brick  and  substantially  constructed,  and  with  little  expense  could  be  made  to 
serve  admirably  the  purpose  of  an  academy.  *  *  *  If  proper  repre- 
sentations were  made  by  those  in  authority,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  fort  could 
be  secured  upon  most  favorable  conditions.  Naturally,  nothing  can  be  done  until 
formal  orders  come  abandoning  the  fort  as  a  military  post,  but  in  my  judgment 
this  order  may  be  expected  at  no  distant  day." 


324  .  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


OTHER  FORTS 


In  the  states  adjoining  Wyoming  were  a  number  of  forts  that  played  a  part 
in  the  miHtary  history  of  the  state.  Among  these  may  be  named  Fort  Hall,  Idaho ; 
Uinta  and  Thornburg,  Utah;  Sedgwick  (first  known  as  Fort  Rankin),  Colorado; 
C.  F.  Smith  and  Custer,  Montana ;  and  Robinson  and  Sidney  in  Nebraska. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
EARLY  TRANSPORTATION  METHODS 

PROGRESS    OF    FOUR    SCORE    YEARS — EARLY    TRAILS THE    OREGON     TRAIL — CAMPING 

PLACES  IN   WYOMING MARKING  THE  TRAIL THE  PONY   EXPRESS ^DAY  OF  THE 

STAGE  COACH — THE  OVERLAND  LINE CHANGING  THE  ROUTE BEN    HOLLIDAY 

EQUIPMENT — EDUCATING  A  TENDERFOOT MARKING  THE  OVERLAND CHEYENNE 

&  BLACK   HILLS  STAGE  LINE — PERILS  (IF  STAGE  COACHING ROAD  AGENTS — PASS- 
ING OF  THE  STAGE  COACH FREIGHTING  ACROSS  THE  PLAINS. 

The  first  white  men  in  Wyoming — the  trappers  and  the  fur  traders — traveled 
on  foot  or  on  horseback,  following  the  banks  of  the,  streams  or  the  old  Indian 
trails  through  the  forests  and  mountain  passes.  In  1832  Capt.  Benjamin  Bonne- 
ville took  the  first  wagons  through  the  South  Pass.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the 
heavy,  lumbering  Conestoga  wagon  or  "prairie  schooner"  of  Captain  Booneville  to 
the  sumptuous  passenger  coaches  of  the  year  1918,  yet  such  has  been  Wyoming's 
progress  within  the  comparatively  short  space  of  four  score  and  six  years. 

EARLY  TRAILS 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  before  the  people  of  the  United 
States  had  even  dreamed  of  a  trans-continental  railway,  the  pioneers  of  western 
civilization  sought  out  lines  of  travel,  which  have  been  developed  into  the  great 
avenues  of  commerce  between  the  East  and  the  West.  Without  a  practical 
knowledge  of  engineering,  actuated  in  a  majority  of  cases  by  the  hope  of  personal 
gain,  perhaps  with  no  thought  of  the  effect  of  his  labors  upon  future  generations, 
the  old  trail-maker  "followed  the  line  of  least  resistance,"  dodging  marshes, 
circling  the  hills,  seeking  the  open  places  through  the  forests,  hut  always  keeping 
in  view  suitable  camping  grounds  and  watering  places. 

One  of  the  oldest  of  the  great  trails  to  the  west,  and  one  of  the  most  noted, 
with  the  Santa  Fe  Trail,  which  was  declared  a  Government  highway  in  1824, 
through  the  efforts  of  Thomas  H.  Benton,  then  United  States  Senator  from 
Missouri.  The  line  of  this  trail  is  now  marked  by  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa 
Fe  Railroad,  which  follows  it  closely  from  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  to  Santa  Fe.  From 
1825  to  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war,  the  trade  that  passed  over  the  Santa  Fe 
Trail  amounted  to  several  millions  of  dollars.  This  trail  did  not  touch  Wyoming, 
but  its  starting  point  was  also  the  starting  point  of  Wyoming's  historic  route 
of  early  days  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  viz. : 

325 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


THE  OREGON  TRAIL 


This  noted  trail,  over  which  thousands  of  emigrants  and  gold  seekers  passed 
on  their  way  to  Oregon  and  California,  had  its  eastern  terminus  at  Independence, 
Mo.,  about  ten  miles  east  of  Kansas  City.  Independence  was  the  last  white  settle- 
ment of  consequence  west  of  St.  Louis  as  late  as  1832,  when  Fort  Leavenworth, 
St.  Joseph  and  Council  Bluffs  came  into  prominence  as  outfitting  points  for  emi- 
grant parties  bound  for  the  "Far  West."  From  Independence  the  Oregon  and 
Santa  Fe  trails  were  one  up  the  valley  of  the  Kansas  River  to  about  where  the 
present  City  of  Lawrence  (Kan.)  is  now  located.  There  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  turned 
more  to  the  southwest,  while  the  Oregon  Trail  kept  on  up  the  Kansas  River  to  the 
site  of  the  present  City  of  Topeka  (at  first  called  Papan's  Ferry).  There  it  left 
the  river  and  pursued  a  course  toward  the  northwest,  through  what  are  now 
Pottawatamie,  Marshall  and  Washington  counties  in  Kansas,  crossing  the  northern 
boundary  of  that  state  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the  last  named  county. 

After  Fort  Leavenworth  and  St.  Joseph  became  active  competitors  of  Inde- 
pendence in  the  outfitting  business,  a  trail  from  those  places  intersected  the  main 
road  not  far  from  the  present  Town  of  Blue  Rapids,  Kans.  From  the  Kansas  line 
the  trail  continued  in  a  northwesterly  direction  until  it  struck  the  Platte  River 
where  Grand  Island,  Neb.,  now  stands.  A  short  distance  above  Grand  Island  the 
trail  crossed  the  river  and  followed  the  north  bank  to  Fort  Laramie. 

Another  trail  left  the  Santa  Fe,  not  far  from  the  present  City  of  Great  Bend, 
Kans.,  and  followed  up  the  Arkansas  River  to  Bent's  Fort  where  it  turned  north- 
ward and  descended  the  South  Fork  of  the  Platte  River  for  some  distance,  when  it 
crossed  over  to  the  North  Fork,  striking  that  stream  a  little  below  Scott's  Bluff, 
Neb.  It  then  ascended  the  North  Platte  to  Fort  Laramie,  where  it  joined  the  main 
trail.  From  Fort  Laramie  the  trail  followed  the  river  for  about  fifty  miles,  when 
it  left  the  Platte  to  strike  it  again  near  the  present  City  of  Casper.  At  this  point 
the  road  crossed  to  the  north  side  of  the  river  and  proceeded  via  Willow 
Springs  and  Independence  Rock  up  the  Sweetwater  River  to  the  South  Pass.  At 
Pacific  Springs,  a  few  miles  west  of  the  South  Pass,  the  trail  divided,  one 
branch  crossing  the  Green  River  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  La  Barge  Creek,  in 
what  is  now  Lincoln  County,  and  the  other  running  southwest  to  old  Fort  Bridger 
and  thence  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Bear  River.  Near  the  western  boundary 
of  Wyoming  the  two  were  united  for  a  short  distance,  only  again  to  be  divided 
into  two  separate  trails.  The  northern  branch  ran  by  way  of  Fort  Hall  and  Boise 
to  Oregon,  and  the  southern  by  way  of  Great  Salt  Lake  to  the  Sacramento  \'alley 
in  California.  The  latter  was  known  as  the  "California  Trail,"  though  the  Mor- 
mon emigrants  called  it  the  "Mormon  Trail"  or  the  "Salt  Lake  Trail."  The 
distance  from  Independence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  over  this  historic 
trail  was  2,124  miles. 

Some  writers  give  to  Wilson  P.  Hunt  and  his  expedition  of  181 1  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  first  explorers  over  the  Oregon  Trail,  but  this  is  incorrect.  Hunt 
ascended  the  Missouri  River  and  came  into  what  is  now  the  State  of  Wyoming 
from  the  north.  That  part  of  the  trail  between  Independence  and  Grand  Island 
was  in  use  at  a  very  early  day.  perhaps  before  the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  but  no  record  of  when  or  by  whom  it  was  first  used  can  be  found.  That 
portion  between  the  upper  waters  of  the  Green  River  and  Grand  Island  was  no 


DR.  GRACE  RAYMOND  HEBAKD 

Unv&iling    the    monument    marking    the    old    Oregon    Trail    at 

Torrington. 


328  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

doubt  first  traversed  by  the  six  Astorians  who  left  the  Walla  Walla  Valley  in 
June,  1812,  to  return  to  St.  Louis.  Gen.  William  H.  Ashley  discovered  the  route 
through  the  South  Pass  in  1824,  and  the  first  written  account  of  the  trail  was 
that  of  John  B.  Wyeth,  published  in  1833. 

CAMPING  PL.\CES  IN  WYOMING 

Thwaites'  "Early  Western  Travels"  (Vol.  XXX)  gives  a  list  of  the  principal 
camping  places  along  the  Oregon  Trail,  with  the  number  of  miles  from  each 
camp  to  the  next.  On  the  trail  south  of  the  Platte  River,  the  first  camping  place 
in  Wyoming  was  at  Horse  Creek,  which  was  twelve  miles  from  Scott's  Blufif. 
On  the  trail  north  of  the  river  the  first  camp  was  near  the  present  Town  of 
Torrington.  From  the  camp  on  Horse  Creek  to  Fort  Laramie  the  distance  is 
given  as  twenty-four  miles.  From  Fort  Laramie  to  the  South  Pass  the  best 
known  camping  grounds,  with  the  numbei  of  miles  between,  are  shown  in  the 
following  table: 

Big  Springs   12 

Bitter  Cottonwood   10 

Willow  Branch    " 

To  Where  Road  Leaves  the  River 23 

Big  Timber  Creek 16 

Marble   Creek 5 

Mike's  Head  Creek 12 

Deer  Creek 16 

Crossing  of  the  North  Platte 25 

Mineral  Springs 8 

Willow  Springs 5 

Independence  Rock    22 

Devil's  Gate 5 

From  Devil's  Gate  to  the  South  Pass  was  104  miles,  with  several  good  camping 
places  along  the  route.  Over  the  dividing  ridge  to  Pacific  Springs,  the  first 
camping  place  west  of  the  South  Pass,  was  five  miles.  From  there  to  old  Fort 
Bridger  was  109  miles.  The  best  camps  on  this  part  of  the  trail  were  at  Little 
Sandy.  Big  Sandy,  Green  River  and  on  Black's  Fork.  During  the  Oregon  emigra- 
tion and  the  rush  to  the  California  gold  fields,  thousands  of  wagons  passed  over  this 
old  trail  and  scarcely  a  night  passed  that  the  blaze  of  camp  fires  could  not  be  seen 
at  the  various  camping  places  along  the  road.  Ox  teams,  mule  teams  and  horses 
were  used  and  weeks  were  required  to  make  the  long,  tedious  journey  across  the 
plains  and  over  the  mountains — a  journey  that  is  now  made  by  rail  in  less  than 
three  days. 

MARKIN(~,    THE   TRAIL 

Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Wyoming  have  all  made  appropriations  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  placing  monuments  or  markers  along  the  Oregon  Trail.  By  an  act 
of  the  Wyoming  Legislature,  approved  on  February  20,  19 13.  the  sum  of  $2,500 
was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  and  placing  suitable  markers 
"under  the  supervision  of  a  commission  of  three  members,  the  same  to  serve 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  32<) 

without  compensation,  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor."  The  act  also  provided 
that:  "Any  person  who  shall  destroy,  remove  or  injure  any  monument  or  marker 
erected  as  herein  provided  for,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  con- 
viction thereof  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars, 
or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  a  period  not  less  that  thirty  days  nor 
more  than  ninety  days :  or  both  by  such  tine  and  imprisonment  at  the  discretion 
of  the  court." 

Governor  Carey  appointed  as  the  members  of  the  commission  A.  J.  Parshall, 
state  engineer;  H.  G.  Xickerson,  of  Lander:  and  Mrs.  Emily  A.  Patten,  of 
Cheyenne.  Subsequently  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard,  of  the  State  University, 
succeeded  Mrs.  Patten  and  Mrs.  J.  T.  3now,  of  Torrington,  succeeded  Mr. 
Parshall.  Under  the  auspices  of  these  commissioners  markers  have  been  placed 
at  the  most  noted  stopping  places  along  the  trail  in  Wyoming,  the  most  eastern 
monument  being  located  at  Torrington,  the  county  seat  of  Goshen  County. 

THE  PONY  EXPRESS 

Following  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848,  there  was  a  rush  of 
emigrants  from  the  older  states  and  it  was  not  long  until  Congress  and  private 
firms  and  corporations  began  to  realize  the  needs  of  improved  methods  of  com- 
munication with  the  West.  The  great  freighting  and  stage  line  firm  of  Russell, 
Majors  &  Waddell  sprang  into  existence  in  the  early  '50s  and  until  after  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Civil  war  practically  controlled  the  freight  and  passenger  tratific 
across  the  plains.  As  early  as  1855  William  Gwin,  the  United  States  Senator 
from  California,  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  a  weekly  mail  or  letter  express 
between  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco,  to  operate  on  a  ten-day  schedule,  the  cost 
of  each  round  trip  not  to  exceed  five  hundred  dollars.  The  bill  was  referred  to 
the  committee  on  military  afl:'airs,  which  never  reported  it  back  to  the  Senate. 

The  census  of  i860  showed  nearly  half  a  million  inhabitants  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  Government  saw  that  better  service  was  necessary, 
especially  as  war  was  imminent.  There  were  then  three  recognized  lines  of  mail 
transit  between  the  East  and  West.  First,  the  Panama  line,  which  was  most 
patronized,  but  which  would  be  greatly  endangered  if  the  Southern  States  withdrew 
from  the  Union,  on  account  of  its  location:  second,  the  "Butterfield  Route." 
which  started  from  St.  Louis  and  ran  far  to  the  southward,  entering  California 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  state:  third,  the  "Central  Route,"  which  followed 
the  Platte  River  into  Wyoming  and  reached  the  State  of  California  via  Salt  Lake 
City..  The  Gwin  bill  of  1855  recommended  this  route,  and  in  i860  it  was  regarded 
as  the  most  practicable,  as  it  could  be  controlled  by  the  North  in  the  event  of  war. 

In  the  winter  of  1859-60.  William  Russell,  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Russell,  Majors  &  Waddell.  was  in  Washington  in  connection  with  some  freight 
contracts  with  the  Government.  An  overland  mail  route  was  discussed  by  him  and 
Senator  Gwin  and  he  saw  an  opportunity  to  secure  a  profitable  contract  with 
the  Government  for  carrying  the  mail,  if  he  could  manage  to  keep  the  route  open 
during  the  winter  seasons  and  equal  or  lower  the  time  schedule  of  the  Panama 
line.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  commit  his  firm  to  the  undertaking  without  first 
consulting  his  partners.  L'pon  his  return  to  Leavenworth,  he  found  Majors  and 
Waddell  rather  unfavorable  to  his  scheme,  but  as  he  had  agreed  to  make  the 


330  HISTORY  Ol"  WVOMIXG 

trial  they  joined  him  in  the  incorporation  of  the  "Central  Overland  California  & 
Pike's  Peak  Express  Company."  which  was  granted  a  charter  by  the  Territory 
of  Kansas,  and  which  was  empowered  to  operate  a  passenger  and  freighting 
business  in  addition  to  the  "Pony  Express." 

The  first  Pony  Express  rider  left  St.  Joseph,  ]\Io.,  on  the  afternoon  of  April  3, 
i860,  and  at  the  same  hour  the  east  bound  mail  left  San  Francisco  on  a  fast  steamer 
and  sent  up  the  Sacramento  River  to  Sacramento,  where  it  was  transferred  to  the 
Pony  Express.  Johnny  Frey  took  the  first  mail  out  of  St.  Joseph,  and  Harry 
Roflf  was  the  first  rider  out  of  Sacramento.  At  the  stations  along  the  route  relay 
riders  and  steeds  were  stationed  and  when  the  two  mails  met  the  riders  set  out 
upon  the  return  trip.  Each  rider  received  a  salary  of  from  $125  to  $150  per 
month,  and  was  required  to  take  an  oath  to  abstain  from  intoxicating  liquors 
and  profane  language  while  in  the  employ  of  Russell,  Majors  and  W'addell  as  a 
mail  carrier. 

The  route  followed  in  general  the  Oregon  Trail,  except  where  some  distance 
could  be  saved  by  a  short  cut  across  the  prairies.  From  Fort  Kearney,  Neb.,  it 
followed  the  south  bank  of  the  Platte  for  about  two  hundred  miles.  At  Cotton- 
wood Springs  (the  junction  of  the  North  and  South  forks  of  the  Platte)  the 
rider  took  a  course  almost  directly  westward,  past  O'Fallon's  Bluflfs,  Beauvais 
Ranch,  Alkali  and  Diamond  Springs  to  Julesburg.  There  he  forded  the  South 
Fork  of  the  Platte  and  then  followed  the  course  of  Lodge  Pole  Creek  to  Thirty 
Mile  Ridge.  From  that  point  to  Scott's  Bluffs  he  pursued  nearly  a  direct  line  ;  then 
via  Fort  Laramie,  Platte  Bridge  and  South  Pass  to  Fort  Bridger;  thence  to  Salt 
Lake  City ;  then  crossing  the  Humboldt  River  into  Nevada  he  passed  by  Carson 
City  to  Placerville,  Cal.,  and  from  there  by  the  shortest  route  to  Sacramento. 
A  large  part  of  this  route  traversed  the  wildest  regions  of  the  I'nited  States, 
and  there  were  but  four  military  posts  along  the  line. 

The  saddle-bag  used  for  carrying  the  mail  was  called  the  "mochila."  It  con- 
tained four  pockets — two  in  front  and  two  behind  the  rider's  legs.  Letters  were 
wrapped  in  oiled  silk  to  protect  them  from  moisture.  The  postal  charges  were 
at  first  $5  for  each  half-ounce  letter,  but  this  rate  was  afterward  reduced  to  $1. 
Eighty  riders  were  employed  and  they  were  always  on  the  go,  except  for  the  few 
hours'  rest  between  the  change  from  east  to  west,  one-half  riding  in  one  direction 
and  the  other  half  in  the  opposite  direction.  They  were  men  who  could  be  relied 
on  to  retain  their  presence  of  mind  in  an  emergency,  were  strangers  to  fear 
and  expert  horsemen.  Stories  of  the  thrilling  experiences  of  the  Pony  Express 
riders  discount  fiction.  Among  the  most  noted  of  these  riders  may  be  mentioned 
"Jim"  Moore.  Johnny  Frey,  Harry  Rof¥,  William  F.  Cody  (better  known  as 
Buffalo  Bill),  Robert  Haslam  (commonly  called  "Pony  Bob"),  J.  G.  Kelley, 
George  Gardner.  Dan  ^^'estcott,  "Boston,"  Sam  Hamilton  and  the  one  known 
as  "Irish  Tom," 

Cody's  "run"  was  from  Red  Buttes  to  the  Three  Crossings  on  the  Sweetwater 
River,  so  called  because  the  trail  crossed  the  stream  three  times  within  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  a  place  always  difficult  to  negotiate  and  in  times  of  high  water  actually 
dangerous.  Yet  he  rode  this  "run"  back  and  forth  as  long  as  the  Pony  Express 
was  in  existence.  The  distance  was  seventy-six  miles.  On  one  occasion,  when 
he  reached  the  Three  Crossings,  Cody  found  that  the  man  who  was  to  take 
the  mail  on  west  had  been  killed  the  night  before.     He  therefore  continued  his 


Herbert  Colteen  CoIlecUuu 

GEORGE  GABDNKK 
Pony  express   rider. 


U.    1'.   HA.WA 

The    scout. 


332  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ride  to  Rock  Ridge,  eighty-five  miles,  and  then  returned  to  Red  Buttes,  making 
a  total  of  322  miles  without  delay  or  rest,  the' longest  run  on  record  in  the  history 
of  the  Pony  Express.  Another  time,  when  he  carried  a  package  containing  a 
considerable  sum  of  currency,  fearing  he  would  be  held  up  by  road  agents,  he 
provided  himself  with  a  dummy  mochila  and  concealed  the  real  mail  bag  under 
his  saddle  blanket.  Sure  enough,  at  a  lonely  spot  on  the  route  he  was  met  by 
two  highwaymen  who  commanded  him  to  "throw  up  his  hands."  Confronted 
by  two  rifles  leveled  at  him,  he  obeyed,  remonstrating  with  the  robbers,  who 
commanded  him  to  throw  them  the  mail  pouch  and  not  try  to  reach  for  his  gun, 
threatening  to  fill  him  full  of  holes  if  he  did  not  obey  orders.  He  loosed  the 
dummy  mail  bag  and,  watching  his  opportunity,  hurled  it  at  the  head  of  the 
robber  nearest  him,  who  dodged,  and,  while  thus  taken  off  their  guard  momen- 
tarily, Cody  quickly  drew  his  revolver  and  by  an  accurate  shot  disabled  the  other 
man.  Then,  putting  the  spurs  to  his  horse,  he  rode  over  the  one  who  had  stooped 
to  pick  up  the  mail  bag.  Before  the  bandit  could  recover  his  equilibrium  and 
take  aim,  horse  and  rider  were  out  of  range  and  the  mail  was  saved. 

When  Edward  Creighton  completed  the  Pacific  Telegraph  in  October,  1861, 
the  Pony  Express  went  out  of  business.  It  had  been  a  losing  venture  financially. 
The  purchase  of  some  four  hundred  good  horses,  the  establishment  of  stations 
every  ten  or  twelve  miles  along  the  route,  the  wages  of  the  riders  and  station 
keepers,  the  transportation  of  supplies,  etc.,  absorbed  the  receipts  and  left  a 
deficit.  But  while  the  Pony  Express  was  in  existence  it  added  romance  and 
adventure  to  the  Great  West  about  which  volumes  have  been  written.  During 
the  sixteen  months  from  April,  i860,  to  October,  1861,  the  Pony  Express  riders 
traveled  over  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  miles  in  the  aggregate.  All  had 
adventures  with  hostile  Indians,  blizzards  and  road  agents,  and  some  of  them 
lost  their  lives  while  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty,  but  the  history  of  the  West 
shows  no  more  courageous,  faithful  and  persistent  men  than  the  Pony  Express 
riders. 

D.-W  OF  THE  ST.AGE  COACH 

One  of  the  earliest  stage  coach  lines  in  the  West  was  that  of  John  ^l.  Hocka- 
day  and  William  Liggett,  which  was  established  in  185 1  to  carry  mail,  express 
matter  and  passengers  between  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  and  Salt  Lake  City.  The  stages 
on  this  line  at  first  made  monthly  trips,  but  later  became  semi-monthly.  Hocka- 
day  &  Liggett  sold  out  to  Russell,  Majors  &  Waddell  in  1858. 

W.  F.  McGraw,  of  Maryland,  began  operating  a  stage  line  between  Sacra- 
mento, Cal.,  and  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  early  '50s.  At  Salt  Lake  City  his  stages 
connected  with  those  of  the  Hockaday  &  Liggett  line.  In  1854  Congress  voted 
to  appropriate  $80,000  annually  for  direct  mail  service  from  the  Mississippi  Valley 
to  the  Pacific  Coast.  McGraw  received  every  year  $13,500  of  this  appropriation, 
but  even  with  this  assistance  from  the  Government  he  failed  in  1856. 

On  September  15,  1857,  the  Butterfield  Overland  Mail  Company  entered 
into  a  contract  with  the  United  States  postoffice  department  to  carry  the  mails 
between  some  point  on  the  Missouri  River  and  California  for  a  period  of  six 
years,  ser\ice  to  commence  within  One  year  from  the  date  of  contract.  St.  Joseph, 
Mo.,  was  selected  as  the  starting  point  and  the  first  Overland  stages  started  from 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  333 

St.  Joseph  and  San  Francisco  on  September  15.  1858.  The  principal  promoters 
and  largest  stockholders  of  the  company  were  John  Buttertield  and  William  G. 
Fargo.  The  route  followed  by  the  Butterfield  Company's  stages  was  known  as 
the  "Southern  Route,"  through  the  Indian  Territory,' New  Mexico,  Texas,  Arizona 
and  Southern  California.  Some  of  the  coaches  went  by  way  of  El  Paso  and 
others  by  way  of  Albuquerque.  The  time  required  for  the  trip  was  twenty-five 
days.  The  Southern  Route  was  followed  regularly  until  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  war,  when  the  Northern  (or  Central)  Route  via  Forts  Kearny,  Laramie 
and  Bridger  and  Salt  Lake  City  to  Placerville,  Cal.  The  first  stages  over  this 
route  left  St.  Joseph  and  Placerville  simultaneously  on  July  i,  1861.  Over  the 
new  route  the  time  was  shortened  to  seventeen  days. 

In  the  meantime  the  firm  of  Russell,  Majors  &  Waddell  had  inaugurated 
the  Leavenworth  &  Pike's  Peak  Express  in  the  summer  of  1859,  and  by  the  close 
of  that  year  there  were  six  different  mail  routes  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  the  aggregate 
cost  of  which  to  the  Government  was  not  far  from  two  millions  of  dollars  annu- 
ally. In  i860  the  Pony  Express  was  started  by  Russell,  Majors  &  Waddell,  as 
already  narrated.  In  the  fall  of  1861  Ben  Holliday  succeeded  to  the  business  of 
Russell,  Majors  &  Waddell  and  the  Butterfield  Overland  Company,  and  in  a  short 
time  he  became  known  as  the  "King  of  Western  Transportation.  '  At  the  height 
of  the  Overland's  prosperity,  Holliday  had  500  stage  coaches,  500  freight  wagons, 
over  five  thousand  horses  and  mules  and  a  "host  of  oxen."  He  also  owned  six- 
teen steamers  which  plied  between  San  Francisco,  Panama,  Oregon,  China  and 
Japan,  and  the  (iovernment  paid  him  about  one  million  dollars  annually  on  mail 
contracts. 

CHANGING  THE  ROUTE 

During  the  first  twelve  months  after  Holliday  took  [i()--^o-~^i(Mi,  In-  expended 
nearly  two  million  dollars  in  improving  the  service  ami  c^iililisliiiig  stations. 
Scarcely  had  these  stations  been  opened  when  the  hostile  Indian.-,,  as  tcld  in 
another  chapter,  began  making  raids.  The  annoyance  from  this  quarter  became 
so  great  that  in  July,  i8r)2,  the  route  was  changed  to  the  South  Platte,  via  Jules- 
burg,  Laramie  Plains.  Uridgt-r's  Pass  and  Green  River  to  Fort  Bridger,  where 
the  old  line  was  struck  and  folliiwed  tn  Salt  Lake.  Indian  raids  continued,  how- 
ever, and  so  cripjiled  the  line  that  in  \'o\cmber,  1866,  Holliday  sold  the  Overland 
to  Wells,  Fargo  &  Company. 

EQUIPMENT 

The  coaches  used  by  the  Overland  Company  were  of  the  type  known  as  the 
"Concord,"  so  called  because  they  were  built  at  Concord,  N.  H.,  and  the  harness 
was  made  by  the  Hill  Harness  Coni|iany  of  the  same  place.  At  the  front  and 
rear  of  each  coach  was  a  "boot."  In  the  front  boot  was  carried  the  treasure 
box.  and  the  mail  was  carried  in  the  hindmost  boot.  The  passengers  rode  inside 
the  coach,  their  bagc;age  being  piled  on  top.  The  horses  were  mostly  Kentucky 
bred.  While  Hi)lli(lay  wa^  at  the  head  of  the  company  it  was  his  boast  that 
no  transportation  company  ever  owned  a  better  lot  of  horses.  The  six  horses 
of  each  team  were  matched  as  to  color  and  size  as  nearly  as  possible. 


334  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Among  the  stage  drivers  were  men  who  became  celebrated  in  the  frontier 
romance  of  the  plains.  One  of  these  was  Hank  Monk,  who  was  made  famous 
by  Horace  Greeley.  Others  were  Jack  Gilmer,  Billy  Opdike,  "Keno"  Armstrong, 
Enoch  Cummings  and  "Bishop  West.^'  On  one  occasion  Keno  Armstrong  drove 
6io  miles  in  no  hours  without  "a  wink  of  sleep."  Every  driver  was  a  man  in 
every  sense  of  the  word  and  the  stage  driver  was  a  character  to  be  respected  in 
all  western  settlements.  So  famous  were  some  of  these  men  in  the  annals  of 
the  West  that  a  popular  song  of  that  period  was  entitled  "The  High  Salaried 
Driver  of  the  Den\'er  Line." 

EDUCATING  A  TENDERFOOT 

Dr.  W.  R.  Thomas,  in  his  "Romance  of  the  Border,"  tells  a  story  of  Bishop 
West  that  is  regarded  as  worth  repeating  here.  He  got  his  sobriquet  of  "Bishop" 
from  the  fact  that  one  of  the  station  keepers  was  a  ]\Iormon  bishop  named  \\'est, 
and  the  other  drivers  along  the  line  gave  the  nickname  to  their  comrade.  Between 
Central  City  and  Idaho  Springs,  where  West  had  his  "run."  the  road  ran  along 
the  Virginia  Canyon,  "three  miles  up  hill  and  three  miles  down."  It  was  one  of 
the  best  pieces  of  road  on  the  entire  Overland  line  and  West  was  one  of  the 
most  expert  drivers  in  tjje  company's  employ.  On  one  trip  his  only  passenger 
was  a  man  from  the  East,  who  rode  on  the  box  with  West,  and  as  the  coach 
ascended  the  ridge  he  was  constantly  complaining  at  the  slow  pace. 

"I  have  heard  a  good  deal  about  Rocky  Mountain  stage  driving,"  he  remarked 
to  the  driver,  just  before  they  reached  the  summit,  "but  I  haven't  seen  any  of 
it  yet." 

"Maybe  you  will  before  you  get  out  of  the  mountains,"  replied  Bishop,  with 
a  quizzical  glance  at  his  passenger,  at  the  same  time  dismounting  from  the  box 
to  see  that  his  brake  blocks  were  properly  adjusted  before  undertaking  the  descent. 

"Aren't  we  going  near  enough  to  a  snail's  pace  now,"  testily  asked  the  tender- 
foot, "without  stopping  to  bother  with  the  brakes?"  He  failed  to  notice  the 
look  in  the  driver's  eye,  however,  a  look  which  Doctor  Thomas  describes  as 
"malicious." 

Having  adjusted  the  bi'akes  to  his  liking,  West  resumed  his  seat  on  the  box 
and  a  few  rods  farther  the  coach  rolled  over  the  crest  of  the  hill.  Then  things 
began  to  happen.  With  a  yell  like  a  Comanche  Indian  on  the  war  path.  Bishop 
"threw  the  silk"  into  the  flanks  of  the  leaders  and  away  they  went  at  full  speed. 
The  passenger  first  begged,  then  stormed  and  raved,  but  the  only  response  was 
the  cracking  of  the  whip  like  a  pistol  in  the  horses'  ears  and  the  yells  of  the 
driver  to  them  to  "Get  out  of  the  way!"  When  about  half  way  down  the  slope 
the  rate  of  speed  became  so  great  that  the  passenger  grew  desperate,  and  finding 
protestation  and  supplication  alike  in  vain,  he  leaped  from  the  coach.  Without 
looking  back  to  see  what  had  happened  to  his  passenger,  Bishop  went  on  down 
the  hill  until  he  reached  Idaho  Springs,  having  made  the  descent  of  three  miles 
in  1 1 5^  minutes.  About  an  hour  later  the  tenderfoot  came  limping  in,  scratched 
and  bruised,  with  torn  clothing,  uttering  anathemas  against  all  stage  drivers,  but 
especially  against  Bishop  West.  But  he  was  never  again  heard  to  complain  as  to 
the  slowness  of  the  Overland  coaches.    His  education  in  that  respect  was  complete. 


LAST  BL  \.(  K 


.Lb  (  0\(  H   LKA\  ING  CHEYENNE 

February  19,  lhN7. 


THE  LAST  STAGE  THAT  RAN  OUT  OF  SARATdc  \,  ->!  luW  1  \  ( , 
THAT    HAULED   IT 
Outfit   owned   by   Charles   Scribner,   Saratoga. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 


MARKING  THE  OVERLAND 


In  establishing  the  relay  stations,  where  horses  were  changed,  along  the  Over- 
land, many  of  them  were  located  at  the  camping  places  on  the  old  Oregon  Trail. 
The  most  noted  stations  in  Wyoming  were  at  Fort  Laramie,  Deer  Creek,  Platte 
Bridge.  Devil's  Gate,  Split  Rock,  South  Pass,  Pacific  Spring,  Green  River  and 
Fort  Bridger.  Quite  a  number  of  the  places  where  these  stations  were  located 
have  been  marked  by  monuments  erected  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  of  Wyoming  and  Colorado,  with  the  assistance  of  the  appropriations 
made  by  the  state  Legislatures  of  the  two  states. 

One  of  these  markers,  on  the  boundary  line  between  Colorado  and  Wyoming, 
was  unveiled  on  July  4,  1917.  Dean  S.  Walter  Johnson,  of  the  Colorado  Agri- 
cultural College  delivered  the  principal  address,  in  which  he  reviewed  the  history 
of  the  Overland  Route,  closing  his  address  with  these  words:  "If  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  manifest  destiny,  does  not  this  stone  mark  its  trail?"  Dr.  Grace 
Raymond  Hebard  of  the  ^^'yoming  State  University  also  spoke  in  behalf  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  of  the  two  states. 

CHEYENNE  &  BLACK  HILLS  STAGE  LINE 

About  the  middle  of  February,  1876,  Luke  \"oorhees,  now  receiver  in  the 
United  States  Land  Office  at  Cheyenne,  came  to  Cheyenne  from  Salt  Lake  City 
to  organize  the  Cheyenne  &  Black  Hills  ]\Iail  and  Express  Company.  Thirty 
Concord  coaches  and  600  horses  were  needed  and  as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number 
had  been  secured  a  tri-weekly  line  between  Cheyenne  and  Deadwood  was  opened. 
The  excitement  over  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Black  Hills  region  was  then  at 
its  height  and  for  a  time  the  stage  line  did  a  thriving  business.  The  tri-weekly 
line  was  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  rush  and  it  was  not  long  until  daily 
stages  were  running.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  Indians,  the  line 
continued  to  do  a  good  business  until  railroads  were  built  into  the  Black  Hills 
from  the  east  and  south,  then  it  was  discontinued.  One  of  the  drivers  on  this 
line  was  William  Sherman,  who  died  at  Sheridan  on  March  28,  1918.  He  was 
a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  came  to  \\'yoming  soon  after  the  war  was  over,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death  was  eighty-two  years  of  age. 

PERILS  OF   STAGE  COACHING 

The  life  of  the  stage  coach  driver  was  by  no  means  a  path  of  roses.  Besides 
the  danger  from  hostile  Indians,  about  1877  a  gang  of  organized  "road  agents" 
began  operating  in  Wyoming,  robbing  stages  and  even  express  trains.  In  the 
spring  of  1878  the  coach  from  Cheyenne  to  Deadwood  was  robbed  by  six  masked 
men.  When  the  driver  met  the  southbound  coach  he  described  the  robbers  as 
well  as  he  could,  the  spot  where  the  robbery  occurred,  and  warned  the  driver 
and  passengers  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout.  On  the  southbound  coach  there  were 
three  inside  passengers,  while  the  express  messenger  and  a  man  named  John 
Flaherty  rode  outside  with  the  driver.  Capt.  Eugene  Smith  accompanied  the 
stage  on  horseback,  and  after  meeting  the  other  coach  rode  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  advance,  looking  for  signs  of  the  robbers.    Upon  reaching  the  place  where 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  337 

the  northbound  stage  had  been  held  up,  he  found  the  envelopes  of  a  number 
of  registered  letters  and  struck  the  trail  of  the  bandits,  which  led  up  the  valley 
of  a  dry  creek.  Smith  rode  into  the  ravine,  but  had  gone  only  a  short  distance 
when  one  of  the  robbers  fired  at  him.  About  fifty  shots  were  exchanged,  Smith's 
horse  was  killed,   when  the  bandits   mounted  and   fled. 

Later  in  the  same  year  a  coach  on  the  same  line  was  held  up  near  Hat  Creek 
by  Charley  Ross  and  a  man  named  Brown.  Upon  the  order  to  the  passengers 
to  "hold  up  your  hands,"  one  of  them,  Daniel  Finn,  "came  a  shooting.''  Ross 
returned  the  fire  and  Finn  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  face.  Brown  was  shot 
through  the  body  and  captured.  Sheriff  T.  J.  Carr,  of  Cheyenne,  learned  through 
Brown  that  Ross  was  at  Eureka,  Nev.,  and  went  after  him.  He  was  brought 
back  to  Cheyenne,  tried  and  convicted  of  highway  robbery.  Wyoming  prisoners 
were  then  kept  in  the  Nebraska  penitentiary  at  Lincoln.  Ross  was  taken  there 
and  after  failing  to  secure  a  pardon,  committed  suicide.  His  photograph  remained 
in  Sheriff  Carr's  collection  for  several  years  after  his  death,  labeled :  "Charley 
Ross,  road  agent  and  murderer  on  the  Black  Hills  stage  road.  1877-78;  captured 
at  Eureka,  Nev.,  December,  1878,  by  T.  J.  Carr;  committed  suicide  at  Lincoln, 
Neb.,  penitentiary,  February  16,  1885." 

In  November,  1878,  the  coach  from  the  north,  bound  for  Laramie  City,  car- 
ried two  road  agents — Mansfield  and  McLaughlin — as  prisoners.  At  the  crossing 
of  the  Platte  River  the  stage  was  stopped  by  a  company  of  masked  men.  the 
guard  overpowered  and  the  two  bandits  were  taken  out  and  hanged. 

About  that  time  Gen.  D.  ].  Cook,  of  Colorado,  organized  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Detective  Association  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  gang,  and  a  number  of 
Wyoming  men  became  members.  Nathaniel  K.  Boswell,  of  Laramie,  learning 
that  the  road  agents  had  a  rendezvous  near  Rock  Creek,  took  thirteen  deputies 
and  started  for  the  place.  Six  men  were  captured  and  were  afterward  convicted. 
Boswell  also  captured  Jack  Watkins,  one  of  the  worst  of  the  desperadoes,  when  no 
one  else  would  undertake  the  task.  Finally,  through  the  combined  efforts  of  the 
detective  association,  the  territorial  authorities  and  the  United  State  troops,  the 
gang  was  broken  up.  Among  the  road  agents  were  Bill  Bivins,  Marriner,  Har- 
rington, Miller,  Oaks,  Congdon  and  others,  some  of  whom  were  arrested  and 
sentenced  to  prison  and  some  "bit  the  dust"  in  their  conflicts  with  officers  of 
the  law. 

An  occasional  stage  robbery  occurred  after  the  organized  road  agents  were 
put  out  of  business.  In  September,  1889,  Bill  Brown  and  Dan  Parker  stopped 
the  United  States  mail  coach  near  Rawlins  and  robbed  the  mail  and  the  passen- 
gers, after  which  they  escaped  to  Brown's  Hole.  A  reward  of  $1,000  was  ofifered 
for  their  arrest.  Parker  was  arrested  by  Sheriff  T.  J.  Carr  at  Provo,  Utah, 
brought  to  Wyoming  and  received  a  penitentiary  sentence.  Brown  was  arrested 
near  Buffalo,  Wyo..  on  April  2,  1891.  and  on  the  i8th  received  a  prison  sentence. 

P.\SSING  OF  THE  STAGE  COACH 

With  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  the  stage  coach  began  to 
decline.  Wells,  Fargo  &  Company,  who  succeeded  Ben  Holliday  as  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Overland,  began  nmning  their  stages  from  stations  on  the  railroad 
to  the  towns  in  the  interior.     A  stage  line  was  opened  from  Rawlins  to  Lander 


338  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

in  the  spring  of  1887.  As  the  Union  Pacific  was  in  process  of  construction,  the 
Overland  stages  ran  from  the  terminus  of  the  road  westward  until  the  railroad 
was  finished,  and  the  same  system  was  followed  when  other  railroads  began  to 
be  built  through  the  state.  In  the  fall  of  1891  all  the  stage  lines  centering  at 
Buffalo  were  consolidated  under  one  management,  known  as  the  Buffalo  &  Bur- 
lington Stage  Company.  Daily  stages  were  run  from  Buffalo  to  Fort  Custer, 
Gillette.  Sheridan  and  Douglas,  and  return  stages  from  these  towns  also  made 
daily  trips.  The  time  from  Buffalo  to  Fort  Custer  was  four  hours.  There  are 
still  a  number  of  stage  lines  in  operation  in  Wyoming,  one  of  the  most  important 
of  which  is  the  line  from  Cody  to  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park.  But  with  the  advent  of  the  railroad  the  glory  of  the  old  coaching  days 
departed,  never  to  return. 

FREIGHTING 

With  the  Mormon  emigration,  the  rush  to  the  gold  fields  and  the  Oregon 
emigration,  numerous  settlements  and  mining  camps  sprang  into  existence.  These 
settlements  and  mining  camps  needed  supplies.  The  West  was  without  navigable 
rivers  or  railroads,  so  that  the  great  quantity  of  provisions,  etc.,  needed  by  the 
pioneers  had  to  be  transported  in  wagons.  One  of  the  first  to  engage  in  this 
business  of  freighting  was  Abe  Majors,  founder  of  the  firm  of  Russell,  Majors  & 
Waddell.  ATajors  had  been  a  "bull-whacker"  on  the  old  Santa  Fe  Trail  before 
embarking  in  the  business  on  his  own  account.  He  was  an  experienced  ox  driver, 
knew  all  the  details  of  the  freighting  business,  and  held  the  record  of  having 
made  the  round  trip  from  Independence,  Mo.,  to  Santa  Fe  in  ninety-two  days. 
He  began  freighting  on  a  small  scale  in  the  early  '50s,  and  was  soon  succeeded 
by  the  firm  of  Russell,  Majors  &  Waddell. 

At  one  time  this  firm  owned  6.250  wagons  and  75.000  oxen.  In  i860  the 
number  of  freight  wagons  crossing  the  Great  Plains  was  about  five  hundred  daily, 
and  five  years  later  this  number  was  greatly  increased,  the  amount  of  freight 
transported  in  the  latter  year  exceeding  eleven  thousand  tons.  The  wagons 
used  were  of  the  Conestoga  type,  called  "prairie  schnnners."  They  were  built 
at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  were  equipped  with  boxes  or  hah  al)(iui  sixteen  feet  long  and 
from  four  to  six  feet  deep,  and  were  covered  with  a  lu-M\y  white  canvas  cover. 
Each  wagon  was  capable  of  carrying  from  two  to  six  tons  of  freight,  owing  to 
the  nature  of  the  cargo,  and  nearly  all  were  drawn  by  oxen.  These  wagons  cost 
about  one  thousand  dollars  each,  so  it  may  be  seen  that  considerable  capital  was 
necessary  to  engage  in  the  freighting  business. 

The  wagons  generally  went  in  trains  of  twenty-five  or  more,  each  train  in 
charge  of  a  "wagon  master,"  for  better  protection  against  the  Indian  raids. 
Rates  were  made  by  the  pound  on  all  freight  and  varied  from  15  cents  for  bacon 
and  flour  to  25  cents  for  trunks  and  boxed  goods.  Thus  the  cost  of  transporting 
a  barrel  of  flour  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  coast  was  about  thirty  dollars. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  and  Omaha,  Neb.,  were  the  principal  starting  points  of  the 
freight  wagon  trains  crossing  the  plains,  and  the  merchants  of  those  towns  did 
an  annual  business  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars.  Freight  was  brought  up 
the  Missouri  River  in  light-draft  steamers  to  the  outfitting  points  and  there 
transferred  to  the  wagons. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG  339 

In  1876  and  1877  hundreds  of  wagons  were  employed  in  freighting  between 
Cheyenne  and  the  Black  Hills  mining  districts  and  the  Indian  agencies.  The 
winter  of  1877-78  was  mild  and  the  road  was  dotted  with  freight  wagons  all  the 
time.  On  the  night  of  March  8,  1878,  a  blizzard  commenced  and  lasted  for  five 
days.  A  number  of  wagon  drivers  lost  their  way  when  the  road  became  covered 
with  the  deep  snow  and  were  frozen  to  death,  some  of  them  within  a  few  miles 
from  Cheyenne  and  others  near  the  stations  along  the  line.  Such  were  the  perils 
of  freighting  in  the  early  days.  In  that  storm  houses  were  snowed  under  until 
only  the  top  of  the  roof  and  chimneys  could  be  seen.  Hundreds  of  cattle  were 
lost,  and  in  Cheyenne  the  roof  of  one  building  collapsed  under  the  weight  of 
snow. 

The  stage  coach  and  the  freight  wagon  were  potent  factors  in  the  development 
of  the  Great  West,  and  their  career  has  been  told  in  story  and  celebrated  in 
song.  There  was  a  romance  connected  with  the  stage  driver  and  the  freighter 
that  will  never  be  duplicated  concerning  any  other  class  of  men  in  this  country. 
The  locomotive  whistle  has  taken  the  place  of  the  crack  of  the  '"bull-whacker's" 
whip,  and  the  towns  away  from  the  line  of  the  railroad  are  now  reached  by 
automobile  instead  of  the  old  Concord  coach.  Instead  of  requiring  a  whole  sum- 
mer to  freight  a  consignment  of  goods  from  the  Missouri  River  to  Oregon  or 
California  and  make  the  return  trip,  the  railroad  now  transacts  the  business  in 
a  few  days.  The  story  of  the  railroad  development  in  Wyoming  is  told  in  the 
next  chapter,  but  it  lacks  many  of  the  thrilling  and  romantic  features  of  the  old- 
time  stage  coaching  and  freighting  days  when  the  West  was  young. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  RAILROADS 

FIRST  RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES EARLY  OPPOSITION A  WISE  SCHOOL  BOARD 

THE  UNION  PACIFIC CREDIT  MOBILIER — THE  CENTRAL  PACIFIC MISCELLA- 
NEOUS FACTS  ABOUT  THE  UNION  PACIFIC CHICAGO  &  NORTHWESTERN — CHI- 
CAGO,  BURLINGTON   &  OUINCV — CHEYENNE    &    NORTHERN COLORADO,    WYOMING 

&    EASTERN — OREGON    SHORT    LINE — MINOR    RAILROADS RAILROAD    MILEAGE    OF 

THE  STATE AID  TO   RAILROADS. 

The  first  railroad  in  the  United  States  was  built  in  1826.  It  was  tliree  miles 
in  length,  running  from  the  granite  quarry  at  Quincy,  Mass.,  to  the  sea  coast, 
and  was  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  the  stone  for  Bunker  Hill 
monument  to  the  barges  that  were  to  carry  it  to  Boston.  The  cars  on  this  road 
were  drawn  by  horses. 

About  a  year  later  a  railroad  nine  miles  long  was  built  from  Mauch  Chunk, 
Pa.,  to  some  coal  mines.  In  the  construction  of  both  these  early  railways, 
wooden  rails  were  used,  with  a  strap  of  iron  nailed  on  the  top  to  prevent  wear. 
On  the  Mauch  Chunk  Road  a  diminutive  engine — about  the  size  of  some  of  the 
engines  used  by  threshermen  of  the  present  day — was  employed,  and  the  cars 
would  not  carry  over  five  tons  of  coal  each.  Wrecks  were  frequent,  due  to  the 
nails  through  the  iron  strap  working  loose.  Yet  a  railroad  even  of  this  crude 
character  awakened  capitalists  to  the  possibilities  of  steam  as  a  means  of  land 
transportation,  and  through  their  influence  the  Legislatures  of  several  states 
granted  charters  to  railroad  companies  during  the  decade  following  the  completion 
of  the  Mauch  Chunk  line. 

EARLY   OPPOSITION 

In  this  year,  1918,  of  the  Christian  Era,  when  the  entire  nation  is  covered  by 
a  network  of  railroads,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  any  intelligent  person 
should  ever  have  opposed  their  construction.  Yet  such  was  the  case.  About 
1828  some  young  men  of  Lancaster,  Ohio,  fomied  a  debating  society  and  requested 
the  school  board  to  permit  them  to  use  the  schoolhouse,  in  which  to  discuss  the 
question  of  whether  railroads  were  feasible  as  a  means  of  transportation.  To 
this  request  the  school  board  replied  as  follows : 

"We  are  willing  to  allow  you  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  to  debate  all  proper 
questions  in,  but  such  things  as  railroads  we  regard  as  rank  infidelity.  If  God 
had  ever  intended  his  children  to  travel  over  the  face  of  the  country  at  the  fright- 
ful speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour.  He  would  have  foretold  it  clearly  through 
his  holy  prophets.  It  is  a  device  of  Satan  to  lure  immortal  souls  down  to  hell." 
340 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  341 

While  this  incident  has  no  direct  bearing  upon  the  railroads  of  Wyoming,  the 
story  is  introduced  here  to  show  how  some  people  looked  upon  the  railroad  less 
than  a  century  ago.  The  railroad  company  of  the  present  day  that  could  not 
run  its  trains  faster  than  fifteen  miles  an  hour  would  not  receive  a  great  amount 
of  patronage  and  the  stockholders  would  not  be  likely  to  draw  profitable  divi- 
dends upon  their  investment.  Yet  this  rate  was  considered  "frightful"  in  1828 
by  the  Lancaster  school  board,  men  who  were  chosen,  no  doubt,  for  their  wisdom 
and  sagacity  and  charged  wjith  the  education  of  the  young  people  of  that  city. 
By  the  time  the  first  permanent  settlements  were  made  in  Wyoming,  public 
sentiment  had  undergone  a  radical  change.  The  railroad  was  no  longer  regarded 
by  anyone  as  "rank  infidelity,"'  but  it  had  become  one  of  the  established  institu- 
tions of  the  country.  People  everywhere  looked  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most  potent 
agencies  of  civilization. 

THE  UNION   PACIFIC 

Robert  Fulton  demonstrated  to  the  world  in  1807  that  steam  could  be  used 
to  advantage  as  a  power  in  propelling  vessels  upon  the  water,  and  thoughtful 
men  began  to  consider  the  advisability  of  using  it  for  land  transportation.  As 
early  as  1819,  eight  years  before  the  construction  of  the  little  Mauch  Chunk 
Railroad,  Robert  Mills,  of  Virginia,  first  proposed  a  "cross-country"  railway. 
His  views  on  the  subject  were  first  presented  to  the  general  public  through  the 
columns  of  the  newspapers  and  later  to  Congress,  to  which  body  he  suggested, 
if  found  to  be  practicable,  "steam  propelled  carriages  for  quickened  service  across 
the  continent,  to  run  from  the  headwaters  of  inland  navigation  over  a  direct 
route  to  the  Pacific." 

Mr.  Mills  was  several  years  in  advance  of  the  times,  and  little  attention  was 
paid  to  his  suggestions  and  theories,  but  there  is  no  question  that  he  was  the 
first  man  to  propose  a  transcontinental  railway.  About  fifteen  years  later  Asa 
Whitney,  of  New  York;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Hosmer  and  Wade,  of  Ohio;  Butler 
S.  Kinf  and  General  Robinson,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Pierce,  of  Indiana ;  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  of  Missouri,  and  a  number  of  other  foresighted  men,  urged  the 
constrviction  of  a  railroad  from  some  point  on  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Nothing  definite  was  accomplished  at  that  time  and  the  subject  lay  dor- 
mant for  nearly  twenty  years.  In  1853  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  introduced  in 
the  United  States  Senate  a  bill  providing  for  surveys  of  four  routes  to  the  Pacific 
Coast,  to-wit:  i.  A  line  from  the  Upper  Mississippi  River  via  the  Yellowstone 
\'alley  to  Puget  Sound ;  2.  A  line  along  or  near  the  thirty-sixth  parallel,  through 
Walker's  Pass  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  strike  the  coast  somewhere  near  Los 
Angeles  or  San  Diego,  Cal. ;  3.  A  line  through  the  Rocky  Mountains  near  the 
headwaters  of  the  Rio  Del  Norte  and  Huerfano  rivers,  via  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
Basin;  4.  A  line  along  the  thirty-second  parallel,  via  El  Paso  and  the  Valley  of 
the  Colorado  River,  to  strike  the  coast  somewhere  in  Lower  California. 

Jefiferson  Davis,  then  secretary  of  war,  by  what  authority  is  uncertain,  sent 
five  engineering  corps  into  the  AVest  to  examine  and  report  upon  the  feasibility 
of  constructing  a  transcontinental  railway  on  one  or  more  of  five  dififerent  routes. 
One  of  these  surveys  was  made  for  a  line  between  the  forty-seventh  and  forty- 
ninth  parallels,  known  as  the  "Northern  Route" ;  the  second  was  made  between 


342  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  forty-first  and  forty-third  parallels,  called  the  "Central  Route,"  also  the  Over- 
land or  Mormon  Route ;  a  third  survey  followed  the  thirty-ninth  parallel  and  was 
called  the  "Bufifalo  Trail" ;  the  fourth  followed  the  thirty-fifth  parallel,  starting 
from  the  Missouri  River  near  Kansas  City,  and  the  fifth,  known  as  the  "Southern 
Route."  Under  date  of  January  27,  1855,  Mr.  Davis  made  a  complete  report  of 
what  had  been  done  in  the  way  of  surveying  or  reconnoitering  the  routes  above 
mentioned. 

In  that  same  month  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  then  United  States  Senator  from 
Illinois,  introduced  a  bill  proposing  three  routes  to  the  Pacific  Coast — one  via 
El  Paso  and  the  Colorado,  to  be  called  the  "Southern  Pacific" ;  one  from  some 
point  on  the  western  border  of  Iowa,  to  be  called  the  "Central  Pacific,"  and  the 
third  farther  north,  to  be  known  as  the  "Northern  Pacific."  It  is  a  fact  worthy 
of  note  that  three  great  trunk  lines  were  afterward  built  upon  practically  the  lines 
designated  in  the  Douglas  Bill  of  1855,  and  that  they  bear  the  names  suggested 
by  that  bill. 

On  July  I,  1862,  President  Lincoln  approved  the  bill  creating  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  which  was  authorized  and  empowered  "to  lay  out,  locate, 
construct,  furnish,  maintain  and  enjoy  a  continuous  railroad  and  telegraph,  with 
the  appurtenances,  from  a  point  on  the  one-hundredth  meridian  of  longitude  west 
from  Greenwich,  between  the  south  margin  of  the  Valley  of  the  Republican  River 
and  the  north  margin  of  the  Valley  of  the  Platte  River,  in  the  Territory  of 
Nebraska,  to  the  western  boundary  of  Nevada  Territory,"  etc. 

The  bill  granted  to  the  railroad  company  a  right  of  way  400  feet  wide  through 
the  public  lands,  and  also  every  alternate  or  odd  numbered  section  of  land  to 
the  amount  of  five  alternate  sections  per  mile  on  each  side  of  the  road  within 
the  limit  of  ten  miles,  not  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of,  mineral  lands  excepted. 
It  was  further  provided  that  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $16,000  per  mile  should 
be  issued  by  the  Government  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  road,  that 
amount  to  be  trebled  through  the  Rocky  and  Sierra  Nevada  mountains,  said 
bonds  to  become  a  first  mortgage  lien  upon  the  property.  Another  provision 
required  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company  to  meet 
in  Chicago  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  September,  1862,  for  the  purpose  of  organiza- 
tion. Pursuant  to  this  requirement,  the  board  met  at  the  place  designated  on 
September  2,  1862,  and  organized  by  the  election  of  William  B.  Ogden  as  the 
first  president.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  board,  which  was  held  in  New  York 
City  on  October  29.  1863,  Gen.  John  A.  Dix  succeeded  Mr.  Ogden  as  president 
and  Dr.  Thomas  C.  Durant  was  elected  vice  president.  Doctor  Durant  became 
the  moving  spirit  of  the  company,  giving  the  enterprise  the  benefit  of  his  great 
constructive  genius  and  his  fortune. 

Section  14  of  the  act  of  July  i,  1862,  authorized  the  railroad  company  "to 
construct  a  single  line  of  railroad  and  telegraph  from  a  point  on  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  to  be  fixed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 
In  accordance  with  this  provision,  President  Lincoln,  on  November  I,  1863, 
designated  the  City  of  Omaha  as  the  terminal  point.  The  conditions  imposed 
by  the  act  had  been  accepted  by  the  board  of  directors,  and  on  December  2, 
1863,  ground  was  broken  in  the  "North  Omaha  Bottoms."  The  long  talked  of 
Pacific  Railroad  was  actually  begun. 

Peter  A.  Dey  was  employed  to  survey  the  route,  but  the  early  work  of  con- 


UXIOX  PArlFir  STATIOX,  CHEYENXE 


^ 

\.^  T1 

^ 

U^'       ,    ,      ^^i 

hM 

7 

f    ''M  "^ 

1^1 

M- 

f 

i  mI^ 

x^l^in| 

'■  •! 

u 

f^'    !^^tt,.^TJnm. 

^j"^^ 

'■'""   1     ii   ;  "r~" 

**'-    ,^i    •»!?{ 

Imob 

Wii^, 

^'  — 

-m-T: 

i  11   ^/..    --i^t.. 

Ban  £_..'  ■*"_ 

"-— ^.^ 

Mp 

dSi^i^i^»^,^:^.;^B||d 

UNION  PACIFIC  AND  ST.  JOHN'S  IIOSl'lTALS,  CHEYENNE 


3i4  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

struction  was  slow,  owing  to  the  inflated  prices  of  materials  caused  by  the  Civil 
war.  These  inflated  prices  affected  the  credit  of  the  contractors  to  such  an  extent 
that  Mr.  Dey  retired  as  chief  engineer  early  in  1865,  under  the  discouraging  con- 
ditions, and  was  succeeded  by  D.  H.  Ainsworth,  though  J.  E.  House  completed 
the  survey  up  the  Platte  \'alley  to  the  point  where  that  river  was  to  be  bridged. 
A  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  first  100  miles  west  from  Omaha  was 
awarded  to  H.  M.  Hoxie  on  October  4,  1864.  The  first  rail  was  laid  on  July 
10,  1865,  and  on  September  22,  1865,  ten  miles  of  the  road  were  completed.  On 
January  26,  1866,  the  first  Government  inspection  was  made  by  Col.  J.  H.  Simp- 
son, Gen.  Samuel  R.  Curtis  and  Maj.  William  White.  There  were  then  about 
thirty  miles  of  road  completed  and  several  miles  more  were  graded.  This  work 
had  been  done  by  Mr.  Hoxie,  who  had  surrendered  his  contract  on  account  of  the 
difficulties  encountered. 

CREDIT  MOBILIER 

Early  in  the  year  1867  Oakes  Ames,  General  Dix,  Doctor  Durant  and  others 
connected  with  the  Union  Pacific  Company  bought  out  the  moribund  concern 
called  the  "Pennsylvania  Fiscal  Company,"  which  had  been  chartered  by  that 
state  in  1859  as  a  general  loan  and  contract  business,  and  reorganized  it  as  the 
"Credit  Mobilier  of  America" — a  construction  insurance  company.  Before  the 
close  of  the  year  the  Credit  Mobilier,  which  took  over  the  unfinished  contract  of 
Mr.  Hoxie,  had  completed  the  railroad  to  the  infant  City  of  Cheyenne,  the  first 
passenger  train  arriving  there  on  November  13,  1867,  with  a  special  party  on 
board.  Unfortunately,  the  Credit  Alobilier  became  involved  in  scandal  and  en- 
tangled in  political  intrigue,  which  destroyed  its  usefulness  as  a  railroad  builder. 
Its  purposes — much  misunderstood  and  mistrusted  from  the  first — were  discred- 
ited by  rumors  and  it  was  forced  to  suspend.  In  1872  Congress  ordered  an 
investigation  and  several  members  of  that  body  were  found  to  be  connected 
with  the  Credit  Mobilier  as  stockholders. 

THE  CENTRAL  P.\CIFIC 

Although  this  road  does  not  touch  the  State  of  Wyoming,  its  connection  with 
the  Union  Pacific  in  providing  the  latter  with  an  outlet  to  the  western  coast 
has  made  it  an  important  factor  in  the  railroad  annals  of  the  nation.  Among 
the  men  who  were  active  in  building  the  Central  Pacific  were  Collis  P.  Hunt- 
ington, Charles  and  Edward  B.  Crocker,  Leland  Stanford,  Mark  Hopkins,  Cor- 
nelius Cole  and  Theodore  D.  Judah,  the  last  named  being  the  chief  engineer. 
Ground  was  broken  for  the  road  at  Sacramento,  Cal.,  February  22,  1863,  nearly 
nine  months  before  ground  was  broken  at  Omaha  for  the  Union  Pacific. 

The  act  of  July  i,  1862,  chartering  the  Union  Pacific,  authorized  the  com- 
pany to  build  its  line  to  the  western  boundary  of  Nevada.  By  a  supplementary 
act,  approved  by  President  Johnson  on  July  3,  1866,  this  was  changed,  the  Central 
Pacific  being  given  authority  to  build  on  eastward  until  a  junction  with  the  Union 
Pacific  was  formed.  The  same  bill  also  gave  the  Union  Pacific  Company  the 
privilege  of  extending  its  road  beyond  the  western  boundarv-  of  Nevada,  unless 
a  junction  should  be  sooner  effected.    With  the  passage  of  this  act  the  race  began 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  345 

in  earnest,  each  company  doing  its  best  to  reach  the  construction  hmit  of  its 
charter.  Cheyenne  was  the  western  terminus  of  the  road  during  the  winter  of 
1867-68,  but  as  soon  as  the  weather  would  permit  in  the  spring  of  1868,  work 
was  resumed.  Gen.  Grenville  M.  Dodge  was  then  in  charge  of  the  work,  and  all 
previous  track-laying  records  were  broken.  On  May  8,  1868,  the  track  was 
completed  to  Fort  Saunders ;  about  noon  the  next  day  the  workmen  had  reached 
Laramie ;  before  sunset  they  were  out  of  sight  to  the  west ;  and  in  October  the 
road  was  finished  and  trains  were  running  to  Bridger's  Pass. 

Meantime  the  Central  Pacific  was  being  pushed  rapidly  eastward.  In  the 
winter  of  1868-69  the  grades  of  the  two  roads  met  in  Western  Utah  and  passed, 
paralleling,  until  the  Union  Pacific  had  about  two  hundred  miles  graded  beyond 
the  most  advanced  work  of  the  Central.  Congress  was  called  upon  to  adjust  the 
difificulties,  but  before  that  body  could  act,  the  officials  of  the  two  companies 
agreed  upon  Promontory  Point  as  the  place  of  union.  There,  on  May  10,  1869, 
was  driven  the  last  spike  that  welded  together  the  East  and  the  West  by  a  great 
transcontinental  railway.  The  following  description  of  the  ceremonies  on  that 
occasion  is  taken  from  General  Dodge's  book,  "How  We  Built  the  Union  Pacific 
Railway' : 

"Hon.  Leland  Stanford,  governor  of  California  and  president  of  the  Central 
Pacific,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Huntington,  Hopkins,  Crocker,  and  trainloads 
of  California's  distinguished  citizens,  arrived  from  the  West.  During  the  fore- 
noon Vice  President  T.  C.  Durant,  Directors  John  R.  Duff  and  Sidney  Dillon 
and  Consulting  Engineer  Silas  A.  Seymour,  of  the  Union  Pacific,  with  other 
prominent  men,  including  a  delegation  of  Mormons  from  Salt  Lake  City,  came 
on  a  train  from  the  East.  The  National  Government  was  represented  by  a  detach- 
ment of  regulars  from  Fort  Douglas,  Utah,  accompanied  by  a  band,  and  600  others 
including  Chinese,  Mexicans,  Indians,  half-breeds,  negroes  and  laborers,  suggest- 
ing an  air  of  cosmopolitanism,  all  gathered  around  the  open  space  where  the 
tracks  were  to  be  joined.  The  Chinese  laid  the  rails  from  the  west  end  and  the 
Irish  laborers  laid  them  from  the  east  end  until  they  met  and  joined. 

"Telegraphic  wires  were  so  connected  that  each  blow  of  the  descending  sledge 
could  be  reported  instantly  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Corresponding 
blows  were  struck  on  the  bell  of  the  city  hall  in  San  Francisco,  and  with  the  last 
blow  of  the  sledge  a  cannon  was  fired  at  Fort  Point.  General  Safford  presented 
a  spike  of  gold,  silver  and  iron  as  the  oflfering  of  the  Territory  of  Arizona.  Gov- 
ernor Tuttle  of  Nevada  presented  a  spike  of  silver  from  his  state.  The  connecting 
tie  was  of  California  laurel,  and  California  presented  the  last  spike  of  gold  in 
behalf  of  that  state.  A  silver  sledge  had  also  been  presented  for  the  occasion. 
A  prayer  was  offered.  Governor  Stanford  made  a  few  appropriate  remarks  on 
behalf  of  the  Central  Pacific  and  the  chief  engineer  (General  Dodge)  responded 
for  the  L^nion  Pacific.  Then  the  telegraphic  inquiry  from  the  Omaha  office,  from 
which  the  circuit  was  to  be  started,  was  answered : 

"'To  everybody:  Keep  quiet.  When  the  last  spike  is  driven  at  Promontorv 
Point  we  will  say  "Done."  Don't  break  the  circuit,  but  watch  for  the  signals  of 
the  blows  of  the  hammer.  The  spike  will  soon  be  driven.  The  signal  will  be 
three  dots  for  the  commencement  of  the  blows.' 

"The  magnet  tapped  one — two — three — then  paused — 'Done.'  The  spike  was 
given  its  first  blow  by  President  Stanford,  and  \'ice  President  Durant  followed. 


346  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Neither  hit  the  spike  the  first  time,  but  hit  the  rail,  and  was  greeted  by  the  kisty 
cheers  of  the  onlookers,  accompanied  by  screams  of  the  locomotives  and  the  music 
of  the  military  band.  Many  other  spikes  were  driven  on  the  last  rail  by  some 
of  the  distinguished  persons  present,  but  it  was  seldom  that  they  first  hit  the  spike. 
The  original  spike,  after  being  tapped  by  the  officials,  was  driven  home  by  the 
chief  engineers  of  the  two  roads.  Then  the  two  trains  were  run  together,  the  two 
locomotives  touching  at  the  point  of  junction,  and  the  engineers  of  the  two  loco- 
motives each  broke  a  bottle  of  champagne  on  the  other's  engine.  Then  it  was 
declared  that  the  connection  was  made  and  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  were  joined 
together,  never  to  be  parted.'' 

MISCELLANEOUS   FACTS  ABOUT   THE  UNION   PACIFIC 

The  first  locomotive  purchased  by  the  Union  Pacific  Company  was  named 
the  "General  Sherman,"  with  Thomas  Jordan  as  the  first  engineer.  The  second 
locomotive,  the  "General  McPherson,"  came  up  the  Missouri  River  to  Omaha 
on  the  steamer  Colorado  in  July,  1865,  and  was  placed  in  commission  on  the 
3d  of  August.  The  first  engine  arriving  in  Cheyenne,  in  November,  1867,  was 
the  "No.  54,"  which  was  exhibited  during  the  Frontier  Day  celebration  in  July, 
1917. 

Since  the  Union  Pacific  was  opened  for  trafhc  in  May,  1869,  the  main  line 
has  been  double  tracked  from  Omaha  west  to  Granger,  Wyo.,  a  distance  of  854 
miles,  and  from  San  Francisco  east  to  Blue  Canyon,  a  distance  of  26S  miles. 
It  is  a  question  of  only  a  few  more  years  until  the  entire  main  line  will  be  a 
double-track  thoroughfare. 

During  the  year  191 5  the  road  carried  over  eight  million  passengers.  The 
average  length  of  each  passenger's  trip  was   103  miles. 

The  Union  Pacific  was  the  first  railroad  west  of  the  Missouri  River  to  run 
sleeping  cars,  dining  cars  and  electric  lighted  trains,  and  it  is  the  only  trans- 
continental line  that  operates  two  daily  trains  carrying  mail  and  express  matter 
exclusively.  These  trains  constitute  the  Government's  fast  mail  route  to  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

The  passenger  station  of  the  Union  Pacific  at  Cheyenne  was  completed  in 
the  early  part  of  the  year  1887,  at  a  cost  of  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
It  is  one  of  the  finest  west  of  the  Missouri  River. 

On  July  10,  1889,  the  cornerstone  of  the  Union  Pacific  shops  at  Cheyenne 
-was  laid,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Cheyenne  Board  of  Trade.  J.  K.  Jeffrey 
was  chief  marshal,  the  Seventeenth  Regiment  band  from  Fort  Russell  furnished 
the  music,  a  detachment  of  soldiers  from  the  fort  was  present,  and  Gen.  J.  C. 
Thompson  was  the  orator  of  the  day.  From  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  men  are 
now  employed  in  these  shops,  which  represent  an  investment  of  several  millions 
of  dollars. 

CHICAGO  &  NORTHWESTERN 

On  January  10,  1836,  the  Illinois  Legislature  chartered  the  Galena  &  Chicago 
Union  Railway  Company,  which  was  authorized  to  build  and  operate  a  railroad 
from  Chicago  to  the  lead  mines  on  the  ^lississippi  River.     The  first  train  that 


HISTORY  OF  WYOAIING  347 

ever  left  Chicago  for  the  West  was  on  this  road,  October  24,  1848.  It  was 
drawn  by  a  little  locomotive  called  the  "Pioneer,"  which  was  exhibited  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago  in  1893,  and  which  is  still  kept  by  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Company  as  a  rehc  of  early  railroad  days. 

In  the  panic  of  1857  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railway  Company  became 
seriously  involved  and  was  reorganized  as  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  an  event 
which  marked  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  great  railway  systems  of  the  United 
States.  At  the  time  of  the  reorganization  emigrants  from  the  older  states  were 
pouring  into  the  country'  west  of  the  Mississippi,  ai;d  the  directors  of  the  new 
company  immediately  began  preparations  for  extending  the  road  into  the  rapidly 
developing  West.  Early  in  the  '60s  the  first  train  crossed  the  Mississippi  at 
Clinton,  Iowa,  and  on  January  17,  1867,  the  irrst  train  rolled  into  Council 
Bluffs.  By  making  connection  with  the  Union  Pacific  at  Omaha,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Missouri  River,  an  outlet  to  the  markets  of  the  East  was  provided 
for  the  products  of  the  farmers  living  near  the  great  transcontinental  railway 
in  Nebraska  and  \\'yoming. 

From  Omaha  branch  lines  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  were  built  to  sev- 
eral of  the  principal  towns  of  Nebraska.  On  January  20,  1869.  the  Fremont, 
Elkhom  &  Missouri  \'alley  Railroad  Company  was  organized  under  the  laws  of 
Nebraska,  to  build  a  road  from  Fremont  to  the  west  line  of  the  state.  Work 
went  on  slowly  and  it  was  not  until  January  20,  1885,  that  Congress  granted  the 
company  the  right  to  run  its  line  through  the  Fort  Robinson  military  reservation 
in  Northwestern  Nebraska.  The  Wyoming  Central  Railway  Comjiany  was  incor- 
porated under  the  laws  of  Wyoming  in  October.  1SS3,  and  \\a>  authorized  to 
build  a  railroad  from  some  point  on  the  east  line  of  thL-  slate  to  a  point  on  the 
Platte  River.  This  road  was  connected  with  the  Fremont,  Elkhom  &  Missouri 
\'alley  at  the  state  line  and  in  1886  trains  were  running  to  Douglas.  About  that 
time  the  two  roads  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Com- 
pany. The  Cheyenne  Sun  of  March  12.  1887,  published  an  item  to  the  effect  that 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  was  to  build  a  line  from  Douglas  (or  Fort  Fetter- 
man)  to  connect  with  the  Oregon  Pacific,  and  that  work  would  begin  about  the 
first  of  April.  The  road  was  completed  to  Casper  in  1888.  and  that  city  remained 
the  terminus  for  several  years,  when  the  line  was  extended  to  Lander. 

CHICAGO,    BURLINi/.TON    &   OUIXCV 

On  April  6,  1887,  articles  of  incorporation  of  the  Cheyenne  &  Burlington 
Railroad  Company  were  filed  in  the  secretary  of  state's  oflice  at  Cheyenne.  The 
directors  named  in  the  articles  were :  George  W.  Holdredge,  J.  G.  Taylor,  C.  D. 
Dorman.  W.  A.  Higgins  and  C.  J.  Greene,  and  the  capital  stock  was  announced 
at  $600,000.  The  day  following  the  incorporation  the  directors  purchased  the 
property  of  the  Warren  Mercantile  Company  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Sixteenth 
Street  and  Capitol  Avenue  for  a  passenger  station.  The  incorporators  were 
all  connected  with  the  Burlington  &  ^Missouri  River  Railroad  ( later  the  Chicago, 
P.urlington  &  Quincy),  and  the  building  of  the  Cheyenne  &  Burlington  was  the 
introduction  of  this  system  into  the  State  of  Wyoming. 

Work  was  commenced  on  the  road  immediatelv  after  the  incorporation,  and 


3i8  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

in  October  the  track-layers  were  approaching  Cheyenne  at  the  rate  of  three  miles 
per  day.  On  November  9,  1887,  the  track  was  finished  to  Baxter's  ranch,  twenty 
miles  from  Cheyenne,  and  on  December  ist  the  last  rail  was  laid.  Freight  trains 
began  running  regularly  over  the  road  on  December  15th.  The  first  regular 
passenger  train  arrived  in  Cheyenne  shortly  after  noon  on  Sunday,  January  22, 
1888,  and  the  first  passenger  train  left  the  city  at  8  P.  M.  the  same  day. 

Articles  of  incorporation  for  the  Big  Horn  Valley  Railroad  Company  were 
filed  with  the  Wyoming  secretary  of  state  on  September  23,  1891,  to  build  a 
railroad  "from  some  point  west  of  Casper  to  the  headwaters  of  Clark's  Fork." 
The  incorporators  were:  W.  W.  Dudley,  of  Richmond,  Ind. ;  L.  T.  Mitchner, 
of  Shelbyville,  Ind.;  E.  B.  Crane  and  N.  F.  Howe,  of  New  York;  E.  W.  Dawson, 
of  Baltimore,  Md. ;  John  T.  Sinclair,  of  Philadelphia ;  and  John  W.  and  C.  T. 
Hobart,  of  New  Jersey. 

About  that  time  the  Burlington  Route  was  extending  its  line  from  Alliance, 
Neb.,  into  Wyoming,  running  up  the  North  Fork  of  the  Platte  to  Douglas,  from 
which  point  it  paralleled  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  to  the  old  eastern  boundary 
of  the  Wind  River  Indian  Reservation.  The  charter  of  the  Big  Horn  Valley 
Railroad  passed  to  the  Burlington  and  a  road  was  built  down  the  Big  Horn  River 
to  Billings,  Mont.  A  branch  road  leaves  this  line  at  Frannie  and  runs  to  Cody, 
the  county  seat  of  Park  County. 

Another  division  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  system  enters  the 
state  near  the  southeast  corner  of  Weston  County  and  runs  in  a  northwesterly 
direction  through  the  counties  of  Weston,  Campbell  and  Sheridan  to  Billings, 
Mont.  In  July,  1892,  a  force  of  nearly  four  thousand  men  was  at  work  on  this 
line,  which  was  completed  late  in  that  year.  The  Big  Horn  Valley  division  was 
completed  in  September,  1894.  Burlington  trains  run  between  Cheyenne  and 
Wendover  over  the  tracks  of  the  Colorado  &  Southern  Railroad. 

CHEYENNE  &  NORTHERN 

This  road  was  first  projected  and  some  work  was  done  late  in  the  year  1886. 
About  the  middle  of  March,  1887,  contracts  were  made  for  the  construction  of 
the  line  northward  to  the  Platte  River.  On  October  22,  1887,  the  first  train  from 
Cheyenne  crossed  the  new  bridge  over  the  Laramie  River  near  the  little  hamlet 
of  Uva,  Platte  County.  James  Duffy  was  the  conductor  on  that  special  train 
and  Harry  Millyard  was  the  engineer.  Laramie  County  had  voted  aid  toward 
the  building  of  the  road,  with  the  stipulation  that  before  the  county  commis- 
sioners could  issue  the  bonds  they  must  personally  inspect  the  work.  With  the 
commissioners  on  this  first  tour  of  inspection  were  Governor  Moonlight,  several 
of  the  county  and  city  officials.  Chief  Justice  Maginnis,  representatives  of  the 
newspapers  and  several  prominent  citizens.  The  train  left  Cheyenne  at  7  40 
A.  M.  and  returning  reached  the  city  at  5:15  P.  M. 

Early  in  1891  the  road  was  extended  to  Orin  Junction,  fourteen  miles  east 
of  Douglas,  where  it  made  connection  with  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern.  That 
part  of  the  road  between  Orin  Junction  and  Wendover  afterward  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Burlington  system,  and  after  the  completion  of  the  line  from 
Cheyenne  to  Denver  the  road  took  the  name  of  the  Colorado  &  Southern. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  349 

COLORADO,    WYOMING    &    EASTERN 

The  Colorado,  Wyoming  &  Eastern,  sometimes  called  the  "Laramie  Rail- 
road," runs  from  the  City  of  Laramie  to  Coalmont,  Colorado,  a  distance  of  iii 
miles.  Articles  of  incorporation  were  filed  with  the  Wyoming  secretary  of  state 
on  March  17,  1887.  They  were  signed  by  Edward  O.  Wolcott,  Joel  F.  Vaile, 
Ethan  A.  Reynolds,  Colin  A.  Chisholm  and  Harlan  P.  Parmalee,  all  of  Denver. 
Right  of  way  had  previously  been  secured  from  Laramie  to  the  Colorado  line. 
Work  was  commenced  immediately  after  the  incorporation  of  the  company,  and 
the  road  was  opened  for  traffic  early  in  the  year  1888. 

OREGON   SHORT  LINE 

Soon  after  the  junction  of  the  L^nion  and  Central  Pacific  railroads  was 
effected  at  Promontory  Point,  Utah,  May  10,  1869,  Brigham  Young  caused  the 
L^tah  Central  Railroad  Company  to  be  incorporated,  and  on  January  10,  1870, 
the  line  was  completed  from  Ogden  to  Salt  Lake  City.  By  an  act  of  Congress, 
approved  on  March  3,  1873,  John  W.  Young,  a  son  of  Brigham  Young,  received 
a  charter  to  build  a  road  from  Hamsfork,  Wyo.,  along  the  line  of  the  old  Oregon 
Trail  westward  to  connect  with  the  Northern  Pacific.  This  road  was  known 
as  the  Utah  &  Northern.  In  1880  the  road  was  completed  to  Silver  Bow,  Mont., 
and  the  next  year  to  Butte  and  Garrison.  It  was  at  first  a  narrow  gauge  road 
and  remained  so  until  1889. 

In  1880  an  extension  was  commenced  at  Granger,  on  the  L'uion  Pacific  in 
Western  Wyoming,  to  pass  through  McCammon  and  Pocatello,  Idaho.  Three 
years  later  390  miles  of  this  extension  had  been  completed,  under  the  name  of 
the  Oregon  Short  Line.  On  August  i.  1889,  the  Utah  &  Northern  and  the 
Oregon  Short  Line  were  consolidated  and  in  1897  the  name  of  the  Oregon  Short 
Line  was  adopted  for  the  entire  system  of  about  two  thousand  miles.  Branches 
have  since  been  built  from  Moyer  Junction  to  the  towns  of  Glencoe,  Elkol,  Con- 
roy  and  Cumberland,  and  from  Cumberland  to  Ouealy.  The  Oregon  Short  Line 
is  now  one  of  the  three  units  comprising  the  Union  Pacific  system. 


The  Saratoga  &  Encampment  Railway  leaves  the  Union  Pacific  at  Walcott 
and  runs  southward  to  Encampment  or  Riverside,  in  the  southern  part  of  Carbon 
County.  It  is  about  forty-five  miles  in  length.  The  principal  stations  on  this 
road  are  Meads,  Lake  Creek,  Saratoga  and  Canyon. 

A  road  called  the  Colorado  &  ^V^•oming  runs  from  Hartville  Junction  to 
Sunrise,  in  the  northern  part  of  Platte  County.  It  is  only  about  fifteen  miles  in 
length. 

The  Wyoming  &  Missouri  River  Railroad  runs  from  .\laddin,  Crook  County. 
to  Bellefourche,  S.  D.,  where  it  connects  with  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern.  It 
is  about  twenty-five  miles  long,  but  less  than  seven  miles  are  in  the  State  of 
Wyoming. 

A  line  of  railway  known  as  the  Wyoming  Railroad  has  been  projected  and 
partly  constructed   from  Clearmont.  Sheridan  Countv.  to  Buffalo,  a  distance  of 


350  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

about   forty  miles.     At  Clearmont   it  connects  with  the  Chicago,   BurHngton   & 
Quincy. 

In  Converse  County  there  is  a  little  railroad  eight  miles  in  length  called  the 
Wyoming  Northern,  and  there  are  about  ten  miles  of  railroad  in  the  state  belong- 
ing to  the  mining  companies. 

RAILROAD  MILEAGE 

The  report  of  the  territorial  auditor  for  the  year  1887,  which  was  really  the 
first  year  of  active  railroad  construction  in  Wyoming  after  the  completion  of  the 
Union  Pacific,  gives  the  total  mileage  in  the  territory  as  877,  more  than  half  of 
which  (the  Union  Pacific)  had  been  in  operation  since  1868.  According  to  the 
biennial  report  of  the  state  auditor,  issued  in  1916,  Wyoming  then  had  in  opera- 
tion nearly  two  thousand  miles  of  railway,  to-wit: 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 693.61 

Chicago  &  Northwestern 130.45 

Colorado  &  Southern  153-58 

Colorado  &  Wyoming 14-52 

Colorado  (in  Laramie  County  only) 13-88 

Colorado,  Wyoming  &  Eastern 67.47 

Oregon  Short  Line 128.35 

Saratoga  &  Encampment 44.60 

Union  Pacific 512.84 

Wyoming  (not  reported)   

Wyoming  &  Missouri  River 6.40 

Wyoming  &  Northwestern I47-90 

Wyoming  Northern    8.00 

Mining  railroads,  etc 8.79 

Total  mileage 1,930.39 

AID    TO    RAILROADS 

The  Union  Pacific  was  aided  by  the  Federal  Government  through  bond  issues 
and  the  grant  of  alternate  sections  of  land  on  each  side  of  the  road  within  the 
limit  of  ten  miles.  During  the  territorial  regime  in  Wyoming,  some  of  the  coun- 
ties voted  aid  to  railroad  companies,  but  in  the  constitution  adopted  in  1889, 
Section  5,  Article  X,  relating  to  railroads,  provides  that:  "Neither  the  state, 
nor  any  county,  township,  school  district  or  municipality  shall  loan  or  give  its 
credit  or  make  donations  to  or  in  aid  of  any  railroad  or  telegraph  line ;  provided, 
that  this  section  shall  not  apply  to  obligations  of  any  county,  city,  township  or 
school  district  contracted  prior  to  the  adoption  of  this  constitution." 

The  next  section  stipulates  that:  "No  railroad  or  other  transportation  com- 
pany or  telegraph  company  in  existence  upon  the  adoption  of  this  constitution 
shall  derive  the  benefit  of  any  future  legislation  without  first  filing  in  the  office 
of  the  secretary  of  state  an  acceptance  of  the  provisions  of  this  constitution." 

The  adoption  and  enforcement  of  these  provisions  may  have  had  the  efifect 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  851 

of  retarding  the  building  of  new  lines  of  railway,  especially  through  the  moun- 
tainous sections  of  the  state,  where  the  cost  of  construction  would  necessarily  be 
heavy,  but  they  have  prevented  the  people  from  assuming  burdens  of  taxation 
and  indebtedness  in  aid  of  railway  corporations.  Fully  one-third  of  the  railway 
mileage  of  the  state  has  been  built  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  which 
is  sufficient  evidence  that  the  railroad  will  come  when  transportation  needs  of  the 
state  demand  it,  whether  assistance  in  the  way  of  bonds  or  donations  be  given 
or  not.  Under  the  present  rapid  development  of  Wyoming's  vast  natural  resources 
— coal,  iron,  oil,  live  stock,  etc. — and  the  great  increase  in  the  industrial  and  farm- 
ing population,  the  demand  for  new  railroad  lines  and  extensions  is  becoming 
imperative.  No  state  in  the  Union  presents  better  opportunities  for  such  invest- 
ments, and  it  is  safe  to  predict  the  construction  of  new  lines  of  railway  in  the 
near  future. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

AGRICULTURE  IN  WYOMING 

FARM  LIFE  IN  WYOMING AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTION FARMING  CONDITIONS OUR 

ADVANTAGES DRY  FARMING SWIFT  PROGRESS  UNDER  THE  NEW  METHODS DRY 

FARMING  AS  A  SCIENCE ANTIQUITY  OF  DRY  FARMING IRRIGATION  FARMING 

PRECIPITATION EARLY  IRRIGATION EXPENSE  OF  BIG  PROJECTS ECONOMIC  USE 

OF  WATER U.   S.   RECLAMATION    PROJECTS — PATHFINDER  PROJECTS — -CAREY  ACT 

PROJECTS BEST  IRRIGATION    LAWS FUTURE     IRRIGATION     DEVELOPMENT — SUC- 
CESS IN  CO-OPERATION. 

On  the  beautiful  railroad  station  in  Washington,  D.  C,  carved  on  its  marble 
facades,  are  several  inscriptions  chosen  by  ex-President  Eliot  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity.   One  of  them  refers  to  agriculture  and  reads  as  follows : 

"The  Farm — Best  Home  of  the  Family — Main  Source  of  X'ational  \\'ealth^ 
Foundation  of  Civilized  Society — The  Natural  Providence." 

In  impressive  contrast  to  this  picture,  is  Markham's  characterization  of  city 
life,  when  he  says : 

"Out  of  the  whirlwind  of  cities, 

Rise  lean  hunger  and  the  worm  of  misery. 

The  heart  break  and  the  cry  of  mortal  tears." 

The  future  character  of  American  citizenship  as  well  as  the  future  material 
development,  prosperity  and  general  welfare,  are  so  dependent  on  the  farmer  and 
his  crops,  that  we  are  pleased  to  state,  Wyoming  is  becoming  a  great  farming 
state. 

AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTION 

For  the  year  1917,  agricultural  products  made  the  largest  item  of  the  state's 
production,  amounting  to  $54,230,820  and  yet  the  state  is  in  the  infancy  of  its  farm- 
ing capacity  and  has  an  unsettled  area  of  nearly  30,000.000  acres  adapted  to  farm- 
ing, with  unrivaled  advantages  in  climate,  soil  and  environment  and  an  opportunity 
is  given  the  settler  of  obtaining  large  homesteads  of  three  hundred  and  twenty,  and 
six  hundred  and  forty  acres.  Practically  every  acre  of  Wyoming's  area,  except 
high  mountain  and  timber  land,  can  be  successfully  farmed  by  dry  farming 
methods. 

Wyoming  offers  unrivaled  advantages  for  the  twentieth  century  farmer.  All 
history  shows  that  in  the  natural  order  of  progress  the  first  step  is  to  settle  up  the 
vacant  public  lands.  When  that  is  done  and  it  is  found  in  half  a  century  or  more 
352 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  353 

that  the  population  has  multiplied  faster  than  crop  production  has  increased,  then 
comes  intensive  farming,  which  will  add  from  fifty  to  even  one  hundred  per  cent 
to  the  farm  crops.  For  the  present  Wyoming  farms  are  conducted  on  a  large 
scale,  as  far  as  possible  with  labor  saving  machinery,  and  no  part  of  the  country 
offers  such  splendid  inducements  to  the  young  home  farmer  or  the  incoming 
settler. 

FARMING   CONDITIONS 

The  conditions  of  farming  in  this  state  are  very  much  diversified  owing  to 
variations  of  altitude,  climate  and  soils.  As  a  whole  the  state  is  located  in  the 
heart  of  the  mountain  and  plateau  portion  of  the  arid  region.  The  average  altitude 
of  agricultural  areas  is  from  five  thousand  to  six  thousand  feet  above  sea  level, 
the  largest  areas  being  less  than  five  thousand  feet.  The  growing  season,  free 
from  frost,  varies  from  ninety  to  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  days.  The  mean, 
annual  temperature  varies  from  forty  degrees  to  forty-five  degrees  Fahrenheit. 
The  average  annual  precipitation  is  about  twelve  inches  in  the  farming  sections. 

The  soils  of  the  state  as  a  whole  are  wonderfully  fertile  as  they  have  not  been 
subject  to  leaching  by  heavy  rainfalls  and  contain  all  the  plant  food  which  was 
in  the  original  rocks  from  which  they  are  formed.  The  soil  is  especially  rich 
in  mineral  nutriment  making  it  especially  adapted  to  hardy  grains  and  to  grasses. 
The  more  it  is  cultivated  the  more  humus  is  gained  when  that  element  is  needed. 

The  productions  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate  may  be  mentioned  as  alfalfa, 
at  any  altitude ;  wheat,  oats,  rye  and  barley  are  good  crops  over  the  state,  potatoes 
and  root  crops  are  very  successful,  in  fact  everything  that  does  not  require  a  trop- 
ical or  semi-tropical  climate  flourishes  in  Wyoming.  On  account  of  the  rich, 
natural  grasses  of  the  state,  mixed  farming  and  stock  raising  is  remarkably  suc- 
cessful. 

OTHER    ,\DV.\NT.KGES 

Other  conditions  make  agriculture  highly  remunerative  in  this  state.  Owing  to 
the  rapid  development  of  mineral  resources  and  the  industries  arising  from  them 
the  farmer  has  a  splendid  home  market  for  everything  he  can  raise  at  very  good 
prices.  Even  under  the  most  primitive  conditions  the  early  farmers  and  ranchmen 
have  been  universally  prosperous.  Now  the  frontier  has  disappeared  and  the 
fanners  have  all  the  luxuries  and  facilities  of  the  most  highly  civilized  life,  includ- 
ing of  course  the  automobile,  churches,  schools,  lecture  courses,  picture  shows,  etc. 

DRV  F.\RMIXG 

Accurately  stated  there  is  no  such  thing  as  "Dr^'  Farming."  It  is  a  term  of 
convenience.  Its  real  meaning  is,  simply  farming  on  slight  rainfall.  During  the 
past  fifteen  years  so-called  dry  farming  has  been  re-discovered,  scientifically 
studied  and  practically  demonstrated.  The  fact  that  it  can  be  applied  successfully 
to  30.000,000  acres  of  land  in  Wyoming  and  to  400,000,000  acres  of  land  in  the 
arid  and  semi-arid  belt  of  the  United  States  makes  it  the  most  tremendous  factor  of 
national  development. 


354  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

This  fact  is  all  the  more  starthng  because  it  was  undreamed  of  a  few  years 
ago.  People  are  just  beginning  to  learn  the  wonderful  productiveness  of  this 
land  of  mountain  and  plain — a  region  showing  every  variety  of  climate  and  vege- 
tation, of  high  and  low  altitudes,  snow  clad  peaks,  table  lands  and  valleys,  but 
everywhere  a  soil  rich  in  plant  food.  In  what  was  once  called  the  desert,  there 
were  abundant  natural  growths  of  yucca,  cactus,  greasewood,  sagebrush,  mesquite, 
gramma  grass  and  wild  flowers.  Why  should  not  the  same  soil  produce  wheat, 
corn,  oats,  etc.?  The  question  has  already  answered  itself.  In  every  part  of 
Wyoming  dry  farming  has  proved  a  success  and  the  thousands  of  incoming 
settlers  from  the  old  farming  states  of  the  east  are  getting  bigger  crops  per  acre  on 
Wyoming  lands  than  are  produced  in  Kansas,  Iowa  and  the  old  states  tariher  east. 


SWIFT   PROGRESS  OF  DRY   F.XRMIXG 

Dry  farming  was  begtm  in  \\'yoming  at  Salem  forty  miles  northeast  of  Chey- 
enne, over  forty  years  ago  by  a  settlement  of  Swedes  and  they  have  prospered  ever 
since.  At  Manville,  Niobrara  County,  dry  farming  has  been  practised  over  thirty 
years  and  in  Crook  County  it  has  been  a  success  ever  since  the  county  was  settled, 
•but  it  is  only  within  the  last  twelve  years  that  the  rush  of  high  class,  well-to-do 
farmers  has  swept  into  Wyoming  from  the  old  states  and  nearly  swamped  the  six 
United  States  Land  Offices  of  the  state  with  their  homestead  applications  for  dry 
lands.  Within  ten  years  the  section  east  of  Cheyenne  now  known  as  the  "Golden 
Prairie"  which  was  but  a  sheep  and  cattle  range  up  to  that  time,  has  been  settled 
by  eight  or  ten  thousand  dry  farmers,  and  where  once  even  the  sheep-herder  was 
lonesome,  there  are  thriving  villages  with  schools,  churches,  elevators  and  banks. 
The  dry  farmers  ride  around  in  automobiles,  hold  institutes  and  fairs  and  send 
to  market  over  a  million  bushels  of  grain  annually,  besides  live  stock,  dairy 
of  Wyoming.  In  two  years'  time  the  Chugwater  fiats,  formerly  without  habita- 
tion, was  colonized  by  four  thousand  people  who  built  seven  hundred  houses.  It 
was  so  quietly  done  that  it  was  hardly  noticed  by  the  general  public.  A  little  later 
these  thriving  communities  dotted  the  whole  state. 

DRY   F.^RMING    AS    A   SCIENCE 

It  has  been  found  that  profitable  farming  can  be  carried  on  where  the  annual 
precipitation  equals  ten  inches  annually.  In  Wyoming  the  average  precipitation 
equals  ten  and  one-half  inches  and  there  are  only  two  sections  in  the  state  where 
it  averages  less,  while  the  highest  precipitation  exceeds  twenty-five  inches.  It 
is  fair  to  estimate  that  three-fourths  of  the  unappropriated  public  lands  of  the 
state,  or  over  20,000,000  acres  is  good  dry  farming  land,  while  the  remainder 
is  good  grazing  land.  Former  Governor  Brooks,  in  an  address  before  the  Indus- 
trial Club  of  Cheyenne  said:  "We  will  eventually  be  able  to  reclaim  practically 
every  acre  of  land  in  this  western  country,  and  make  it  produce  profitable  crops, 
where  it  was  formerly  thought  nothing  but  weeds  and  range  grass  would  grow." 

Byron  Hunter  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  says :  '"Con- 
siderable wheat  is  now  being  produced  on  each  side  of  the  Columbia  River  with  as 
little  rainfall  as  eight  or  nine  inches.     Under  such  dry  conditions  the  land   is 


DRY  FARM  CROP  OF  POTATOES.  GOLDEN  PRAlRIi:.  NEAR  tHICYENXI 


A  "^^  ^     ■>*■*•-•►   .  , 


*mm 


DRY  FAR3I  WHEAT  (.  HuP 
Photo  taken  near  Clieyenne  in   1910.     From   left  to  right:      R.   P.   Fuller,   land   commis- 
sioner; Gov.  B.  B.  Brooks;  Hon.  W.  E.  Mullen,  attorney  general;  state  geologist  H.  C.  Beeler; 
Dr.  V.  T.  Cooke,  dry  farming  expert. 


356  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

summer  fallowed  every  other  year  in  order  to  conserve  the  rainfall  for  the  use  of 
the  growing  crop  next  season." 

Scientific  dry  farming  is  now  practiced  in  a  system  based  upon  the  following 
agricultural  methods:  i.  Conservation  of  moisture,  or  gathering  all  the  year's 
snow  and  rainfall  in  the  soil  and  retaining  it  for  the  season's  crop :  2.  Thorough 
tillage,  deep  plowing  and  the  pulverization  of  the  soil  for  the  creation  of  a  fine 
soil  mulch,  which  prevents  the  evaporation  of  moisture ;  3.  Selection  of  drouth- 
resistant  crops  and  the  use  of  seed  adapted  to  the  various  soils  of  the  localities 
farmed  :  4.  Summer  fallowing  where  the  annual  rainfall  is  less  than  ten  inches, 
or  making  one  crop  in  two  years,  planting  one-half  of  the  farm's  acreage  each 
year;  5.  Economy  in  farming  by  a  community  system  in  the  use  of  large  power 
steam  or  gasoline  tractors  and  the  best  machines  for  plowing,  reaping,  threshing, 
etc. 

Old  fashioned  farming  has  practically  disappeared.  Universities,  colleges, 
agricultural  schools,  experiment  stations,  farmer's  clubs  are  now  having  courses 
of  study  in  agriculture,  just  as  we  have  always  had  in  engineering,  medicine  and 
law.  New  states  like  Wyoming  always  adopt  the  most  modern  methods  and 
achieve  results.  The  arid  and  elevated  regions  of  the  earth  are  being  searched 
by  the  consuls  and  agricultural  agents  of  the  Government  for  hardy  drouth-re- 
sistant plants  and  seeds  suitable  for  the  great  plains  and  uplands  of  this  country, 
and  it  is  a  common  thing  for  the  American  dry  farmer  to  sow  durum  wheat  from 
the  Mediterranean,  kafiir  corn  from  Africa,  spelts  from  the  steppes  of  Russia 
and  hardy  grains  from  Turkey  and  Egypt. 

THE  .\NTIOUITV  OF  DRV   F.\RMIN'G 

Recently  discovered  Egyptian  carvings  and  inscriptions  prove  that  long  before 
the  Christian  Era  farmers  made  the  rainless  lands  of  the  desert  yield  abundantly. 
They  used  the  soil  mulch,  the  systematic  tillage,  and  packed  the  earth  by  using 
the  hoof  beats  of  their  herds  in  place  of  the  sub-soil  packing  machine  of  the 
present  day.  Dry  farming  was  practiced  in  Syria  in  ages  long  past.  It  was 
practiced  in  India  and  China,  is  now  practiced  in  those  countries  and  in  portions 
of  Africa,  Australia,  Italy,  IManchuria,  Hungary  and  other  countries. 

Now  there  is  a  new  invasion  of  the  desert,  which  cannot  fail  to  bring  about 
a  tremendous  increase  to  the  productive  capacity  of  Wyoming  and  the  country 
at  large.  The  transformation  seems  the  more  impressive  when  one  looks  back 
to  the  time  when  Wyoming  was  marked  on  the  map  as  a  part  of  "The  Grea!t 
American  Desert,"  which  Daniel  Webster  in  1844  said,  "was  not  worth  a  cent," 
being  as  he  declared  "a  region  of  savages,  wild  beasts,  shifting  sands,  whirlwinds 
of  dust,  cactus  and  prairie  dogs."  Senator  Duflfy  at  about  the  same  time  described 
it  as,  "an  uninhabitable  region  where  rain  seldom  falls,  a  barren,  sandy  soil, 
unpassable  mountains  of  no  earthly  use  for  agricultural  purposes,"  and  he  added 
sententiously,  "I  would  not  give  a  pinch  of  snuft'  for  the  whole  of  it!" 

A    GRE.\T   TR.XNSFORMATIOX 

In  contrast  to  these  opinions  we  will  quote  the  statements  made  by  Hon. 
John  W.  Springer  at  the  National  Dr\-  Farming  Congress  at  Denver  in  1907.  He 
said  in  part : 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  357 

"Ten  years  ago  1  came  to  this  slate.  I  went  out  here  fifteen  miles  from 
Denver  and  began  to  buy  land,  and  those  old  fellows  who  had  lived  there  for 
twenty-five  years  got  together  in  a  place  down  there,  and  they  said:  'There  is 
some  darn  fool  here  buying  land ;  let  us  appoint  a  committee  to  give  him  the 
whole  country.'  They  gave  me  a  good  end  of  it  and  I  have  got  it  yet,  and  now 
they  all  want  it  back,  but  they  can't  have  it.  'Why,'  they  said,  'that  blamed 
Springer  is  from  Illinois,  and  while  he  isn't  looking  let's  put  ten  thousand  acres 
in  his  pocket  so  that  he  will  have  enough  of  what  he  thinks  is  a  good  thing.' 
There  had  never  been  a  man  able  to  make  a  living  out  there.  They  didn't  have  a 
well.  They  didn't  even  have  a  fence  that  would  turn  a  coyote  or  anything  else. 
They  didn't  have  any  trees,  they  didn't  have  any  houses.  Well,  what  in  ten  short 
years?  Houses,  stables,  orchards  are  to  be  seen  on  every  hand.  Why,  go  up 
and  down  those  canyons  and  you  will  find  wild  cherries  and  plums.  I  sent  to 
Kansas  and  told  them  to  send  me  the  best  young  cherry  trees  they  had,  and  now 
I  cannot  gather  my  cherry  crop,  and  haven't  for  three  years,  there  are  so  many  of 
them.  They  have  grown  and  they  never  had  a  drop  of  irrigation.  This  good 
school  up  here  at  Fort  Collins  that  is  doing  such  wonderful  work  sent  me  a  sack 
of  broome  grass  seed,  and  I  have  a  broome  grass  meadow  out  there  that  never 
was  irrigated  a  drop  and  that  is  as  good  as  any  in  Illinois  worth  S200  an  acre 
today." 

That  was  written  ten  years  ago,  almost  at  the  beginning  of  dry  farming  experi- 
ments, but  it  expresses  with  much  terseness  and  humor  the  practical  and  notable 
change  that  has  taken  place  in  mountain  and  plain  farming. 

ADV.\NT.\GES  IX   WYOMING 

The  fact  that  Wyoming  has  a  rich,  mineral  soil  that  has  been  accumulating 
for  ages,  its  unused  nutrition  is  one  important  factor,  an  incomparable  climate, 
a  land  of  sunshine  and  pure  air.  excellent  schools,  a  high  class  citizenship  are 
considerations  that  should  weigh  heavily  in  selecting  a  homestead  on  the  public 
lands  and  W'yoming  ofl^ers  all  these  advantages  to  its  homebuilders  in  addition  to 
a  fortune  for  the  settler,  his  children  and  his  children's  children — a  \ision  of 
future  happiness  and  prosperity. 

IRRIGATION  FARMING 

On  account  of  its  numerous  rivers  and  the  great  accumulations  of  snow  in  the 
mountain  ranges,  Wyoming  is  the  most  favorably  situated  of  all  the  arid  states 
for  the  development  of  large  areas  by  irrigation.  Every  student  of  history  knows 
that  the  most  splendid  civilizations  of  remote  antiquity  have  been  established  in 
desert  regions.  The  remains  of  ancient  cities  in  the  valleys  of  the  Xile  and 
Euphrates  are  impressive  object  lessons  of  their  former  greatness,  wealth  and 
material  prosperity,  all  attained  by  the  development  of  irrigation  enterprises.  Wy- 
oming has  all  the  advantages  possessed  by  the  ancient  kingdoms  and  many  more, 
in  its  great  mineral  wealth  and  better  climatic  conditions.  The  topography  of  the 
state,  which  has  been  fully  described  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  histon.-,  is  peculi- 
arly adapted  to  the  selection  of  sites  for  irrigation  enterprises. 


358  HISTORY  OF  \\YOMIXG 

PRECIPITATION 

In  the  plains  area  the  annual  precipitation  ranges  from  ten  to  twenty  inches 
and  averages  fourteen  and  fi\e-tenths  inches :  in  the  mountain  area 
it  ranges  from  twenty  to  more  than  forty  inches  and  in  the  plateau  region  from 
eight  to  fourteen  inches,  averaging  about  eleven  inches.  The  annual  precipitation 
falls  as  low  as  six  inches  in  portions  of  the  Big  Horn  basin  and  eight  inches 
in  the  Red  Desert  and  Green  River  basin.  In  the  mountain  area  the  annual  precipi- 
tation is  very  great  and  furnishes  a  very  large  unit  area  run-oi?  as  the  fountain  head 
of  many  Wyoming  streams  which,  having  their  source  on  the  crest  of  the  con- 
tinent, find  their  way  to  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific.  The  Atlantic  receives,  by 
way  of  the  Mississippi-Missouri,  the  waters  of  the  Yellowstone,  Big  Horn,  Tongue, 
Powder,  Little  Missouri,  Cheyenne  and  North  Platte  rivers ;  the  Pacific  receives 
the  waters  of  Green  River  through  the  Colorado,  and  Snake  River  by  way  of 
the  Columbia.  The  streams  of  a  small  area  in  Southwestern  ^\'yoming  are  trib- 
utary to  Great  Salt  Lake  through  Bear  River. 

The  topographic  and  climatic  conditions  prevailing  in  Wyoming  have  inev- 
itably led  to  irrigation  and  thus  by  artificial  diversions  the  prolific  flow  of  the 
mountain  streams  has  been  utilized  to  supplement  the  inadequate  precipitation  of 
the  valley  lands  and  has  transformed  vast  arid  regions  into  fertile  productive 
farms. 

E.\RLV    IRRIG.\TIOX 

Irrigation  in  Wyoming  began  in  the  early  ''  os  and  its  growth  and  expansion 
have  been  gradual,  keeping  pace  with  the  settlement  and  development  of  the 
state.  The  early  methods  were  of  necessity  very  primitive,  intended  to  increase 
the  growth  of  native  hay  and  grasses  lying  in  the  narrow  valley  and  bottom 
lands  immediately  adjacent  to  the  streams  and  thus  to  secure  winter  feed  for 
flocks  and  herds  that  lived  most  of  the  year  on  the  free  public  range.  The  rapid 
expansion  of  the  live  stock  industrv  naturally  stinuilated  the  use  of  water  in  this 
manner  on  tributaries  rather  than  on  the  main  streams.  These  tributaries  have 
usually  well  sustained  summer  discharges,  with  favorable  gradients  and  low 
banks,  so  that  it  has  been  possible  to  build  large  numbers  of  ditches,  at  small  cost, 
to  water  the  extensive  bottom  lands  bordering  the  streams. 

This  de\elo]iment  speciallv  suited  pioneer  conditions  better  than  would  a 
higher  grade  of  culture,  for,  although  it  yields  very  low  crop  returns  and  is  highly 
uneconomic  in  use  of  both  land  and  water,  it  meets  the  peculiar  requirements  of 
the  stockman  principally  because  operating  costs  are  almost  nominal  with  little 
demand  on  their  time  and  attention.  However,  the  limits  of  this  kind  of  devel- 
opment have  nearly  been  reached,  owing  to  the  fact  that  opportunities  for  such 
cheap  construction  are  practically  absorbed. 

Gradually,  as  the  opportunity  to  extend  irrigation  in  these  bottoms  became 
exhausted,  the  irrigation  of  the  higher  lands  was  attempted.  It  was,  however, 
generally  found  impossible  for  individuals  to  construct  the  necessary  works.  The 
cost  of  both  construction  and  operation  so  far  exceeded  that  of  the  more  primitive 
irrigation  of  bottom  lands,  that  a  higher  type  of  cultivation,  better  equipment 
and  a  larger  acreage  return  from  crops  were  necessary  to  make  such  develop- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  359 

ment  a  financial  success.  These  attempts  have  been  going  on  sporadically  for 
the  past  thirty  years,  at  first  as  corporate  enterprises  and  later  as  Carey  Act 
projects. 

EXPENSIVE  PROJECTS 

Results  from  these  attempts  to  bring  water  to  the  higher  bench  lands  have 
ranged  all  the  way  from  absolute  failure  to  unqualified  success.  The  failures  have 
been  largely  due  to  the  difficulties  experienced  in  colonization  and  efiforts  to  bring 
successful  settlement  to  these  potentially  fertile  lands.  Today,  in  Wyoming, 
there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  unoccupied  lands  which  are  com- 
manded by  completed  irrigation  systems.  The  unaided  settler  of  small  means 
cannot  hope  to  succeed  on  these  lands  under  the  present  systems  and  policies.  The 
cost  of  equipping  a  farm  alone  has  largely  increased  in  the  past  twelve  years, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  time  and  money  required  for  improvement.  There  is  an 
abundant  supply  of  land  and  water  but,  in  the  service-union  of  these  two  the 
great  human  problem  involved  has  been  so  far  overlooked.  The  time  swiftly 
approaches  when  the  state  must  take  an  active  part  in  the  colonization  of  its 
irrigable  lands  and  furnish  material,  financial  aid,  oversight  and  direction,  in  tiding 
the  new  settler  of  small  means  over  the  trying  pioneer  period  of  development  and 
thus  make  it  possible  for  him  to  bring  his  land  quickly  under  cultivation  and 
obtain  from  the  land  itself  an  independent  living  income. 

ECONOMIC   USE  OF  WATER 

The  normal  low  flow  of  many  small  streams  has  become  fully  appropriated 
and  late  appropriators  find  themselves  facing  a  serious  shortage  of  water  during 
the  critical  period  of  the  irrigation  season.  This  has  been  remedied  to  a  great 
extent  by  the  building  of  storage  reservoirs,  and  any  large  new  development  must 
necessarily  include  plans  for  storing  the  winter  and  flood  flow  of  the  streams. 
This  condition,  together  with  the  increasing  value  of  both  land  and  water,  has 
gradually  brought  about  a  more  economic  use  of  water  and  more  intensive  culti- 
vation of  the  soil.  In  the  elevated  plains  and  plateau  regions  a  large  area  is  still 
devoted  to  the  raising  of  native  hay,  although  portions  of  this  land  are  grad- 
ually coming  into  cultivation,  with  alfalfa,  field  peas  and  the  hardier  grains  suc- 
cessfully grown  at  elevations  of  7,500  feet  above  sea  level.  In  regions  favored 
with  a  lower  elevation  and  a  correspondingly  longer  growing  season,  notably  the 
valleys  of  the  Big  Horn,  Tongue  and  Platte  rivers,  intensive  diversified  farming 
is  rapidly  on  the  increase  and  the  value  of  the  produce  compares  favorably  with 
that  of  any  similar  area  in  the  entire  arid  region  of  the  West. 

UNITED    ST.\TES    RECLAMATION    PROJECTS 

The  United  States  Reclamation  Service  has  constructed  three  large  reservoirs 
in  \\'yoming.  The  Jackson  Lake  reservoir  on  Snake  River  in  the  western  part 
of  the  state  has  a  storage  capacity  of  789,000  acre-feet  of  water.  The  water 
stored  in  this  reservoir  is  used  entirely  for  the  reclamation  of  lands  in  Idaho.  The 
dam.  consisting  of  the  outlet  and  spillway  section  and  the  dike  connecting  it  to 


360  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  shores  is  about  five  thousand  feet  long  with  a  maximum  height  of  sixty-seven 
feet  and  cost  approximately  $800,000. 

The  Shoshone  reservoir  is  located  on  the  Shoshone  River  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  Big  Horn  Basin.  This  reservoir  has  a  storage  capacity  of  456,000 
acre-feet  and  the  water  so  stored  is  used  to  supplement  the  normal  flow  of  the 
river  for  the  irrigation  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land 
lower  down  the  stream.  The  dam  is  a  monolithic  rubble  concrete  structure  of  the 
arch  type  with  a  maximum  height  of  328  feet.  The  width  of  the  canyon  across 
which  the  dam  is  placed  is  200  feet  at  the  top  of  the  dam  and  seventy  feet  at  the 
river  bed.  The  outlets  consist  of  two  tunnels  driven  at  dififerent  elevations  through 
the  granite  cliff  on  the  south  side  of  the  canyon,  and  the  water  discharging 
through  them  is  controlled  by  two  58-inch  balanced  valves.  The  dam  and  its 
appurtenances  were  constructed  at  a  total  cost  of  $1,155,000.  About  fifty  thousand 
acres  of  land  under  this  project  are  now  under  cultivation  and  the  annual  crop 
yield  approximates  a  value  of  half  a  million  dollars.  Alfalfa  is  at  present  the 
principal  crop,  and  three  cuttings  averaging  about  three  tons  to  the  acre  are 
secured.  Grain  crops  are  giving  excellent  results  but  highest  net  returns  are 
secured  from  potatoes  and  sugar  beets.  Extensions  of  canal  systems  are  con- 
stantly bringing  new  lands  under  cultivation.  This  project  promises  to  result 
in  establishing  one  of  the  most  fertile  farming  districts  in  the  state.  A  serious 
menace  to  some  of  these  lands  from  seepage  was  promptly  and  successfully  rem- 
edied by  an  effective  drainage  system  which  is  considered  the  most  model  system 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Pathfinder  reservoir  is  formed  by  an  arch  dam  located  about  fifty  miles 
southwest  of  Casper  in  the  bed  of  the  North  Platte  River.  The  dam  is  built  of 
uncoursed  cyclopean  granite  masonry,  except  the  faces,  which  are  laid  in  two  and 
three  foot  courses.  The  height  is  214  feet  above  the  river  bed.  It  is  432  feet  long, 
10  feet  wide  on  top  and  90  feet  wide  on  the  bottom.  A  spillway  about  six 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  long  is  cut  in  the  granite  north  of  the  dam.  Its  control  is 
effected  by  six  cylindrical  valves  each  fifty-eight  inches  in  diameter  operated 
by  balancing  water  pressures  and  four  cast-iron  sliding  gates  discharging  into 
outlet  tunnels  through  the  south  and  north  canyon  walls,  respecti\ely.  The  cost 
of  the  construction  of  this  dam  and  controlling  works  was  $1,409,000,  and  it 
impounds  1,025,000  acre-feet.  The  water  thus  stored,  together  with  the  natural 
flow  of  the  North  Platte  River  is  used  to  irrigate  lands  on  both  sides  of  the 
river  in  Wyoming  and  Nebraska.  The  several  canals  and  distributing  systems  will 
eventually  reclaim  about  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  acres  of  land,  seventy- 
eight  thousand  acres  of  which  are  located  in  Wyoming  and  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  thousand  in  Nebraska.  At  present  about  seventy-five  thousand  acres  of  land 
are  irrigated  under  this  project  the  principal  products  being  alfalfa,  cereals,  corn, 
sugar  beets  and  potatoes. 

C-^REY   .\CT   PROJECTS 

Of  the  numerous  Carey  Act  projects,  that  of  the  Wyoming  Development  Com- 
pany is  the  oldest  and  most  successful.  Although  this  project  is  entitled  by 
priority  of  appropriation  to  a  large  volume  of  the  direct  flow  of  the  Laramie 
River,  this  supply  has  been  augmented  by  the  construction  of  a  channel  reservoir 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  361 

in  the  Laramie  River  which  has  a  storage  capacity  of  120,000  acre-feet.  The 
water  stored  in  this  reservoir  is  conveyed  through  a  tunnel  3,000  feet  long  into 
Blue  Grass  Creek,  thence  down  Blue  Grass  Creek  into  Sybille  Creek,  whence  it 
is  diverted  and  applied  to  the  irrigation  of  lands  lying  south  and  west  of  Wheat- 
land. At  present  35,000  acres  of  land  are  irrigated  under  this  system  and 
ultimately  a  total  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres  is  proposed  to 
be  reclaimed.  Alfalfa,  grains,  sugar  beets  and  diversified  farm  crops  are  grown 
very  successfully  on  this  project. 

BEST  IRRIGATION  LAWS 

Wyoming  is  justly  proud  of  her  irrigation  laws.  In  no  other  state  are  water 
rights  perfected  and  held  with  less  resort  to  the  courts  for  aid  and  protection. 
They  have  been  used  as  a  model  for  similar  laws  in  the  states  of  the  semi-arid 
region  and  in  Canada.  For  the  establishment  of  this  system  the  state  is  indebted 
to  Prof.  Elwood  Mead,  who  is  known  as  the  father  of  the  Wyoming  irrigation 
laws.  Professor  Mead  served  as  territorial  and  state  engineer  during  the  pioneer 
period  from  1888  to  i8g8.  He  was  succeeded  by  Fred  Bond  who  served  from 
1898  until  his  untimely  death  in  1903.  Clarence  Johnston  served  as 
state  engineer  from  1903  to  1911.  A.  J.  Parshall  from  191 1  to  191 5  and  James  B. 
True  succeeded  Mr.  Parshall  in  191 5.     I\Ir.  True  is  the  present  state  engineer. 

Nearly  two  million  acres  of  land  are  now  irrigated  in  Wyoming.  Irrigated 
agriculture  and  the  live  stock  industry  are  interdependent  and  together  constitute 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  industrial  wealth  of  the  state.  The  irrigation  of  an  acre  of 
land  greatly  enhances  the  value  of  at  least  ten  acres  of  the  contiguous  grazing 
land.  Future  development  and  expansion  of  irrigation  will  carry  with  it  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  the  live  stock  industry.  There  is  sufficient  water,  if 
properly  conserxed  and  economically  used,  to  irrigate  many  million  acres  of  land. 

IRRIGATION    DEVELOPMENT 

Real  progress  will  march  hand  in  hand  with  this  development.  Communities  of 
contented,  prosperous  -citizens  will  bring  increased  agricultural  products  and  tax- 
able wealth.  Successful  rural  settlement  will  bring  new  social  standards  and 
industrial  enterprises,  governed  by  developed  and  natural  resources,  will  find 
foothold. 

This,  however,  is  but  one  of  the  beneficial  uses  to  which  water  is  applied. 
No  one  can  truly  prophesy  the  enormous  benefits  to  be  derived  through  the 
transversion  of  water  energy  into  electrical  power.  The  study  of  hydro-electrical 
power,  its  application  to  every  phase  of  the  mechanism  of  modern  civilization  and 
inventions  to  convert  this  power  into  new  fields  of  endeavor  and  enterprises,  are 
in  their  infancy.  Miracles  of  today  will  become  the  common  realities  of  tomorrow 
through  the  development  of  hydro-electrical  power.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of 
undeveloped  water  power  in  Wyoming.  The  fitness  of  things  is  demonstrated  by 
the  fact  that  this  power  can  be  developed  without  interfering  with  the  use  of 
water  for  irrigation.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  will  eventually  aid  very  materially  in 
the  reclamation  of  lands  by  lifting  water  to  part  of  those  that  are  too  high  to  be 
reached  by  a  gravity  system. 


362  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

SUCCESS    IN    CO-OPERATION 

Knowing  that  the  state  has  the  fertile  soil,  proper  climate  and  an  abundant 
water  supply  to  produce  remunerative  crops,  the  citizens  feel  that  the  success  of 
Wyoming  as  an  agricultural  state  is  assured.  Since  irrigation  is  essentially  an 
art  requiring  co-operation  in  the  highest  degree,  and  since  the  spirit  of  co-operation 
is  the  leaven  by  which  mankind  has  been  united  and  inspired  to  overcome  all 
obstacles  in  the  path  of  progress,  they  also  feel  that  future  development  must  of 
necessity  depend  on  financial  aid  and  competent  supervision  by  some  centralized 
public  authority,  which  will  not  only  place  the  landless  man  on  the  manless  land, 
but  will  make  it  possible  for  him  to  obtain  a  living  income  from  the  service-union 
of  the  water  and  the  land. 


CHAPTER  XXI\' 
THE  LIVE  STOCK  INDUSTRY 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    CATTLE    BUSINESS — THE  GREAT    GRASS    RANGES — THE    CALL    OF    THE 

WILD EARLY  CATTLE  GROWING  METHODS POSSESSION   NINE  POINTS IMPROVED 

CONDITIONS THE  OLD  TEXAS  TRAIL SHEEP  AND  WOOL  INDUSTRY EARLY  CON- 
DITIONS  RANGE  DISPUTES BETTER  CONDITIONS FOREST  GRAZING WOOL  PRO- 
DUCTION  HORSE  RAISING  IN    WYOMING. 

The  live  stock  industry  of  Wyoming,  which  for  a  long  time  was  its  only 
general  industry,  has  a  history  varied  and  romantic,  with  occasional  episodes  of 
the  tragic  and  spectacular.  After  the  nomadic,  roaming  adventurers — the  ex- 
plorers, hunters,  trappers  and  fur  traders — came  the  first  permanent  settlers, 
who  were  stockmen.  These  brave,  enterprising  frontiersmen  began  to  settle  and 
make  homes  in  Wyoming  long  before  the  Indians  were  driven  out  or  made 
peaceable.  They  endured  all  the  privations  and  dangers  of  the  wilderness.  The 
forts  established  along  the  old  trails  gave  them  a  little  protection  and  at  the 
same  time  afforded  them  a  market  for  the  beef  and  horses  which  the  Government 
required. 

ORIGIN    OF  THE   C.XTTLE   BUSINESS 

The  origin  of  the  cattle  business,  although  many  writers  have  asserted  that 
the  discovery  of  the  remarkable  value  of  Wyoming's  grass  ranges  was  the  cause, 
was  made  as  follows : 

"Early  in  December,  1864,  a  Government  trader  with  a  wagon  train  of  sup- 
plies drawn  by  oxen,  was  on  its  way  to  Camp  Douglas,  Utah,  but  on  being 
overtaken  on  the  Laramie  Plains  by  an  unusually  severe  snow  storm,  was  com- 
pelled to  go  into  winter  quarters.  He  turned  his  cattle  loose,  having  no  place 
to  protect  or  feed  them,  expecting  they  would  perish  by  exposure  and  starvation. 
They  remained  about  the  camp,  and  as  the  snow  was  blown  away  found  abundant 
forage  in  the  cured  buffalo  grass.  When  spring  opened,  instead  of  losing  any, 
he  found  them  in  better  condition  than  when  they  were  turned  out  to  die.'' 

Similar  experiences  came  to  many  of  the  caravans  following  the  old'Oregon  and 
California  trails.  Footsore  and  weak  oxen,  unable  to  travel  any  farther,  were 
turned  out  to  become  the  prey  of  wolves  and  mountain  lions,  their  owners  never 
expecting  to  see  them  again,  but  on  return  trips  they  were  found  fat  and  healthy. 
Their  tameness  and  natural  instinct  led  them  to  graze  along  the  trails  and  water- 
ing points  which  every  trail  must  have,  and  in  this  way  they  were  easily  found. 
363 


364  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

THE  GREAT  GRASS  RANGES 

Very  soon  Wyoming  became  known  as  the  finest  grass  range  territory  in 
the  United  States,  and  as  fast  as  protection  could  be  given  to  permanent  settlers, 
the  industry  grew  to  large  proportions.  The  industry  soon  began  to  appeal  to 
the  capitalists  of  the  East  as  an  especially  remunerative  investment.  It  also 
made  a  romantic  and  adventurous  appeal  to  the  scions  of  nobility  and  rich  men's 
sons  in  Europe,  having  the  "call  of  the  wild"  in  their  veins,  and  dreaming  of 
life  on  the  plains  and  mountains,  under  the  open  sky,  riding,  hunting,  fishing 
and  camping  out.  At  that  time  immense  herds  of  antelope  roamed  the  plains, 
thousands  of  elk  in  large  bands  roamed  in  the  mountains,  and  deer  were  plentiful 
in  the  foothills.     Even  the  buffalo  had  not  been  driven  out. 

THE  CALL  OF  THE  WILD 

Wyoming  has  a  fascination  for  red-blooded  men.  The  pure  mountain  air,  the 
brilliant  sunshine,  cloudless  skies  and  scenic  attractions  of  hill,  valley  and  moun- 
tain, were  part  of  the  assets  of  the  business  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  investors. 
They  were  sentimental  assets  that  counted  as  money.  From  1870  to  1885  the 
cattle  industry  grew  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  old  cattlemen  sold  out  their  hold- 
ings at  a  big  profit,  and  in  many  cases  reorganized  as  companies  with  largely 
increased  capital.  The  cattle  business  became  a  fad — a  fashion.  Rich  men's 
sons,  college  and  university  graduates,  foreign  investors  in  France,  England  and 
Scotland  put  their  money  in  the  business.  The  ^^'yoming  Stockgrowers'  Asso- 
ciation, the  first  association  of  the  kind  ever  formed,  represented  a  capitalization 
of  over  one  hundred  million  dollars  when  \\'yoming  was  still  a  wilderness.  Wyo- 
ming was  then  Cheyenne  and  Cheyenne  was  Wyoming.  According  to  live  stock 
capitalization  then,  Cheyenne  was  the  richest  city  in'  the  world  on  a  per  capita 
basis. 

EARLY  CATTLE  GROWING   METHODS 

Picture  Wyoming  as  an  immense  and  high  plateau,  broken  by  foothills  and 
lofty  mountain  ranges,  with  a  network  of  rivers  and  small  streams  spreading 
out  over  the  state,  interspersed  with  intervening  stretches  of  level  or  rolling  grass 
lands.  Picture  the  territory  as  practically  without  settlement,  a  wilderness  of 
free  Government  lands  open  to  the  world  and  entirely  unappropriated.  It  was 
"any  man's  land,''  and  so  the  cattlemen  took  possession.  None  of  the  great 
cattle  companies  then  took  the  trouble  to  homestead  or  file  on  land  under  the 
Government  laws.  A  company  organized  to  go  into  the  range  business  would 
start  in  by  first  selecting  a  range.  The  manager  and  perhaps  one  or  two  of  the 
owners  would  ride  over  the  countn,'  and  examine  its  grazing  facilities,  water 
supply,  timber  or  hill  protection,  etc.  They  would  select  the  range  they  wanted 
and  then  find  the  best  place  on  it  for  the  "home  ranch"  or  headquarters  of  "their 
range."  They  then  established  definite,  natural  boundaries  of  the  range,  naming 
its  north,  south,  east  and  west  lines.  As  soon  as  they  got  their  cattle  moved  and 
their  brands  purchased  and  recorded,  they  would  issue  a  public  announcement 
in  the  advertising  columns  of  a  well-circulated  newspaper  as  follows:  First,  a 
cut  of  a  steer  and  a  horse  with  the  brand  of  the  company  plainly  printed  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  365 

animal;  then  the  name  of  the  company  and  a  Hst  of  brands  they  owned;  and 
then  followed  by  the  notice,  reading  about  this  way:  "The  I.  X.  L.  Cattle  Com- 
pany; home  ranch  on  Poison  Spider.  Our  range  extends  from  Muddy  Creek, 
north  to  Elk  Buttes,  east  to  Slam  Bang  Mountain  and  west  to  Stag  River." 

This  domain  was  taken  possession  of  and  all  parties  were  thus  warned  not 
to  trespass  on  the  same,  under  penalty  of  disobeying  an  unwritten  law.  The 
early  cattlemen  all  respected  these  defined  ranges,  because  each  cattle  owner  or 
company  held  their  own  tenure  under  the  same  custom  and  rules  of  possession. 
In  most  cases  there  was  not  even  a  filing  or  application  for  the  ground  upon 
which  they  buiU  their  cabins,  corrals,  etc.  Although  this  system  smacks  of 
medieval  times,  for  many  years  it  held  sway  without  any  objection  or  inter- 
ference. It  was  a  wild,  unsettled  country  that  no  one  cared  to  use,  and  the  cattle 
pastured  thereon,  fattened  and  shipped  to  market,  was  so  much  added  to  the 
resources  of  the  settlers  and  the  state.  It  was  a  new  country,  a  free-for-all  room 
for  everybody,  for  about  twenty  years,  when  the  range  began  to  be  overstocked 
and  settlers  began  to  come  in,  take  up  homesteads  and  build  wire  fences.  Then 
little  troubles  started,  and  when  the  sheepmen  began  to  introduce  their  flocks,  big 
troubles  and  murderous  feuds  resulted.  A  wire  fence  was  then  an  abomination 
to  the  range  cattlemen.  It  prevented  the  herds  from  drifting  in  storms  and 
finding  a  natural  shelter  in  the  timber  and  brush  or  hillsides. 


GREATLY    IMPROVED    CONDITIONS 

Formerly  inferior  grades  of  wild  Texas  or  Mexican  cattle  were  turned  out 
on  the  ranges  to  face  the  storms  and  rigors  of  winter,  frozen  streams,  short 
grass  and  almost  an  entire  lack  of  human  care  and  attendance.  There  were 
practically  no  cultivated  farms,  no  forage  crops,  very  little  hay  and  few  improve- 
ments in  the  way  of  sheds  and  corrals,  or  barns  for  shelter.  Cattle  were  turned 
out  at  the  mercy  of  the  elements  and  those  that  were  shipped  to  market  were 
simply  grass  fed.  Most  of  the  companies  and  owners  of  herds  managing  the 
business  on  the  old,  barbaric  method  "went  broke"  in  the  end,  as  they  deserved, 
but  they  learned  their  lesson.  They  bet  on  the  capacity  of  a  steer  to  rustle  for 
himself  and  make  money  for  them  while  they  were  living  luxuriously  in  club- 
houses or  traveling  in  Europe,  and  they  lost. 

Now  all  is  changed.  The  old  system  is  only  a  memory.  Today  Wyoming  is 
dotted  with  improved  farms,  both  dry  and  irrigated.  All  the  enterprising  stock- 
men own  fine  improved  ranches  with  sheds,  fences,  corrals,  and  barns,  as  well  as 
fine  residences.  No  one  can  now  travel  very  far  in  Wyom'ng  without  seeing 
barns,  haystacks,  fields  of  alfalfa,  oats  and  corn,  and  he  will  note  the  sleek,  well- 
fed  stock  grazing  as  quietly  and  contentedly  as  in  New  England  pastures.  The 
stockman  has  not  only  found  out  that  it  pays  to  keep  his  cattle  well  housed  and 
well  fed,  but  also  that  better  breeding  is  a  great  money  making  proposition. 
There  has  been  a  wonderful  improvement  in  the  high  grade  character  of  our 
cattle  and  in  the  new  values  thus  obtained.  The  Texas  longhorn  and  Dogie 
is  no  longer  roaming  the  ranges.  A  glimpse  of  the  growth  and  development 
of  the  cattle  business  of  the  state  may  be  had  in  the  following  table,  showing 
the  number  of  cattle  assessed  and  valuation  by  decades  from  1886  to  1916: 


366  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

CATTLE  ASSESSED 

Number  A'aliiation 

1886    898,121  $14,651,125 

1896    297,240  3-732,558 

1906    508,075  7-233-427 

1916   735-217  26,241,059 

Note — As  the  assessment  is  at  least  forty  per  cent  below  the  actual  number  and  value 
of  the  cattle,  an  allowance  must  be  made  to  that  exent,  but  the  relative  proportions  of 
the  different  years  will  remain  the  same.  The  actual  number  will  reach  1,120,000,  having 
a  real  value  of  over  $50,000,000. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table  that  the  cattle  industry  of  the  state  is  making 
great  strides,  notwithstanding  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  public  range 
and  the  influx  of  dry  farming  settlers.  It  is  in  fact  becoming  more  firmly  estab- 
lished and  the  rapid  increase  of  the  number  of  cattle  raised  and  marketed  from 
the  state  can  be  confidently  predicted  as  keeping  pace  with  the  increased  number 
of  farm  and  grazing  homesteads. 

THE  OLD  TEXAS  TRAIL 

In  referring  to  old-time  range  conditions  as  a  matter  of  history,  an  inter- 
esting and  characteristic  feature  was  the  "Old  Texas  Trail."  We  quote  from  a 
valuable  contribution  on  that  subject  by  United  States  Senator  John  B.  Kendrick, 
in  the  State  Leader  of  December  10,  1916: 

"The  'Texas  Trail'  was  the  highway  over  which  a  tide  of  cattle  was  moved 
from  Southwestern  and  Western  Texas  to  the  northwestern  states,  including 
Indian  Territory,  Kansas,  Western  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Wyoming  Territory, 
North  and  South  Dakota  and  Montana.  The  surplus  of  these  cattle  had  been 
accumulating  for  many  years,  being  the  increase  of  herds  during  the  period  just 
preceding  and  including  the  period  of  the  Civil  war.  Many  of  the  cattle  were 
even  unbranded  at  the  time  the  movement  began. 

"The  millions  of  cattle  ranging  in  Southern  and  Western  Texas  at  the  close 
of  the  Civil  war  were  all  of  the  Spanish  breed  and  originated  from  the  cattle 
taken  to  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  Sixteenth  Century.  The  movement 
began  in  the  early  '60s,  including  first  a  few  droves  of  cattle  that  found  market 
in  the  Indian  Territory  and  Eastern  Kansas,  increasing  in  volume  with  each 
passing  year  until  it  reached  its  flood  tide  in  1884,  when  it  was  estimated  that 
800,000  cattle  were  moved  over  the  trail.'' 

After  giving  an  account  of  his  adventures  on  a  trip  over  the  trail,  he  says: 
"On  my  first  trip  we  never  saw,  as  I  remember  it,  a  single  habitation  of  inan 
from  a  point  in  Texas,  fifty  miles  south  of  Red  River,  until  we  reached 
Dodge  City,  Kan.,  fifty  miles  north  of  the  Kansas  and  Indian  Territory  line,  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Cimarron  River,  a  distance  of  400  miles.  When  we  reached 
the  river  there  was  nothing  in  sight  but  a  bed  of  sand  over  which  one  could 
walk  without  even  dampening  the  soles  of  his  boots ;  within  half  an  hour  after 
this  enormous  herd  of  cattle  had  'struck'  the  river  bed  there  was  a  flow  of  at 


.rHif-^.-i  :^jfii-^  t^\  ,^^^ 


368  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

least  six  inches  of  water  running  over  the  sand,  as  a  result  of  the  tramping  by 
the  cattle,  and  in  this  way  our  herd  was  watered  without  difficulty. 

"Another  interesting  thing  I  might  mention  is  that  I  do  not  remember  coming 
in  contact  with  or  seeing  a  wire  fence  between  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  and  the 
head  of  the  Running  Water  in  Wyoming.  The  most  hardened  and  unobservant 
cowboy  could  not  help  but  be  impressed  with  the  beautiful  and  ever  varying 
scenery  on  the  way.  The  element  of  danger  that  was  a  part  of  almost  every 
day's  experience  did  not  detract  from  the  fascination  of  the  trip,  you  may  be 
sure — the  danger  from  Indians  and  the  holding  of  a  large  herd  of  cattle  in  a 
night  so  dark  that  no  ray  or  glimmer  of  light  was  to  be  seen,  and  when  the 
most  insignificant  incident  or  the  slightest  accident — a  stumbling  horse,  a  flash  of 
lightning,  the  smell  of  a  wild  animal — might  cause  a  stampede  that  would  last 
for  hours.  After  such  a  night  of  hardship  and  terror  the  men  would  be  exhausted 
and  utterly  discouraged  with  their  lot,  but  a  good  night's  rest  would  cause  them 
to  look  upon  life  in  the  same  cheerful  way  again.'' 

What  at  one  time  was  the  great  highway  traversed  by  great  herds  of  cattle 
in  charge  of  capable  men  and  accompanied  by  thousands  of  horses,  has  been 
abandoned  and  lives  now,  if  at  all,  only  as  a  part  of  the  history  and  development 
of  the  Great  West. 

The  future  of  Wyoming's  cattle  industry  is  assured.  The  enactment  of  the 
640-acre  grazing  homestead  bill  will  undoubtedly  add  two  or  three  hundred  per 
cent  to  the  number  and  market  production  of  all  classes  of  live  stock.  That  not 
only  assures  the  utilization  of  every  acre  of  the  public  domain,  but,  together  with 
dry  farming  and  irrigation,  means  ample  provision  for  home  feeding,  fattening 
and  maintaining  the  best  breeds,  thus  providing  against  losses  and  giving  greater 
profits  than  the  industry  has  ever  had. 


THE   SHEEP  AXD  WOOL    IXDUSTRV 

As  a  sheep  and  wool  growing  state,  W^yoming  leads  all  the  other  states  of  the 
Union.  At  different  times  Montana  has  contested  this  position,  but  now  holds 
second  place,  with  New  Mexico  a  good  third.  The  first  sheep  were  introduced 
in  Wyoming  by  Durbin  brothers  of  Cheyenne  in  1870.  That  year  they  trailed 
800  sheep  from  New  Mexico  through  Colorado  to  the  vicinity  of  Cheyenne, 
mainly  for  slaughter,  some  for  grazing.  In  187 1  they  brought  in  1,500  more. 
A  few  others  began  to  bring  in  small  bunches  until  in  1878  there  were  9,000 
head  in  the  state.  These  were  practically  wiped  out  by  the  great  snow  storm 
of  March,  1878. 

Notwithstanding  this  disaster,  others  began  to  engage  in  the  business,  and 
the  flocks  increased  gradually.  In  1886  there  were  over  five  hundred  thousand 
head.  Taking  the  official  assessments,  which  accounted  for  about  two-thirds  of 
the  actual  numbers,  the  growth  of  the  industry  may  be  indicated  by  decades  as 
follows:  In  1896  there  were  1,962,095  head;  in  1906  there  were  4,312,030  head; 
and  in  1916  there  were  4,437,445  head.  .  The  official  figures  for  191 7  are  not 
available,  but  owing  to  the  great  stimulus  given  to  the  industry  by  the  high  prices 
of  mutton  and  wool  and  the  world  war  demands,  the  number  of  sheep  in  Wyo- 
ming today  is  undoubtedly  greater  than  ever  before. 


370  ■  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

EARLY  CONDITIONS 

Although  the  sheep  industry  as  a  whole  was  immensely  profitable,  it  has  had 
many  ups  and  down  from  its  inception  in  this  state.  Under  the  primitive  con- 
ditions of  its  early  introduction  it  was  a  gamble.  The  sheep  grower  hired  a 
htrder  who  took  the  flock  out  on  a  free  range  (usually  about  two  thousand  in 
a  bunch),  and  with  one  or  two  sheep  dogs,  and  a  tent  or  canvas  protected  bedding, 
lived  with  the  sheep  and  wandered  around  with  them  from  day  to  day,  seeking 
new  grass  and  bedding  grounds.  He  packed  his  grub,  cooked  his  meals  and 
carried  a  rifle  to  kill  game  and  keep  of?  wolves.  It  was  a  purely  nomadic  life. 
There  was  no  shelter  except  such  as  nature  gave  in  the  timber,  under  the  cliffs  or 
under  the  cottonwood  groves  along  the  mountain  streams.  It  was  like  the  days 
of  Abraham.  The  obstacles  they  had  to  contend  with  were  the  general  opposition 
of  the  cattle  growers  and  cowboys,  inclement  weather  in  the  lambing  or  shearing 
seasons,  predatory  animals  and  range  disputes. 

RANGE  DISPUTES 

As  the  ranges  began  to  be  fully  stocked  and  occupied,  serious  conflicts  between 
the  cowmen  and  sheepmen  occurred.  The  cattlemen  were  usually  the  aggressors, 
as  they  claimed  a  prior  right  to  the  range,  by  early  occupation  and  the  prevailing, 
unwritten  law  of  possession.  Sheep  were  killed,  wagons  burned,  herders  driven 
off  and  frequently  killed.  Depredations  of  this  character  became  quite  common. 
Deadlines  were  drawn  and  tjje  sheep  men  notified  not  to  cross  them.  These 
troubles,  however,  lasted  but- .a  few  years.  The  law  was  invoked  and  finally 
enforced  and  the  sheep  grower  was  fully  protected  in  his  rights.  In  some  cases 
prominent  and  wealthy  cattlemen  were  sent  to  the  penitentiary.  These  occurrences 
were  phases  of  frontier  life  that  grew  out  of  the  unsettled  conditions  of  a  new 
state,  with  such  a  sparse  population  that  there  might  not  be  a  dwelling  existing 
within  fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  away  from  the  scenes  of  disorder. 

IMPROVED   CONDITIONS 

Today  the  new  and  improved  methods  of  handling  sheep  have  wrought  a 
great  transformation  in  the  business  and  given  it  a  permanence  and  security  it 
never  had  before.  All  the  leading  sheep  companies  now  have  established  ranches 
with  extensive  corrals,  sheds  and  sheep-feeding  stations.  When  inclement,  cold 
and  stormy  seasons  prevail  the  sheep  are  fed  hay,  alfalfa,  corn  or  oil  cake,  etc. 
Every  intelligent  sheep  grower  lays  in  a  stock  of  feed  to  tide  his  flocks  over  the 
winter  in  case  of  heavy  storms,  and  those  who  do  not  raise  sufficient  fodder 
on  their  own  ranches  go  into  the  market  and  purchase  their  supplies  before 
winter  sets  in.  Every  sheep  raising  section  has  its  sheep  shearing  pens,  dipping 
pens  and  lambing  sheds.  Great  attention  is  also  paid  to  breeding  the  best  grades 
of  sheep,  and  the  quality  of  the  flocks  is  being  constantly  improved  by  scientific 
selection. 

Another  thing  that  has  added  very  much  to  the  civilized  life  of  the  sheep 
herder  is  the  universal  employment  of  the  modern  sheep  wagon,  with  its  fine 
equipment  of  spring  bed,  stove  and  kitchen  outfit,  which  makes  a  comfortable 


:X.SOR'S  glALITV   IV 


BOLD  J1HAX1) 
CHAMPION   (OKRIEDALKS 
ONv.ud  bv  Wyomiii"  toi-ri.(UiU-  Slu-eii  to..  CI 


372 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


home  in  the  hills,  on  the  desert  or  plains.  The  herder  is  amply  supplied  with 
good  food  and  often  camps  by  mountain  streams  where  he  catches  trout  or 
shoots  sage  grouse  and  rabbits  to  add  appetizing  dishes  to  his  larder. 

*  FOREST  C.R.VZING  RESERX'ES 

The  sheep  industry  has  been  aided  by  the  system  inaugurated  by  the  United 
States  department  of  agriculture,  authorizing  the  grazing  of  live  stock  on  the 
forest  reserves  of  the  state.  Permits  are  issued  and  a  charge  made  for  the 
.season  of  from  5  to  7  cents  per  head  for  this  privilege,  and  the  last  report  made 
for  the  year  1916  shows  that  562,650  head  of  sheep  were  grazed  that  year  on 
the  reserves,  as  shown  by  the  department  records : 


SHEEP    .WD    C-XTTLE    l)\    FOREST    RESERVES 


I916 


Cattle  and  Sheep  and 

Forest  Horses  Goats 

Big  Horn    36,450  106,500 

Black  Hills 6,000  

Bonneville    10,300  10,000 

Bridger   17,100  62,750 

Hayden   .  : 7,400  206,000 

^Medicine  Bow   9.800  62,000 

Shoshone    12,300  71.300 

\Va,shakie    12.350  44.100 

Totals    1 1 1.700  562,650 


PRODUCTION 


The  following  table  shows  the  wool  production  by  [)0unds  in  the  state  for  ten 
years  to'  1915,  together  with  its  value: 

Xumber  of  Sheep    Wool  Production  Value 

1906 4,531,000                       32.849,000  $/.2-,^.22^ 

1907 4.4S4.931       33.637,000  7.21 1,773 

1908 4,651,628       37,213,024  6,004,084 

1909 4,878,125       40,000,624  8.576.133 

1910 4,650,000       36,037,500  6,342.Cx30 

191 1  4.142.000       34,000,000  5,304,000 

1912 3,500,000       28,000,000  5,550,000 

19 1 3  3,600,000       29,880,000  4,075,632 

1914 3,560,000                 28,476,000  5,168,394 

191 5 3.630.000                 29,040,000  6.824,400 

This  table  is  made  from  the  official  estimates  compiled  by  the  Wyoming  Wool 

Growers'  Association.     The  reports   for  the  years   1916  and  1917  will  show  not 

only  an  increase  in  sheep  and  wool  production,  but  will  show  a  tremendous  advance 


-M 

W^ 

^"^ 

r'"^^^^^SF' 

'-'::^m-J-: 

^^^^B 

Un(lefeate( 
and   fhani])i<J]i   and   ^trand 
Association.  Omalia,   1913 
ram  in  Anifi'ica.     Urcd,  raised  and  o\v 


A  WYOinXG  PRODITT— -LARAMIE  BOY" 

f  Ann'rica — Grand   tliamiiiim  at   C]iica<;o  International 
,nd   cliampion  of   all   line   wool   breeds   at   the   Nationa 


lire   prize  wmninu   rams  of   re 
)y  F.  S.  King  Bros.  Co..  Laraii 


374  .    HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

in  prices  of  wool  and  mutton,  amounting  in  some  cases  to  300  per  cent  in  1917-18, 
so  that  the  .value  of  Wyoming's  wool  for  the  year  1918  may  be  estimated  at 
$20,000,000. 

Lamb  fattening  has  become  an  important  branch  of  the  industry  within  the 
last  ten  years.  As  the  sheep  have  multiplied  and  the  free  range  diminished  through 
settlement  and  segregation,  flockmasters  have  been  keenly  alive  to  the  impor- 
tance of  improving  the  quality  of  the  wool  and  the  necessity  of  early  maturity 
in  mutton ;  hence  the  lambs  are  going  to  market  in  an  ever-increasing  flood,  while 
winter  feeding  of  lambs  is  rapidly  becoming  an  important  branch  of  the  sheep 
industry.  Lambs  are  fed  on  alfalfa  hay,  together  with  grain  of  some  sort,  or 
peas,  and  in  one  hundred  days  of  winter  feeding  are  made  to  weigh  eighty  to  ninety 
pounds.     Mutton  so  produced  is  considered  by  epicures  the  best  in  the  market. 


It  has  been  proven  beyond  question  that  horses  raised  on  the  foothills  and 
mountains,  in  the  pure,  light  air  of  an  elevation  of  from  5,000  to  10.000  feet, 
have  better  lungs,  stronger  and  better  developed  bone  and  muscle,  and  tougher 
hoofs,  than  horses  from  any  other  country.  This  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that 
not  only  the  United  States  Government  during  the  Spanish- American  war  and 
since,  but  the  English  Government,  for  service  in  South  Africa,  purchased  as 
many  thousand  head  of  horses  in  Wyoming  as  could  be  obtained. 

Since  the  world  war  began,  agents  of  the  French  and  English  governments 
have  combed  the  state  for  horses  fitted  for  artillery,  cavalry  or  ambulance 
service,  and  military  experts  have  universally  regarded  Wyoming-raised  horses 
superior  in  endurance,  muscle  and  tenacity  to  those  of  any  other  section,  and  as 
being  especially  adapted  to  the  hard  and  strenuous  work  required  in  army  cam- 
paigns. 

\\'hen  the  range  cattle  industry  started  in  Wyoming  on  the  Texas  plan,  every 
large  cattle  company  employed  from  fifteen  to  twenty  cowboys,  and  every  cow- 
boy had  to  be  provided  with  a  string  of  from  six  to  ten  ponies.  At  first  these 
ponies  were  brought  in  from  Texas  and  Mexico  and  were  usually  designated 
"Mexican"  or  "Indian"  ponies.  They  were  fleet,  tough  and  wiry,  and  only  required 
grass  as  a  feed. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE    IXDUSTRV 

Soon  the  cattlemen  began  to  raise  their  own  ponies  and  a  pony  herd  with 
every  cattle  outfit  was  an  absolute  necessity.  After  a  while  it  was  found  that 
Wyoming  was  just  as  well  adapted  to  raising  high  grade  horses  as  range  ponies 
and  the  industry  has  become  an  important  one  in  the  state  and  has  developed  to 
large  proportioMS. 

Taking  the  annual  assessment  as  a  liasis,  this  state  in  1900  had  127,500  head 
of  horses  and  1,200  muJes.  In  1016  the  number  of  horses  was  250,000  and  the 
number  of  mules  was  5,200.  In  1900  the  horses  were  assessed  at  $16.75  P^'' 
head,  in  1916  at  S54.79  per  head,  showing  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  grade 
and  value  of  the  stock  now  raised,  compared  with  the  cow  ponies  of  twenty  years 
ago.     Since  igoo  the  aggregate  value  of  Wyoming  horses  has  increased  nearly 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  375 

ten  times.  No  horse  in  the  world  can  compete  with  the  Wyoming  horse  in 
endurance  of  all  kinds  of  hardship  to  which  horse  flesh  is  subjected  by  man. 
This  is  a  broad  statement,  but  we  make  it  without  fear  of  refutation;  every  horse- 
man and  horse  in  the  state  stands  ready  to  back  it  up.  All  kinds  of  stock  do 
well  in  this  state,  health  conditions  being  a  great  factor  in  raising  swine,  chickens, 
turkeys,  etc. 

Embracing  about  ninety-eight  thousand  square  miles  of  territory,  nearly 
every  acre  of  which  is  clothed  in  a  mantle  of  the  most  nutritious  grasses  and  sage 
brush  browse,  Wyoming  presents  a  territory  for  grazing  purposes  40  per  cent 
larger  than  is  found  in  all  the  eastern  states  combined.  Add  to  this  vast  food 
supply  the  most  delightful  climate  in  the  world,  with  cool  summers  and  dry, 
mild  winter,  and  it  is  but  little  wonder  that  W'yoming  has  been  called  the 
"Stockman's  Paradise,"  and  that  it  has  become  an  important  factor  in  supply- 
ing beef,  mutton,  and  wool  to  the  eastern  and  western  markets. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
MINERAL  RESOURCES 

GEOLOGY  OF  WYOMING GEOLOGY  OF  OIL.  IRON'  AND  COAL — EARLY  OIL  DISCOYERIES — 

DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE   OIL    INDUSTRY IRON    DEPOSITS HISTORY    OF   THE    HART- 

VILLE    IRON    INDUSTRY THE    SUNRISE    IRON     MINES — WYOMING'S    GREAT    COAL 

MEASURES HISTORY    OF    THE    INDUSTRY.    PRODUCTION,     ETC. METALLIC    ORES, 

GOLD,    SILVER,    COPPER,    ETC. OTHER   VALUABLE  DEPOSITS — OFFICIAL    CATALOGUE 

OF  Wyoming's  minerals  in  1916. 

The  enormous  mineral  resources  of  Wyoming  can  be  but  imperfectly  under- 
stood because  they  are  mainly  undeveloped.  Scientific  investigation  and  practical 
prospecting,  however,  have  shown  that  the  state  has  more  oil  and  coal  than  any 
similar  area  on  the  globe.  In  the  three  important  factors  of  modern  commence 
and  industry,  iron,  coal  and  petroleum,  this  state  has  no  equal  or  rival  anywhere. 
The  facts  as  developed  by  researches,  geological  surveys,  borings  and  discoveries 
made  within  the  past  few  years  are  so  bewildering  in  their  vastness  as  to  be 
almost  incredible.  Yet,  when  the  cold  blooded  engineers  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  after  three  years  of  a  pat'ent,  thorough  exploration  of  the 
state,  report  324,000,000,000  tons  of  coal  underlying  the  state's  surface,  the 
ordinary  laymen  or  citizen  must  accept  the  figures.  The  only  exception  we  could 
make  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  report  would  be  that  it  is  undoubtedly  an  under 
estimate,  as  they  only  report  what  they  find.  The  undiscovered  coal  areas  of  course 
have  never  been  measured  or  reported. 

The  extent  of  the  iron  deposits  of  the  state  must  be  largely  a  matter  of 
estimate,  but  taking  a  consensus  of  the  examinations  made  by  territorial  and  state 
geologists,  the  reports  indicate  at  least  2,000,000,000  tons.  In  the  matter  of  oil 
now  in  the  infancy  of  its  development  in  Wyoming  the  number  and  area  of  newly 
discovered  fields  is  constantly  increasing  and  a  most  wonderful  era  of  production 
and  industrial  development  has  begun.  The  extent  of  the  oil  fields,  their  pro- 
duction and  their  geological  occurrence  will  be  given  in  a  paper  expressly  prepared 
for  this  history  by  Albert  B.  Bartlett  who  as  geologist  and  mining  engineer  has 
had  a  practical  experience  of  over  eighteen  years'  study  of  Wyoming's  mineral 
structures,  in  the  field,  a  portion  of  that  time  being  connected  with  the  United 
States  Geological  Surveys,  and  at  other  times  with  the  State  Engineering  depart- 
ment as  Deputy  State  Engineer.  Air.  Bartlett  has  also  contributed  the  data 
referring  to  the  geology  of  ^^'yoming  oil.  coal  and  iron,  which  follow  the  geology 
of  the  state. 

Governor  Frank  L.  Houx  has  also  contributed  a  timely  and  excellent  article, 
376 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  377 

entitled  "Wyoming,  the  Xew  Oil  State,"  which  we  are  pleased  to  present  as  a 
part  of  this  history. 

GEOLOGY  OF  WYOMING 

l;v  ai.1',i:kt  h.  i^nuti.ett,  m.  e. 

The  remarkable  extent  and  great  variety  of  the  mineral  deposits  of  Wyoming 
make  their  geological  occurrence  of  special  interest  to  the  student,  prospector  and 
capitalist,  and  to  all  engaged  in  the  great  industries  they  represent. 

Geology  is  the  science  which  investigates  the  history  of  the  earth.  To 
properly  consider  the  geology  of  Wyoming  it  will  be  necessary  to  briefly  discuss 
the  geology  of  the  earth  and  compare  conditions  in  Wyoming. 

Scientists  are  agreed  that  the  earth  began  its  separate  existence  as  a  globe  of 
fused  or  vaporous  material,  in  which  the  various  substances  arranged  them- 
selves somewhat  in  the  order  of  their  density.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  earth 
as  a  whole  exceeds  5,  while  that  of  the  rocks  on  the  surface  ranges  from  2.5  to 
3.  which  shows  that  the  interior  of  the  earth  is  much  denser  than  its  outer  surface. 
It  has  been  learned  that  the  interior  of  the  earth  is  in  a  molten  condition,  and  its 
shape,  that  of  an  oblate  spheroid  flattened  at  the  poles,  is  that  which  would  be 
assumed  by  a  rotating  liquid  or  a  jilastic  body. 

On  the  molten  mass  an  outer  crust  was  formed  by  the  slow  cooling  of  the 
surface.  How  often  this  crust  was  broken  up  and  remelted  and  formed  again, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  but  eventually  a  solid,  permanent  crust  was 
established  and  thickened  by  additions  from  below.  When  the  crust  became 
sufficiently  cool  to  permit  the  condensation  of  water,  oceans  and  streams  were 
formed,  the  processes  of  erosion  began,  and  animal  and  vegetable  life  appeared. 

Archaean — To  the  rocks  formed  during  the  period  before  the  erosional 
processes  began,  the  original  rocks  of  the  earth's  crust,  the  name  Archaean  has 
been  given.  The  Archaean  is  composed  of  completely  crystalline  rocks  of  various 
types  confusedly  mixed  together,  massive  rocks,  such  as  granite  and  basic 
eruptives.  and  foliated  rocks,  like  gneissoid  granite,  gneiss,  and  various  schists. 
are  intermingled  in  the  most  intricate  way.  In  Wyoming  the  Archaean  is  exposed 
in  most  of  the  principal  mountain  ranges,  these  being  mainly  giant  folds  in  the 
earth's  crust,  from  which  the  rocks  deposited  later  have  been  remo\ed  Ijy 
erosion,  showing  the  Archaean  granites  beneath. 

Algonkian — The  name  Algonkian  has  been  given  to  the  great  series  of  sedi- 
mentary and  metamorphic  rocks  which  lie  between  the  basal  Archaean  complex 
and  the  oldest  Palaeozoic  strata.  The  Algonkian  rocks  seem  to  represent  the 
first  series  of  deposits  made  under  water  and  the  first  chapters  in  the  history  of 
life.  Fossils  have  been  found  in  the  less  changed  sediments,  but  they  are  too  few 
to  tell  much  of  the  life  of  the  times.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  both  animal 
and  vegetable  life  had  their  beginnings  in  this  period.  The  Algonkian  rocks  are 
especially  notable  in  the  Black  Hills  region  in  Northeastern  Wyoming,  and 
also  in  the  Hartville  region  where  immense  deposits  of  high  grade  iron  ore  occur. 
The  most  important  gold  bearing  deposits  in  the  state  near  Atlantic  City  and 
South  Pass  also  belong  to  the  Algonkian. 

Metallic   Minerals — Practically   all   of   the  precious   and   base   metals   of  the 


378  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

state  are  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  pre-Canibrian  complex,  which  is  exposed  over 
an  area  of  approximately  lO.ooo  square  miles,  or  one  tenth  of  the  area  of  the 
state.  The  principal  exposures  are  the  Laramie  Range,  extending  from  Casper 
Mountain  east  and  south  to  the  Colorado  line,  containing  gold,  copper,  lead, 
zinc,  titanium,  iron,  asbestos,  graphites,  mica,  chromium.  The  Medicine  Bow 
Range,  a  mountainous  area  of  nearly  two  thousand  square  miles,  lying  west  of 
Laramie  and  south  of  Rawlins  is  rich  in  minerals,  having  produced  platinum, 
gold,  silver,  copper,  in  large  quantities,  in  addition  to  other  metals.  The  Fremont 
or  Wind  River  Range  is  the  largest  exposure  of  pre-Cambrian  rocks  in  the 
state,  covering  about  two  thousand  four  hundred  square  miles  near  the  center  of 
the  western  half  of  the  state.  It  is  also  the  highest  and  most  inaccessible 
mountainous  area,  some  of  its  peaks  rising  more  than  fourteen  thousand  feet 
above  sea  level.  The  southeastern  end  of  this  exposure  is  the  .Atlantic  City-South 
Pass  District,  the  most  important  gold  bearing  area  in  \\'yoming.  Other  metallic 
minerals  undoubtedly  occur  in  this  great  area,  and  ofTer  an  attractive  field  for  the 
prospector.  The  Big  Horn  Mountains  covering  probably  one  thousand  square 
miles  south  of  Sheridan,  also  contain  extensive  deposits  of  gold  and  copper 
bearing  minerals. 

The  occurrence  of  metallic  minerals  is  limited  to  the  pre-Cambrian  rocks,  but 
practically  every  exposure  of  these  rocks  has  associated  with  it  metalliferous 
veins  or  other  deposits,  copper  and  gold  being  the  most  common.  The  attention 
of  prospectors  is  therefore  invited  to  these  rocks. 

Palaeozoic — The  strata  following  the  Algonkian  are  fossiliferous.  and  are 
divided  into  three  main  groups,  the  Palaeozoic,  Mesozoic,  and  Cenozoic  Eras. 
The  Palaeozoic  is  composed  of  conglomerates,  sandstones,  shales,  and  limestones, 
attaining  great  thickness,  though  relatively  less  in  Wyoming  than  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  United  States.  The  rocks  are  in  a  majority  of  cases  of  marine  origin. 
The  first  subdivision  of  organic  and  geographical  development  of  the  Palaeozoic 
is  the  Cambrian,  containing  the  first  known  and  recognizable  fossils,  those  of  the 
simplest  marine  fauna,  no  plant  remains  having  been  identified. 

Cambrian — In  Wyoming  the  Cambrian  is  entirely  missing  in  the  southern 
half  of  the  state,  and  not  of  great  importance  in  the  northern  half,  its  main 
outcrops  being  in  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  and  west  of  Big  Horn  Basin,  attaining 
a  thickness  of  seven  hundred  to  nine  hundred  feet  at  the  latter  location.  The 
rocks  are  mainly  a  red,  basal  conglomerate  resting  unconformably  upon  the 
Algonkian,  also  shale,  limestone,  and  red  sandstones.  In  the  northeastern  corner 
of  the  state,  the  Cambrian  is  very  thin.  So  far  as  is  known,  the  Cambrian  contains 
no  economic  minerals. 

Ordovician — The  next  succeeding  subdivision  of  the  Palaeozoic  is  the  Ordo- 
vician,  which  has  a  geographical  distribution  similar  to  the  Cambrian,  upon  which 
it  lies.  Its  greatest  thickness,  in  the  vicinfty  of  Big  Horn  Basin,  is  only  about 
three  hundred  feet,  the  rocks  being  siliceous,  grey  limestone,  very  hard  and  massive, 
not  known  to  contain  any  valuable  minerals. 

Silurian  &  Devonian — During  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  Periods  the  entire 
area  of  Wyoming  remained  above  water  level,  consequently  there  are  no  repre- 
sentatives of  these  rock  systems,  and  sufficient  time  elapsed  to  allow  the  land 
surface  to  be  reduced  almost  to  a  peneplain,  upon  which  the  Carboniferous  sedi- 
ments were  laid  down,  almost  conformablv. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  379 

Carboniferous — The  name  Carboniferous  was  given  to  the  next  s_vstem  of 
rocks  because  of  the  importance  of  the  coal  seams  present  in  it  in  other  parts 
of  the  world,  though  in  Wyoming  it  contains  no  coal  as  the  Carboniferous  sedi- 
ments were  laid  down  in  the  deep  sea  and  in  salt  lakes,  resulting  in  massive 
limestones  of  great  thickness  in  the  Lower  Carboniferous,  and  red  sandstones, 
shales,  and  occasional  gypsum  deposits  in  the  Upper.  The  thickness  of  the  Car- 
boniferous is  about  one  thousand  feet  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state,  about 
two  thousand  in  the  northeastern,  increasing  to  approximately  five  thousand  feet 
in  the  western  part.  In  the  southwestern  part  the  lower  member  is  a  quartzitic 
sandstone  over  one  thousand  feet  thick,  overlain  by  more  than  seven  hundred  feet 
of  sandy  limestone. 

Economically  the  Carboniferous  is  important  as  it  contains  immense  deposits 
of  pure  limestone  which  occur  in  thick  beds  in  the  lower  part  of  the  system, 
which  furnish  excellent  quarries  wherever  they  outcrop  under  favorable  con- 
ditions. The  principal  limestone  quarries  are  at  Hartville,  while  others  are  being 
worked  at  Laramie  and  Rawlins,  and  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  the  stone  being  used 
by  the  sugar  refineries.  Copper  also  occurs  in  the  Carboniferous  in  the  Hartville 
Uplift,  also  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state,  among  other  localities,  and 
warrants  further  prospecting.  The  Embar  sandstone,  in  the  LTpper  Carboniferous, 
is  an  important  oil  sand  near  Lander  in  the  central  part  of  the  state,  and  north  of 
Powder  River  Station.     Some  geologists  assign  this  to  the  Permian  subdivision. 

Permian — The  Permian  is  the  latest  subdivision  of  the  Palaeozoic  Era.  It  is 
of  little  importance  in  Wyoming,  there  being  a  thickness  of  only  80  to  100  feet  in 
the  Hartville  and  Black  Hills  regions,  the  rocks  being  thin,  bedded,  sandy  lime- 
stones, sandstones,  and  thin  red  shales. 

^]\Iesozoic — The  Mesozoic  Era  is  distinguished  by  marked  changes  in  plant 
and  animal  life,  many  new  insects  having  appeared,  fishes  became  modernized, 
birds  and  mammals  made  their  first  appearance,  but  the  most  characteristic 
feature  was  the  reptiles,  which  attained  an  extraordinary  state  of  development, 
being  the  dominant  form  of  life.  The  Mesozoic  Era  comprises  three  periods,  the 
Triassic,  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous. 

Triassic — The  Triassic  of  Wyoming  is  of  fresh  water  origin,  in  some  localities 
resting  upon  pre-Cambrian  crystalline  rocks,  but  in  general  upon  Permian  or 
Carboniferous  beds  usually  in  apparent  conformity.  The  rocks  consist  of  bright, 
red  sandstones  and  red,  sandy  shales,  being  well  known  as  the  Chugwater  Red 
Beds,  their  thickness  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state  and  the  Hartville  region 
being  about  500  feet,  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  central  part  of  the  state,  and  south- 
eastern part  being  about  one  thousand  feet  increasing  to  two  thousand  feet  in  the 
southwestern  part. 

An  important  characteristic  of  the  red  beds  is  gypsum,  which  occurs  in  beds  of 
considerable  thickness  in  many  localities.  Several  plaster  mills  are  located  at 
Laramie  where  gypsum  is  mined.  It  is  also  mined  near  Sheridan.  Thick  gypsum 
beds  of  pure  variety  occur  near  Cody  and  will  undoubtedly  be  mined  when  rail- 
road facilities  become  available.  Gypsum  can  be  found  in  the  red  beds  almost 
anywhere  they  outcrop.     Fossils  however  are  exceedingly  rare. 

Jurassic — The  Jurassic  in  Wyoming  was  laid  down  in  a  great  inland  sea  and 
thins  out  toward  the  east,  the  formations  being  buff  sandstones  at  the  base,  above 
which  are  variegated  shales  and  clays  with  occasional  sandstones  and  limestones. 


380  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  the  southeast  part  of  the  state  its  thickness  is  only  150  feet  increasing  to  350 
feet  in  the  northeast  part,  to  i.ioo  feet  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  and  attaining  its 
greatest  thickness  of  3,800  in  the  southwest.  The  name  Twin  Creek  has  been 
apphed  to  the  formation  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state,  and  Sundance 
over  the  remainder  of  Wyoming. 

Cretaceous — The  Cretaceous  is  of  great  importance  in  Wyoming,  as  it  con- 
tains most  of  the  oil  and  gas  bearing  strata,  and  workable  coal  beds,  and  is 
displayed  on  a  vast  scale.  .At  the  end  of  Jurassic  time  Wyoming  was  a  broad  flat 
plain  which  slowly  subsided  causing  the  Cretaceous  seas  to  invade  gradually 
resulting  in  the  deposition  of  the  Lower  Cretaceous  in  practical  parallelism  with 
the  older  formations.  The  formations  first  laid  down  were  the  Beckwith  and 
Bear  River  formations  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state,  and  the  Morrison. 
Dakota,  and  I'uson  over  the  rest  of  the  state.  The  sediments  deposited  in  the 
Cretaceous  sea  were  mainlv  derived  from  a  great  land  mass  on  the  west,  as  the 
deposition  is  much  lu:i\ier  in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  The  Beckwith 
formation  consists  nf  xrllnw  shales  and  sandstones  with  occasional  conglomerate 
beds,  and  attains  a  thickness  of  5.500  feet.  The  Bear  River  is  composed  of  dark 
shales  and  thin  bedded  sandstones,  and  is  about  5,000  feet  thick  in  places.  The 
Lower  Cretaceous  over  the  remainder  of  the  state  is  only  300  to  600  feet  thick,  the 
lowest  member  being  the  Morrison  composed  of  purplish  and  greenish  grey  shales 
with  interbedded  sandstone ;  resting  on  this  is  the  lakota,  massive  buff  sandstones, 
with  local  coal  beds  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state,  followed  by  the  Fuson 
composed  of  thin  shales  and  sandstones. 

The  Dakota  is  the  basal  member  of  the  Upper  Cretaceous,  and  is  of  very 
uniform  character  over  nearly  the  entire  state.  It  is  a  coarse  conglomeratic  sand- 
stone, the  formation  being  from  50  to  300  feet  thick,  in  places  there  are  two 
sandstone  beds  separated  by  shale.  The  name  Cloverly  is  also  applied  to  it  in  the 
Big  Horn  Basin,  where  it  is  of  great  importance  as  the  carrier  of  large  quantities 
of  oil  and  gas. 

Colorado  Group — Upon  the  Dakota  rests  a  great  thickness  of  shale,  with  beds 
of  sandstone,  the  lower  part  being  of  the  Colorado  group  of  marine  origin,  and 
the  upper,  the  Montana,  of  fresh  water  origin,  with  coal  beds  and  a  greater 
proportion  of  sandstones.  The  Colorado  contains  near  its  base  the  Mowry  shale 
member,  with  an  intermittent  sandstone  often  productive  of  oil  and  gas.  also  a 
bed  of  bentonite.  The  principal  shale  beds,  however,  are  the  Benton  in  the  eastern 
and  central  part  of  the  state,  and  the  Frontier  in  the  west  and  south,  containing 
the  famous  Frontier  or  Wall  Creek  sands  which  are  the  most  important  oil  pro- 
ducing formations  in  this  part  of  the  United  States.  The  Frontier  sandstones 
are  greater  in  number  and  thickness  in  the  western  part  of  the  state  where  there 
are  eleven  beds,  thinning  out  toward  the  east,  seven  at  Pilot  Butte  near  Lander, 
three  in  the  vicinity  of  Casper,  and  only  one  as  far  east  as  Lusk,  while  in  the 
Newcastle  district,  there  is  no  sandstone  member  in  this  part  of  the  Colorado 
group  distinguishable.  The  Upper  member  of  the  Colorado,  is  the  Niobrara. 
The  Colorado  varies  greatly  in  thickness  in  dififerent  parts  of  the  state,  ap- 
proximately fifteen  hundred  feet  thick  in  the  southeast,  central  and  northwestern 
parts,  two  thousand  feet  in  the  northeast,  and  possibly  ten  thousand  in  the 
southwest. 

Montana  Group — The  Montana  grou]:)  is  composed  of  interbedded  shales  and 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  381 

sandstones  of  great  extent  and  thickness,  containing  many  veins  of  coal.  The 
thickness  of  this  group  varies  from  about  two  thousand  feet  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  state  to  six  thousand  feet  in  other  parts. 

Fully  half  the  area  of  Wyoming  has  the  Cretaceous  outcropping  on  the  surface 
or  covered  by  other  formations,  and  as  it  is  the  great  source  of  oil,  gas,  and  coal,  it 
can  be  readily  understood  why  this  state  boasts  of  such  great  resources  in  these 
minerals. 

Mountain  Building — Though  laid  down  over  the  entire  state,  the  Cretaceous 
has  been  removed  from  nearly  half  the  area  by  erosion,  as  the  end  of  Cretaceous 
time  was  accompanied  by  tremendous  mountain  building.  All  of  the  main 
mountain  ranges  of  the  state  and  probably  most  of  the  minor  folds  were  made  at 
this  time  and  remain  today  the  most  important  topographic  features.  These 
folds  were  so  great  that  in  most  cases  the  pre-Cambrian  crystalline  rocks  have 
now  been  exposed  where  the  overlying  rocks  have  been  eroded  away. 

Cenozoic — This  brings  us  to  the  Cenozoic  Era.  which  by  gradual  steps  leads  to 
the  present  order  of  things.  The  rocks  of  the  Cenozoic  are  loose  and  uncompacted 
and  are  locally  restricted  in  their  range.  \\  bile  rich  in  animal  fossils,  they  are 
not  important  for  economic  minerals,  and  space  does  not  permit  of  great  con- 
sideration of  them.  During  Cenozoic  time  great  lava  flows  occurred  from  the 
region  of  Yellowstone  Park  and  covered  about  one-twelfth  of  the  state  with  several 
thousand  feet  of  andesite  tuffs  and  lavas,  which  are  of  no  importance  in  a  mineral 
way.  The  Cenozoic  sediments  are  characterized  by  red  and  drab  clays  forming 
bad  lands,  also  terraces  of  gravel  and  conglomerate,  and  chalky  sandstones.  These 
overlie  the  Cretaceous  in  the  great  synclinal  troughs  between  the  mountain 
ranges  usually  unconforniabl)-  with  the  Cretaceous. 

WYOMING  OIL  GEOLOGY 

Xo  discussion  of  the  theories  advanced  to  explain  the  synthesis  of  oil  in  rocks 
will  be  attempted  here.  It  is  sufficient  to  state  that  oil  and  gas  are  known  to 
occur  in  shales,  sandstones  and  sometimes  limestones.  Where  a  porous  formation 
such  as  sandstone  occurs  between  shales  the  oil  migrates  into  the  sandstone,  and 
where  the  sandstones  are  not  level  the  oil  will  travel  down  the  slope  unless  the 
sandstone  is  saturated  with  water,  in  which  case  the  oil  will  advance  up  the 
incline.  If  water  saturated  sandstones  outcrop  on  the  surface  without  an  inter- 
vening reverse  dip,  the  oil  will  escape  at  the  outcrop.  If,  however,  the  sandstones 
are  closed  by  a  dome  structure,  and  sealed  in  by  several  hundred  feet  of  impervious 
rock,  the  rising  oil  is  unable  to  escape  and  is  trapped  in  the  dome.  Gas,  if  present, 
will  rise  above  the  oil,  thus  if  the  structure  contains  gas  it  will  be  found  at  the 
apex,  the  oil  further  down,  and  the  water  below  the  oil,  all  confined  in  the 
sandstone.  The  dome  structure  is  the  simplest  and  most  general  trap  for  oil  in 
Wyoming,  in  fact  there  is  only  one  field  not  a  dome  in  which  oil  has  been  discovered 
in  commercial  quantities.  All  domes  are  not  productive  of  oil,  the  oil  bearing 
formations  may  have  been  eroded  away  or  may  lie  at  a  great  depth.  Also  there 
should  be  a  considerable  area  of  properly  inclined  strata  to  furnish  a  gathering 
ground,  otherwise  the  dome  may  contain  only  small  amounts  of  oil  or  gas.  Drilling 
into  the  oil  sands  in  localities  not  structurally  favorable  would  be  almost  useless, 
as  the  oil  would  have  migrated  to  points  geologically  higher,  and  water  would 
be  found  in  its  place. 


382  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  addition  to  domes,  other  structural  conditions  wliicli  merit  investigation  in 
Wyoming  are  structural  terraces,  faults  with  sufficient  throw  to  seal  the  ends 
of  the  sandstone  beds  against  impervious  shales,  inclined  lenticular  bodies  of 
sandstone  in  shales,  inclined  sandstones  sealed  in  by  unconformities  with  more 
recent  formations,  and  inclined  sandstones  outcropping  at  the  surface  but  con- 
taining an  asphaltic  oil  which  upon  evaporation  leaves  asphalt  in  the  rock,  which 
clogs  the  pores  and  prevents  the  escape  of  the  remaining  oil. 

The  Lower  Cretaceous  contains  nearly  all  of  the  productive  oil  formations, 
including  the  Dakota,  Frontier,  and  Shannon  series,  the  oil  being  a  green  paraffine 
oil  of  very  high  grade.  Below  the  Dakota  the  oil  is  black,  of  an  asphalt  base, 
occurring  in  the  Sundance.  Chugwater,  and  Embar.  Many  of  these  formations 
contain  gas  pools  under  proper  geological  conditions.  Practically  the  entire  area 
of  the  state  has  been  examined  for  oil,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  number  of 
structures  which  have  oil  possibilities  is  not  less  than  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  In  a  majority  of  cases  the  geological  conditions  are  easy  of  interpreta- 
tion, hence  it  is  possible  to  direct  drilling  operations  with  intelligence  and  with 
greater  possibilities  of  success  than  in  other  states.  With  about  five  hundred 
producing  wells,  the  number  of  important  dry  holes  is  comparatively  miall, 
probably  fifty. 

Wyoming  first  became  mentioned  in  petroleum  history  in  1894,  when  the 
Shannon  field,  now  a  part  of  Salt  Creek,  contributed  2,369  barrels  production, 
hauled  to  Casper,  in  trail  wagons,  and  treated  for  its  lubrication  content,  used 
largely  by  railroads.  With  slight  variations  the  production  increased  to  8,960 
barrels  in  1903.  and  11.542  barrels  in  1904.  There  was  a  decrease  then  until 
1908,  when  the  total  was  17,775  barrels.  In  1910  the  production  was  115.430 
barrels;  in  191 1,  186.695;  in  1912.  it  had  reached  1,527.306  barrels:  in  1913. 
2,406,522;  in  1914.  3,500.373;  in  1915.  4.245.525;  in  1916.  6.234,137  barrels;  while 
the  estimate  for  1917  is  9,000.000  barrels. 

The  present  year  promises  to  be  one  of  extensive  development,  and  if  the 
700.000  acres  of  land  which  have  been  withdrawn  by  the  government,  which  is 
reckoned  to  be  some  of  the  best  land  in  the  state,  is  released  this  year,  and  it  now 
seems  almost  certain  it  will,  the  development  of  the  state  will  far  exceed  expecta- 
tions. There  are  sixteen  producing  fields  now,  of  which  the  eleven  most  important 
have  a  daily  production  as  follows : 

Field  Rim  Shut  In 

Salt  Creek 1  i.ooo  9,000 

Grass  Creek   5.000  i.ooo 

Elk    Basin    5.500  

Big   Muddy    4-500  

Lander    800  400 

Park  County 600  

Lost  Soldier 2,000 

Pilot  Butte 500 

Thornton,  etc 15° 

Thermopolis    150 

Totals    27.400  13.300 


M1U\VK«T  KEFJXERY,  CASPER 


AM)AKT)  Rl  1  IM  R\     C  ^sl'I  R 


384  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

There  are  also  four  important  gas  fields  with  individual  wells  making  from 
two  million  cubic  feet  per  day  to  twenty  million,  each. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  fields  are  not  confined  to  any  part  of  the  state,  but 
occur  in  all  parts,  with  the  central  area  and  Big  Horn  Basin  being  most  favored. 
There  are  thousands  of  square  miles  of  possible  territory  so  covered  with  shales 
that  the  structure  formations  are  difficult  and  in  many  places  impossible  to  read. 
Such  formations  as  those  which  produced  the  Glen  Pool  in  Oklahoma  could  exist 
in  a  hundred  places  without  surface  indications.  Even  in  the  producing  fields 
deeper  drilling  may  have  unusual  results.  Salt  Creek  has  punctured  only  three  of 
the  Wall  Creek  sands.  A  well  3,500  feet  deep  on  top  of  the  Salt  Creek  structure 
would  be  a  fascinating  speculation. 

There  are  ten  pipe  lines  already  constructed,  aggregating  over  three  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  line.  In  addition  to  these  about  one  hundred  miles  of  ad- 
ditional line  is  proposed,  some  of  which  will  probably  be  constructed  during  the 
present  summer.  Four  large  refineries,  two  at  Casper  and  two  at  Greybull,  one 
small  refinery  at  Cowley  and  a  carbon  plant  near  that  place,  are  now  in  operation. 
Several  small  refineries  are  now  anticipated,  and  some  are  actually  being  built. 

In  addition  to  the  well  fields  mentioned  an  important  source  of  oil  for  the 
future  will  be  the  oil  shales  which  occur  at  or  near  the  surface  over  several 
thousand  square  miles  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state  in  the  Tertiary  strata. 
These  shales  contain  two  to  twenty  barrels  of  oil  per  ton,  in  addition  to  valuable 
ammonium  sales.  The  extraction  of  oil  from  shale  is  being  done  profitably  in 
other  states  and  countries,  and  will  surely  be  undertaken  in  Wyoming  soon,  as  it 
offers  an  unlimited  field  for  the  investor. 

GEOr.OGV   OF   CO.\L 

According  to  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  ^^'yoming  contains  424,- 
000.000.000  tons  of  coal  in  beds  of  workable  depth  and  thickness,  or  enough  to 
supply  the  entire  United  States  for  one  thousand  years  at  the  present  rate  of  con- 
sumption. In  addition  to  the  coal  thus  estimated,  there  are  billions  of  tons  at  depths 
not  now  considered  workable,  but  which  in  future  years  will  be  available. 

Most  of  the  coal  occurs  in  the  Cretaceous,  in  the  fresh  water  deposits  in  the 
upper  part  of  this  series,  and  also  in  the  Tertiary,  the  former  being  bituminous,  the 
latter  lignite.  Coal  also  occurs  in  the  Lower  Cretaceous  at  some  points,  notably 
at  Cambrai  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state,  where  a  deposit  of  some  thirty 
million  tons  occur  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Dakota,  this  being  the  only  coking 
coal  in  the  state. 

Approximately  thirty-five  per  cent  of  the  area  of  the  state,  or  about  thirty-five 
thousand  square  miles,  is  underlain  by  coal  veins,  varying  from  three  to  eighty  feet 
in  thickness,  most  of  them  ranging  between  four  and  twelve  feet  thick.  The 
geology  of  coal  is  generally  well  understood.  It  was  formed  from  vegetation 
which  accumulated  in  great  thickness  in  fresh  water,  and  occasionally  salt  marshes, 
and  was  later  covered  by  sedimentary  formations  of  sufficient  thickness  to  compress 
it  into  the  form  of  coal.  It  is  estimated  that  one  foot  of  coal  represents  fourteen 
feet  of  solid  vegetation,  from  which  one  can  attempt  to  imagine  the  luxuriance 
of  the  growth,  and  the  time  involved  in  the  growth  of  sufficient  vegetation  to 
result  in  a  workable  coal  bed. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  385 

The  coal  beds  occur  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  state  not  occupied  by  mountain 
ranges,  and  their  location  has  been  worked  out  by  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey.  Under  former  land  laws  it  was  possible  to  secure  title  to  coal  land  at  a 
cost  of  ten  dollars  to  twenty  dollars  per  acre.  Some  years  age,  however,  when 
the  so-called  movement  of  Conservation  of  Resources  swept  the  country,  the  coal 
land  to  which  the  Government  still  retained  title  was  classified  at  prices  ranging 
up  to  five  hundred  dollars  per  acre.  This  had  the  eli'ect  of  at  once  stopping  the 
opening  of  new  mines,  as  prospective  operators  could  not  pay  for  the  land  in  ad- 
dition to  the  necessary  plant  of  machinery  required  for  proper  development.  That 
this  policy  was  a  grave  mistake  is  apparent  from  the  present  coal  shortage  in  time 
of  war.    Congress  now  has  a  leasing  bill  under  consideration. 

GEOLOGY    OF    WYOMIXG    IRON 

Wyoming  has  four  important  deposits  of  iron  ore,  the  locating  places  being  at 
Sunrise,  Rawlins,  Seminoe  and  Iron  Mountain,  with  other  less  notable  deposits 
in  other  parts  of  the  state. 

The  deposit  at  Sunrise  is  the  only  one  from  which  shipments  are  being  made, 
this  camp  having  been  producing  about  two  thousand  tons  a  day  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  ore  is  a  very  pure  hematite  known  as  a  Bessemer  ore,  running  about 
sixty-two  per  cent  to  sixty-six  per  cent  metallic  iron,  and  from  one  per  cent  to 
two  per  cent  silica,  being  free  from  phosphorous  and  sulphur.  Geologically  it 
occurs  mainly  in  the  schist  and  also  in  the  dolomite  and  along  the  contact  of  the 
two,  in  the  Algonkian  rocks ;  evidence,  demonstrating  that  mineralization  took 
place  before  the  deposition  of  the  Guernsey  formation,  is  abundant.  The  ore 
occurs  in  long  lenses  of  variable  size,  some  of  them  five  hundred  feet  or  more  in 
thickness  and  extending  for  considerable  distances.  An  area  of  several  square  miles 
is  underlain  by  this  ore  body,  but  the  full  extent  of  it  is  not  known  because  of  the 
overlying  sediments,  but  it  is  certain  that  many  million  tons  of  ore  are  available. 

The  geological  occurrence  of  the  ore  at  Seminoe  and  Rawlins  is  similar  to  that 
at  Sunrise,  the  former  probably  being  nearly  equal  in  size  and  quality  of  ore.  Some 
ore  has  been  shipped  from  Rawlins.  The  Seminoe  deposit  has  been  handicapped 
by  its  distance  from  the  railroad. 

The  Iron  Mountain  deposit  is  very  unique,  the  ore  being  a  titaniferous  mag- 
netite of  great  purity,  assaying  about  eighty-two  per  cent  oxide  of  iron  and 
about  seventeen  per  cent  titanic  acid.  The  ore  appears  as  a  lens  outcropping 
for  about  two  miles  on  the  surface,  with  a  width  of  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
feet.  It  occurs  in  basic  granites  of  the  archean  series,  probably  having  been 
formed  by  magnetic  segregation  while  these  rocks  were  in  a  molten  condition. 
Smaller  lenses  of  the  same  ore  occur  in  other  places  in  the  vicinity. 

While  various  attempts  have  been  made  to  utilize  this  iron,  it  is  doubtful  if 
they  have  been  prosecuted  with  sufficient  effort,  as  it  is  the  writer's  opinion  that  this 
is  capable  of  making  one  of  the  most  valuable  sources  of  hard  steel  in  the  world. 
Owing  to  the  high  content  of  titanic  acid  the  ore  smelts  at  such  a  high  temperature 
that  in  ordinary  blast  furnace  practice  it  freezes  in  the  furnace.  Necessity,  how- 
ever, will  soon  stimulate  further  endeavor  as  the  pig  iron  obtained  from  previous 
experiments  is  said  to  be  harder  than  ordinary  tool  steel,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  this  ore  can  be  smelted  with  other  ore  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a  titanium 


386  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

steel  of  very  superior  merit.     The  deposit  is  located  only  nine  miles  from  the 
Colorado  and  Southern  Railroad  at  Iron  Mountain  station. 

EARLY   OIL  DISCOVERIES 

The  first  oil  discovery  in  Wyoming  of  which  we  have  any  account  is  given  by 
Irving  in  his  account  of  Captain  Bonneville^s  Expedition  in  1833,  in  which  he  says: 
"In  this  neighborhood  (on  the  Popo  Agie  River)  the  captain  made  a  search  for 
the  great  tar  springs,  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  mountains,  the  medicinal  proper- 
ties of  which  he  had  heard  extravagantly  lauded  by  the  trappers.  After  some  toil- 
some searching  he  found  it  at  the  foot  of  a  sand  bluff  a  little  east  of  Wind  River 
Mountains  where  it  exuded  in  a  small  stream  of  the  color  and  consistency  of 
tar.  They  immediately  hastened  to  collect  a  quantity  of  it  to  use,  as  an  ointment  for 
the  galled  backs  of  their  horses  and  as  a  balsam  for  their  own  aches  and  pains." 
He  goes  on  to  say  this  substance  is  evidently  petroleum  or  naphtha  which 
forms  the  principal  ingredient  in  the  patent  medicine  called  "British  Oil,"  and 
which  is  found  in  various  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  in  the  United  States  at 
Seneca  Lake  and  is  therefore  called  "Seneca  Oil." 

In  1863,  oil  was  collected  in  a  spring  near  the  crossing  of  Poison  Spider  and 
sold  to  emigrants  for  axle  grease. 

In  1868,  quite  a  large  amount  of  oil  was  taken  from  the  Carter  Wells  and 
$5,000  worth  was  sold  to  the  Union  Pacific  Road  for  lubricating  purposes. 

George  B.  Graflf  of  Omaha  in  1880  sunk  a  number  of  shafts  from  six  to  forty 
feet  deep  and  got  a  flow  of  two  barrels  a  day  from  one  of  them.  Later  in  1885 
he  drilled  three  wells  three  hundred,  five  hundred  and  eight  hundred  feet  re- 
spectively and  reported  a  total  yield  of  two  hundred  barrels  a  day.  These  were 
in  Fremont  County.    Then  came  the  Murphy  Wells. 

M.  P.  Shannon  began  drilling  in  the  Salt  Creek  field  in  1889  and  put  down  a 
well  1,030  feet,  from  which  he  got  four  barrels  a  day.  He  organized  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Oil  and  Gas  Company  in  1895,  put  down  some  more  wells  and  erected  a 
small  refinery.  Later,  some  California  parties  came  into  the  field,  followed  by 
the  Franco-Wyoming  and  the  "Dutch  Company."  The  Midwest  entered  the 
field  in  1910  and  consolidated  with  the  Franco-Petroleum  Company  with  a 
capitalization  of  $20,000,000,  which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  big  oil  boom. 

WYOMING,  THE  NEW  OIL  STATE 

1!V  FR.WK  L.  HOUX,  GOVERNOR  OF  WYOMING 

The  most  prominently  outstanding  feature  of  Wyoming's  economic  progress 
at  this  time  is  the  great,  and  rapidly  increasing,  development  of  the  state's  re- 
markable petroleum  resources.  In  five  years  the  value  (refined)  of  Wyoming's 
output  has  increased  ten-fold,  from  about  five  million  dollars  in  igi2  to  more 
than  fifty  fnillion  dollars  in  1917.  A  minor  industry  of  the  state  in  1912,  the  oil 
business  in  1917  has  become  second  in  importance  of  Wyoming's  industrial 
activities,  ranking  below  agriculture  only  and  representing  a  gross  business  only 
four  per  cent  less  than  that  of  agriculture.  In  the  1918  statement  of  the  financial 
results  of  Wyoming  industrial  activity  the  oil  business  will  lead. 


CopjTight  by  Doubled  ay— Foster  Photo  Printing  Co. 

THE  BIG  MUDDY.  NEAR  CASPER 


Copyright  by  Doubleday 


m  THE  BIG  MUDDY  FIELD 


388  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Wyoming's  estimated  oil  resources  are  amazing  in  magnitude.  It  is  believed 
that  10,000,000  acres  of  the  state's  area  reasonably  may  be  regarded  as  oil-bearing. 
In  a  rece'ntly  completed  appraisement  of  the  state's  natural  resources  the  value 
of  the  oil  resources  (undeveloped  value)  was  placed  at  $10,000,000,000.  The 
appraisement  listed  the  petroleum  resources  as  second  only  to  the  state's  coal  re- 
sources, which  were  estimated  to  be  worth  (undeveloped  value)  $80,000,000,000. 

The  development  of  Wyoming's  oil  resources  during  the  last  five  years,  and 
especially  during,  the  last  two  years,  has  been  so  rapid  and  applied  to  so  many 
localities  that  an  accurate  survey  of  it  is  impossible.  The  state  unfortunately 
has  no  immigration  or  other  department  charged  with  the  duty  of  and  clothed 
with  authority  to  compile  statistics  relative  to  the  oil  industry  and  comprehensive 
and  reliable  official  figures,  therefore,  are  not  available.  Press  reports  of  activities 
and  developments,  in  the  astonishingly  numerous  and  widely  scattered  oil  fields 
of  state  are  bewildering.  Many  persons  intelligently  have  endeavored  to  keep 
themselves  comprehensively  and  accurately  informed  regarding  Wyoming  oil 
field  developments  but  the  undertaking,  in  view  of  the  existing  conditions,  is  an 
impossible  one.  No  person,  no  Government  department,  no  organization  at  this 
time  possesses  accurate  information  regarding  all  the  activities  in  all  the  oil 
fields  and  supposed  oil  fields  of  Wyoming,  or  regarding  the  eflfects  economic  and 
otherwise  of  these  activities. 

Illustrative  of  the  rapidity  with  which  development  of  the  state's  oil  resources 
is  extending,  as  well  as  of  the  difficulty  of  keeping  informed  regarding  develop- 
ments, is  the  fact  that  at  this  time  there  are  in  Wyoming  about  one  hundred  and 
eighty  separate  localities  (fields  and  domes)  in  which  oil  has  been  found,  where 
drilling  for  oil  is  in  progress  or  where  arrangements  for  drilling  have  progressed 
sufficiently  to  guarantee  that  drilling  will  be  done  this  year.  These  localities  are 
scattered  through  twenty  counties  and  over  an  area  of  ninety  thousand  square 
miles. 

$400,000,000    CAPITALIZATION    IN     I917 

Wyoming's  oil  field  opportunities  are  attracting  to  the  state  persons  and  capital 
from  every  quarter  of  the  nation  and  from  many  foreign  lands.  How  many 
millions  of  dollars  have  been  brought  into  the  state  for  use  in  development  of  the 
oil  resources  is  problematical ;  how  many  millions — and  this  is  the  greater  of  the 
two  sums,  have  been  invested  in  enterprises  founded  on  or  alleged  to  be  founded 
on  these  petroleum  resources  is  yet  more  problematical.  The  par  value  of  stocks 
of  oil  concerns  authorized  by  the  State  of  Wyoming  in  the  year  1917  alone  to 
do  business  in  the  state  totaled  $400,000,000.  The  par  value  of  the  stocks  of 
such  concerns  which  during  1918  have  obtained  governmental  sanction  to  operate 
in  Wyoming  has  averaged  more  than  $400,000  a  day. 

The  State  of  Wyoming,  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  its  land  holdings  within 
tlie  state  are  second  in  extent  only  to  those  of  the  Federal  Government,  has  in 
the  oil  industry  an  interest  more  direct  and  intimate  than  that  merely  naturally 
existing  in  any  economic  development  beneficial  to  the  individual  propensity 
of  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  population.  When  Wyoming  was  admitted 
to  statehood  the  Federal  Government  made  to  the  new  commonwealth  grants  of 
land  totaling  more  than  4,000,000  acres.  The  minor  acreage  units  comprising 
these   grants   were  so  selected  as  to  give   the  commonwealth   land  holdings   in 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  389 

every  township  within  its  boundaries.  The  result  is  that  there  is  not  an  oil  field 
in  Wyoming  within  the  limits  of  which  the  State  of  Wyoming  is  not  a  land- 
owner. State  lands  known  to  be  oil-bearing,  or  believed  to  be  oil-bearing,  are 
not  sold  outright,  but  are  leased  to  prospectors  and  operators  on  a  royalty  basis. 
The  State  of  Wyoming  now  is  receiving  from  oil  royalties  an  income  of  more 
than  $300,000  a  year.  This  income  is  increasing  rapidly  and  eventually,  it  appears 
certain  to  eventuate,  will  amount  to  many  millions  of  dollars  annually.  There- 
fore, not  merely  those  persons  and  corporations  which  own  Wyoming  oil  land  or 
oil  stocks,  but  every  taxpayer  within  the  state,  every  person  who  is  a  beneficiary  of 
the  government  of  the  state,  has  a  direct  personal  interest  in  the  development  of 
the  oil  resources. 

MAY  FREE  STATE  FROM  SCHOOL  TAXATION 

The  revenue  derived  from  state-owned  lands  goes  into  permanent  funds  and 
only  the  interest  on  these  funds  is  applied  to  current  expenses.  The  funds,  it  is 
intended,  %hall  be  perpetual — beneficial  not  only  to  the  Wyomingites  of  today  but 
to  the  generations  of  Wyomingites  that  are  to  come.  The  bulk  of  the  interest 
on  the  trust  funds  is  applied  to  expenses  of  the  educational  system.  There  may 
come  a  time  when  the  trust  land  revenues  will  be  sufficient  entirely  to  support 
the  public  schools  and  there  will  be  in  Wyoming  no  taxation  for  educational 
purposes. 

Wyoming's  population  last  year  increased  about  ten  per  cent,  or  almost  twenty 
thousand.  One-half  of  this  increase,  possibly  more,  reasonably  may  be  credited 
to  the  petroleum  industry.  The  value  of  the  products  of  the  state's  industries 
increased  during  191 7  more  than  $75,000,000.  Thirty  per  cent  of  this  increase 
may  be  credited  to  the  oil  industry.  Public  attention  in  other  states  during  the 
last  year  has  been  drawn  to  Wyoming  as  never  before.  Advertisement  of  the 
state's  petroleum  resources  and  of  the  opportunities  for  profit  to  be  found  in 
development  of  these  resources  chiefly  was  responsible  for  this  fact.  The  petro- 
leum industry  during  the  present  and  the  next  several  years  will  be  the  cause 
of  impressive  increases  in  the  state's  population,  wealth  and  industrial  output. 
The  petroleum  resources  are  of  such  magnitude  that  logically  they  may  become 
the  basis  for  commercial  and  industrial  activity  more  important  from  the  view- 
point of  financial  return  than  all  other  commercial  and  industrial  enterprises 
within  the  state. 

The  development  of  Wyoming's  oil  resources  has  raised  several  problems 
for  the  state  government  which  will  receive  attention  during  the  next  session  of  the 
Legislature.  Legislation  is  needed  to  safeguard  these  resources  against  waste 
and  the  ruin  which  is  the  result  of  ignorance  or  carelessness  during  development. 
A  statute  for  which  there  is  acute  necessity  is  one  making  compulsory  the  sealing 
of  overlying  water  carrying  strata,  to  prevent  water  from  these  strata  escaping 
through  borings  into  oil  bearing  strata  and  driving  the  oil  from  the  latter  strata. 
So-called  "blue  sky"  legislation  also  is  a  requirement  of  the  situation  arising 
from  development  of  the  oil  resources,  this  being  essential  if  investors  are  to  be 
protected  from  fake  promoters  and  worthless  stock  flotations.  An  oil  field  is 
fertile  for  the  "wildcat"  stock  operator  and  the  map  of  Wyoming  is  freckled  with 
oil  fields. 


390  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

THE  state's  oil  INCOME 

State  Land  Commissioner  Ray  E.  Lee  expects  a  steady  monthly  increase  in 
the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  royalty  oil  and  anticipates  that  before  the  close 
of  1918  the  income  from  this  source  will  be  at  the  rate  of  $1,000,000  annually. 

Between  December  i,  1917,  and  April  i,  1918,  a  period  of  three  months,  the 
state's  royalty  increased  from  $25,000  monthly  to  $43,500,  the  increase  being 
$18,500  monthly,  or  seventy-four  per  cent.  This  increase  was  due  in  part  to  the 
bringing  in  of  new  wells  and  in  part  to  increase  in  the  market  value  of  the 
crude  oil. 

Eventually,  the  State  Land  Commissioner  forecasts,  the  state  will  receive 
annually  royalty  oil  worth  many  millions  of  dollars.  Development  of  state- 
owned  lands  is  in  progress  in  every  oil  field  in  Wyoming  and  the  state's  land 
holdings  are  so  generally  scattered  that  it  is  improbable  that  any  new  field  will  be 
discovered  which  does  not  include  state-owned  areas. 

During  the  six-months  period  from  September  30,  191 7,  to  April  i,  1918, 
the  income  of  the  state  land  office  was  approximately  $600,000,  the  bulk  of  this 
income  being  derived  from  the  sale  of  royalty  oil  and  from  lease  fees  paid  in  by  oil 
prospectors  and  oil  operators.  The  income  for  the  six  months  was  nearly  $200,000 
greater  than  that  of  the  corresponding  period  of  1916-17. 

REFINERIES  IX   WYOMING 1917 

Five  refineries,  representing  an  investment  of  $31,061,000.  and  which  will  have 
a  capacity  for  handling  62,500  barrels  of  crude  oil  a  day  when  present  enlarge- 
ments are  completed,  are  in  operation  in  Wyoming,  according  to  data  compiled  by 
H.  G.  James  for  a  history  of  the  industry  of  the  country. 

The  refineries  now  operating  are  the  two  at  Casper  and  Greybull  owned  by 
the  Midwest  Refining  Company,  two  at  the  same  points  owned  by  the  Standard  Oil 
Company,  of  Indiana,  and  one  owned  by  the  Northwestern  Oil  Refining  Company 
at  Cowley.  The  Midwest  Refinery  at  Casper  will  have  a  capacity  of  35,000 
barrels  a  day  in  1918,  and  represents  an  investment  of  $25,000,000.  This  is  one 
of  the  largest  in  the  country.  Its  refinery  at  Greybull  will  have  a  capacity  of 
12,000  barrels  a  day  and  represents  an  investment  of  $2,500,000.  The  Standard 
has  $2,000,000  invested  in  its  plant  at  Casper  and  $1,500,000  at  Greybull. 

.\NNr.\L    rRODUCTION    REFINED   OILS,    ETC. 

Report  to  April  i,  1918 

Crude  oil  produced,  all  fields  (barrels") 10.950.000 

Value  at  well $14,203,700 

Gasoline  marketed   (gallons  )    150.000.000 

\'alue   of   gasoline   at   average   retail   price    (25c  I $37,500,000 

Kerosene  and  other  refined  oils  marketed  (gallons ) 55.000.000 

\'alue  of  kerosene  at  average  retail  price  (15c) $8,250,000 

Estimated  value  other  products,  fuel  oil.  etc $3,000,000 

Number  of  completed  producing  wells,  estimated 475 

Wells  drilling,  estimated 550 

Number  of  proven  fields  in  state 2^ 


CENTRAL  COAL  AND  COKE  COMPAXY'S  XO.  2  JIIXE.  ROCK  SPRIX( 


-MIXE  XO.  3  OF  THE   BEAR   RIVER   COAL  COMl'AXV.   IXC.   AT   EVAXSTOX 


392  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

CHARACTER   OF   WYOMING  OIL 

The  oil  of  Wyoming  is  of  two  grades.  The  light  oil,  or  paraffine  base  oil, 
being  40  degrees  to  48  degrees  Baume,  is  in  grade  and  quality  similar  to  the  West 
Virginia  or  the  best  of  Oklahoma  oils.  It  comes  from  the  rocks  of  Cretaceous 
age.  The  fuel  oil,  or  asphaltic  base  oil,  similar  to  the  California  or  Texas  oils, 
comes  from  rocks  of  Carboniferous  age. 

While  prices  in  Wyoming  have  not  ranged  as  high  as  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Oklahoma,  the  analyses,  as  made  by  federal  chemists,  prove  that  the  value  of 
Wyoming  crude  oil  to  that  of  the  best  eastern  oil,  is  as  nine  is  to  ten.  Monopoly 
jf  refining  and  distributing  facilities  have  up  to  1918  been  able  to  hold  the  price 
ratio  down  to  about  one  to  two.  As  the  annual  production  is  increased  the 
Wyoming  prices  will,  of  course,  come  to  a  parity  with  those  of  the  mid-continent 
fields. 

WYOMING  COAL  DEPOSITS 

The  state  geologists  of  W'yoming  have  estimated  the  coal  producing  area  of 
the  state  to  be  from  thirty  thousand  to  thirty-five  thousand  square  miles.  From 
territorial  days  it  has  been  one  of  the  leading  industries,  the  production  in  1917 
being  8,465,664  tons.  The  character  of  coal  differs  in  the  various  localities, 
being  in  general  terms,  lignite,  bituminous,  semi-bituminous  and  coking.  The 
veins  vary  from  four  to  forty  feet  in  thickness.  Coal  mines  are  worked  in  every 
part  of  the  state  where  railroad  facilities  are  provided,  and  in  some  sections  where 
there  are  no  railroads  the  ranchmen  open  up  mines  and  haul  in  their  own  supplies 
of  fuel  from  some  coal  bank  near  at  hand. 

Coal  was  found  in  the  state  by  the  early  explorers,  but  the  earliest  mining 
of  coal  as  a  commercial  product  began  during  the  years  1867-8  and  9,  as  the 
Union  Pacific  extended  its  tracks  through  Southern  Wyoming.  Coal  mines 
were  opened  at  Carbon,  Rock  Springs  and  Almy  as  the  road  reached  those  points. 
Mr.  Blair  located  coal  on  Bitter  Creek  and  worked  the  vein  before  the  railroad 
reached  Rock  Springs  and  became  one  of  the  leading  pioneers  of  the  coal  mining 
industry  in  Wyoming. 

At  Carbon,  coal  mines  were  opened  in  1868  and  a  prosperous  town  built  up. 
Seven  mines  were  opened  there  between  1868  and  1900  when  the  mines  gave  out. 

Rock  Springs  Mine  No.  i  was  opened  in  1868  by  the  Union  Pacific  and  became 
the  most  famous  of  the  coal  mines  of  the  west.  This  mine  was  in  operation 
nearly  forty  years  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  largest  mine  in  the  world  operating 
through  one  opening.  Other  mines  have  been  opened  at  Rock  Springs  and  vicinity 
as  the  demands  of  the  railroad  and  market  supply  required. 

In  1890  the  Union  Pacific  Coal  Company  opened  valuable  coal  mines  at 
Hanna  and  it  has  now  become  one  of  the  great  coal  camps  of  the  west.  Four 
good  mines  are  in  operation  there  and  another  is  being  opened. 

In  the  early  '90s  independent  operators  began  to  open  mines  along  the  Union 
Pacific.  P.  T-  Quealy  and  associates  opened  what  is  known  as  the  Central  Coal 
and  Coke  Company  No.  2  mine,  and  Mark  Hopkins  opened  a  mine  at  Sweetwater, 
then  known  as  Hopkinsville.  Both  of  these  properties  were  acquired  by  the 
Sweetwater  Coal  and  Mining  Company,  controlled  by  G.  W.  McGeath  and  were 


CAilBRIA  FUEL  TO.,  CAMBRIA,  WYOJVnNG 


394  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

afterwards  turned  over  to  the  Central  Coal  and  Coke  Company,  now  operating 
the  properties. 

Individual  operators  have  also  opened  new  mines  in  the  Rock  Springs  field. 
Good  properties  have  been  opened  at  Reliance  and  Superior,  and  some  old  mines 
have  been  reopened  and  well  equipped,  furnishing  a  large  production. 

About  1897,  Mr.  P.  J.  Quealy,  disposing  of  his  Rock  Springs  interests,  asso- 
ciated with  M.  S.  Kemmerer  of  Pennsylvania  and  commenced  to  open  and  develop 
mines  at  Frontier,  and  laid  out  the  present  town  of  Kemmerer. 

Mr.  Quealy  has  increased  his  organization  and  development  until  he  is  now 
operating  five  mines  in  this  locality,  with  an  output  of  several  thousand  tons  per 
day.  He  also  has  taken  over  part  of  the  holdings  of  the  old  Adaville  company 
and  is  operating  a  mine  at  Elkol,  which  is  also  quite  a  large  producer.  Kemmerer, 
through  Mr.  Ouealy's  efforts  has  developed  into  one  of  the  most  progressive, 
energetic  towns  in  the  West  and  is  the  county  seat  of  Lincoln  County  as  well 
as  district  headquarters   for  the  Oregon   Short  Line  railroad. 

The  Cumberland  mines  located  about  sixteen' miles  south  of  Kemmerer  were 
opened  in  1900.  Two  mines  No.  i  and  2  were  developed  and  the  production  at 
one  time  approached  five  thousand  tons  per  day. 

There  are  several  other  mines  being  operated  in  the  vicinity  of  Kemmerer 
which  may  now  be  considered  one  of  the  coal  centers  of  the  Rocky  ^Mountain 
region. 

Rock  Springs  and  its  outlying  camps  is  now  producing  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  thousand  tons  per  day  or  over  six  million  tons  annually,  being  about 
two-thirds  of  the  state's  entire  production. 

In  1894  Salt  Lake  parties  started  operations  near  the  present  town  of  Diamond- 
ville  and  soon  after  sold  their  interests  to  the  Anaconda  Copper  Company  of 
Montana,  and  most  of  the  product  goes  to  that  state.  They  also  operate  mines  at 
Oakley  and  Glencoe,  having  an  aggregate  annual  production  of  over  six  hundred 
thousand  tons. 

THE    XORTHERX    CO.\L    FIELDS 

As  the  advent  of  the  L'nion  Pacific  railroad  brought  the  coal  fields  of  southern 
Wyoming  into  successful  operation,  so  the  building  of  the  Burlington  road  into 
Northern  Wyoming  led  to  the  development  of  the  coal  fields  of  that  section.  In 
fact  no  coal  mines  can  be  operated  or  find  a  market  to  any  extent  without 
railroad  transportation.  In  some  of  the  northern  counties,  however,  coal  mines 
were  worked  in  the  early  '70s  by  farmers  and  ranchmen  simply  for  a  local  supply. 
Three  mines  were  opened  up  near  Buffalo.  Johnson  County,  and  two  mines  about 
ten  miles  from  Lander,  in  Fremont  County,  were  worked  in  this  way  for  home 
consumption. 

In  1893  the  first  commercial  coal  of  Sheridan  County  was  mined  at  Dietz 
some  fifty  thousand  tons  being  mined  the  first  year.  The  IMonarch  Mine  in  this 
field  produced  in  the  year  ending  September  30.  1917,  coal  amounting  to  378,993 
tons.  This  is  the  largest  producer  in  the  northern  field  and  the  Cambria  mines  are 
second  with  a  production  for  1917  of  351.771  tons.  The  Monarch  is  said  to 
have  the  thickest  bed  of  bituminous  coal  mined  in  the  L^nited  States  it  being 
thirty-four  feet  thick. 


.  Coffeen  Collection 

CAKXEYVJLLE.  ONE  OF  THE 


r.VIILIAI,    \ 


:tz.  home  ok  "SHErtdax  coal."  four  .mi 
north  of  sheridan 


396  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  Acme  Coal  Mines  on  Goose  Creek  were  opened  in  191 1.  The  Acme 
Company  control  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  coal  territory  and  have  established 
an  up-to-date  mining  equipment  with  a  capacity  of  two  thousand  tons  daily. 
They  are  operating  on  an  eighteen  foot  vein.  The  coal  production  of  the  Acme, 
for  the  year  1917,  was  319,637  tons. 

The  Kooi  Mine  in  the  Sheridan  district  is  rapidly  becoming  one  of  the  big 
producers  of  that  field.    Last  year  it  shipped  over  250,000  tons. 

Carneyville  is  another  coal  camp  in  the  Sheridan  district.  In  the  Sheridan  field 
six  separate  veins  have  been  worked  having  a  total  thickness  of  ninety  feet. 

The  Cambria  coal  fields,  near  Newcastle  in  Weston  County  were  among  the 
earliest  developed  in  Northern  Wyoming.  The  mines  were  opened  in  1888 
by  Kilpatrick  Brothers,  who  operated  two  mines,  the  Jumbo  and  the  Antelope. 
Finding  that  they  had  a  good  coking  coal  they  equipped  the  plant  with  twenty-^ve 
coke  ovens  in  1892,  securing  a  market  for  the  coke  in  the  smelters  of  the 
Black  Hills  mining  district.  The  production  of  the  Cambria  mines  in  1917  was 
351,771  tons. 

In  Hot  Springs  County,  the  first  coal  mined  was  by  the  Owl  Creek  Coal  Com- 
pany at  Gebo,  in  1907.  A  few  tons  only  were  mined  and  shipped  that  year,  but 
the  production  has  been  constantly  increasing  until  now  over  two  hundred  coal 
miners  are  employed  in  supplying  the  demand  for  the  coal  which  is  of  excellent 
quality. 

Along  the  line  of  the  northwestern  railroad  in  the  central  part  of  the  state 
coal  mining  has  been  carried  on  at  different  points,  first  at  Shawnee  and  after- 
wards at  Glenrock,  Inez,  Muddy  and  Hudson.  Shawnee  has  been  abandoned, 
and  at  the  present  time  Hudson  is  the  principal  producer  on  the  line,  its  output  in 
191 7  being  204,227  tons. 

The  development  of  the  Wyoming  coal  industry  may  be  seen  by  the  fol- 
lowing tables  giving  the  production  in  1869,  being  the  first  report  issued  by  the 
state,  and  the  production  in  191 7  the  last  report  made. 


COAL  PRODUCTION  IN    I<5t9 

Field  Tonnage 

Carbon    30,428 

Rock  Springs   16,903 

Point  of  Rocks   5,426 

Almy    4,439 

Other  mines    99° 

Total 58,186 


COAL    PRODUCTION    IN    I917 

Name  of  Company  Tons  mined 

Acme  Coal  Co.  Mine  No.  3 319-637 

Amalgamated  Development  Co 90,270 

Bear  River  Coal  Co 70.964 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  397 

A'aine  of  Company  Tons  mined 

Big  Horn  Collieries  Co 241,467 

Blazon  Coal  Co 19-171 

Black  Diamond  Coal   Co 548 

Cambria  Fuel  Co 35I.77I 

Carney  Coal  Co 339.26s 

Central  Coal  &  Coke  Co 324,707 

Cox  Coal  Mine 310 

Consumers  Coal  Co 20 

Diamond  Coal  Co.,  Oakley 247,980 

Diamond  Coal  Co.,  Diamondville 174.938 

Diamond  Coal  Co.,  Glencoe   196.337 

Gunn-Quealy  Coal  Co 1 17,172 

Kooi  Mine  No.  i   253,370 

Kemmerer  Coal  Co 683,475 

Lincoln-Kemmerer  Coal  Co 36,639 

Lion  Coal  Co 231 ,207 

Lezeart  Mine    333 

Monarch  Coal  Mining  Co 378,993 

Nebraska   Coal   Co i  ,462 

Owl  Creek  Coal  Co 259,905 

Park  Coal  Co 1 5.793 

Poposia  Coal  Co 204,227 

Pine  Bluffs   Mine   Co 460 

Paragon  Coal  Co 660 

Quealy  Coal  Co 21 1,868 

Roberts  Coal  Co 500 

Rock   Springs    Mines    825,75 1 

Reliance  Mines 484,097 

Sheridan   Coal   Co 250,025 

Storm  King  Coal  Mine 3,000 

Superior  Coal  Co 1 5.246 

Superior  R.  S.  Mines : 758,953 

Union  Pacific  Coal  Co.,  Hanna  Mine 835,856 

Union  Pacific  Coal  Co.,  Cumberland   Mine 378,436 

Wyoming  Coal  Co 131.851 

Total   8,456,664 

WYOMING   IRON   FIELDS 

Iron  is  the  prime  factor  of  modern  industry  and  its  universal  use  marks 
the  progress  of  civilization.  Wyoming  is  rich  in  the  character  and  extent  of  its 
iron  deposits.  The  largest  iron  fields  are  the  Rawlins,  Seminoe  and  Sunrise 
districts.  These  are  hematite  ores  of  high  grade.  Large  deposits  of  magnetite 
are  found  in  the  Laramie  range,  the  huge  deposit  of  titanic  ore  at  Iron  Mountain 
being  described  in  our  geologic  report.  Other  deposits  of  hematite  are  found 
in  various  parts  of  the  state,  but  have  not  been  prospected  to  any  extent. 


398  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

THE  RAWLINS  DEPOSITS 

Two  miles  north  of  Rawlins  there  is  a  large  deposit  of  red  hematite  ore 
occurring  in  a  metamorphosed  sandstone,  capped  with  limestone.  The  ore  is 
high  grade  and  very  pure.  This  camp  was  the  first  in  the  state  to  mine  and 
market  its  ores.  It  was  first  used  as  a  paint  ore  and  was  used  extensively  by 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  even  in  the  East,  in  the  manufacture  of  red 
paint.  Later  it  was  mined  extensively  and  shipped  as  a  flux  to  smelters  in 
Colorado. 

For  several  years  the  Rawlins  ores  were  shipped  to  Denver.  The  deposit 
has  not  been  developed  for  large  operations  and  its  extent  cannot  be  determined 
with  any  accuracy,  but  it  can  be  traced  for  miles  and  undoubtedly  is  very  large. 
Estimates  are  from  two  hundred  million  to  three  hundred  million  tons. 

SEMINOE   IRON    ORES 

The  Seminoe  deposits  occur  in  the  Seminoe  Mountains  at  the  foot  of  Brad- 
ley's Peak  in  Carbon  County  and  have  been  quite  fully  prospected  on  the  surface, 
but  not  to  any  great  depths,  so  that  the  amount  of  the  deposit  is  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture in  which  the  geologists  dififer,  the  estimates  varying  from  two  hundred 
and  fifty  million  tons  to  five  hundred  million  tons.  The  ore  is  a  hematite,  similar 
in  character  and  grade  to  the  Rawl'ns  ore.  Most  of  the  field  has  been  patented 
and  is  owned  by  eastern  parties.  The  fact  that  it  is  over  thirty  miles  from  any 
railroad  and  that  there  are  no  iron  and  steel  works  in  the  state  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  this  great  ore  body  is  not  utilized  at  the  present  time. 

THE    HARTVILLE   IRON   DISTRICT 

The  Hartville  iron  range  in  the  Black  Hills  of  Wyoming,  about  one  hundred 
miles  north  of  Cheyenne,  is  known  throughout  the  country  as  containing  one 
of  the  most  extensive  and  purest  deposits  of  hematite  ore  in  this  country,  and 
is  now  the  scene  of  vast  operations,  forming  the  principal  source  of  ores  used 
by  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  with  works  at  Pueblo.  Colo.  This 
company  owns  the  famous  Sunr'se  group  of  mines  and  employs  about  five  hundred 
miners  and  laborers  mining  and  shipping  the  ore,  of  which  600,000  tons  and 
upwards  are  annually  taken  out  to  supply  the  Pueblo  works.  The  company  has 
established  a  model  town  at  Sunrise  in  a  picturesque  park  surrounded  by  the 
hills.  The  town  has  well  equipped  cottages  for  the  workmen  and  their  families, 
fine  public  buildings,  among  them  a  new  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  costing  $40,000, 
bathing  houses,  baseball  park,  public  hall,  etc. 

The  company  owns  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  mines,  including  the  Town 
of  Sunrise.  The  amount  of  ore  in  sight  is  estimated  at  two  hundred  and  fifty 
million  tons  in  the  eight  or  ten  claims  that  have  been  prospected  and  worked. 
A  conservative  estimate  for  all  the  ground  would  be  at  least  five  hundred  million 
tons,  making  it  probably  the  largest  body  of  iron  ever  known  within  such  limited 
area. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  399 

HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

Hartville  first  came  into  prominence  as  a  copper  camp  in  i88i.  The  Sunrise 
was  then  located  as  a  copper  claim,  and  for  several  years  was  worked  for  copper, 
which  was  found  in  rich  pockets  near'  the  surface.  When  these  gave  out,  the 
camp  was  abandoned. 

In  October,  1887,  Mr.  I.  S.  Bartlett.  the  editor  of  this  history,  and  Hon.  W. 
F.  Hamilton,  of  Douglas,  located  and  filed  on  ten  claims  as  iron  properties. 
These  were  the  first  exclusive  iron  claims  located  in  the  district.  Mr.  Bartlett, 
who  was  then  living  near  Hartville,  made  a  study  of  the  district  and  its  iron 
resources  and  wrote  an  account  of  the  same  in  the  Cheyenne  newspapers.  In 
the  spring  of  1889  he  received  a  letter  from  Mayor  Chamberlin  of  Denver,  enclos- 
ing a  check  for  $50  and  asking  him  to  come  to  Denver  and  give  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  further  information  regarding  the  Hartville  iron  deposits.  He  accepted 
the  invitation  and  a  special  meeting  of  the  chamber  was  called  in  the  daytime  to 
listen  to  his  report.  The  meeting  was  largely  attended  and  a  committee  appointed 
to  report  the  next  morning  at  another  special  meeting  what  action  Denver  should 
take  in  establishing  iron  and  steel  works  based  on  a  supply  of  Hartville  ores. 
They  reported  that  such  an  industry  would  add  50,000  to  Denver's  population 
and  give  at  least  one  hundred  million  dollars  increase  to  the  city's  wealth. 

The  outcome  is  a  long  story,  but  the  publication  of  Hartville's  iron  riches 
went  far  and  wide  over  the  country,  and  there  soon  came  a  rush  of  locaters  and 
investors  to  the  camp. 

Mr.  Bartlett  soon  after  made  a  contract  to  supply  the  Grant  Smelting  Works 
of  Denver  with  10,000  tons  of  ore  for  fluxing  purposes,  and  thus  was  the  first 
man  to  establish  the  iron  mining  industry  in  the  district.  The  ore  had  to  be 
hauled  fifteen  miles  by  wagon  to  the  railroad  at  Wendover. 

About  this  time  Mr.  C.  A.  Guernsey,  agent  of  a  Chicago  syndicate,  began 
to  buy  up  iron  claims,  finally  securing  the  Sunrise  group,  which  was  later  leased 
by  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company  and  afterwards  purchased  by  the  company. 

The  Hartville  iron  belt  extends  from  Guernsey  north  to  the  head  of  Whalen 
Canyon,  about  ten  miles,  and  will  vary  from  three  to  four  miles  in  width,  covering 
an  area  of  about  thirty-five  square  miles.  The  potential  amount  of  ore  in  this 
area  is  almost  beyond  calculation. 

V.\RIOUS  OTHER  IRON  DEPCSITS 

In  addition  to  the  four  great  iron  fields  described  in  this  chapter,  there  are 
numberless  iron  deposits  in  various  parts  of  the  state  that  have  not  lieen  pros- 
pected so  as  to  determine  their  extent. 

Large  deposits  of  chromic  iron  are  found  in  Deer  Creek  Canyon,  fifteen  miles 
southwest  of  Glenrock,  in  Converse  County.  Limonite  is  found  in  considerable 
quantities  on  the  Little  Popo  .Agie  in  Fremont  County,  and  at  Jelm  ^Mountain 
in  Albany  County.  Hematite  ores  are  found  in  Crook,  Johnson.  Fremont,  Big- 
horn, Albany  and  Sheridan  counties,  and  their  prevalence  is  so  common  as  to 
excite  very  little  attention  in  the  out-of-the-way  places  where  they  are  discovered. 
An  extensive  body  of  manganese  is  being  mined  on  the  southwest  side  of  Laramie 
Peak,  the  ore  being  hauled  to  Medicine  Bow  Station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road,  for   shipment. 


400  '  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

WYOMING  THE   FUTURE   IRON   STATE 

That  Wyoming  is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  greatest  iron  producing  states 
of  the  Union  is  as  sure  as  the  West  is  expanding  in  population  and  industrial 
greatness,  and  as  sure  as  the  progress  of  civilization  on  this  continent. 

The  state  not  only  has  the  tremendous  ore  bodies  mentioned,  but  in  close 
connection  therewith  all  the  factors  necessary  for  unlimited  iron  and  steel  opera- 
tions, such  as  oil,  coal,  electro-hydro  power,  limestone,  abundant  water  supply 
and  transportation  facilities.  All  these  elements  existing  in  such  enormous  quan- 
tities, comparatively  undeveloped,  must  eventually  be  utilized  to  supply  the  press- 
ing and  eVer-increasing  industrial  needs  of  the  world,  which  are  even  now  straining 
the  resources  of  the  old  states  and  foreign  nations. 

Comparing  Pennsylvania,  our  greatest  industrial  state,  with  Wyoming,  we 
have  an  instructive  object  lesson.  Pennsylvania  has  less  than  half  the  area  of 
Wyoming.  It  has  less  than  one-eighth  the  coal,  iron  and  oil  area  of  Wyoming. 
In  fact,  this  state's  native  resources  are  incomparable  with  any  other  state,  and 
that  these  resources  will  be  developed  in  the  near  future  is  as  certain  as  the 
run  rises  and  sets. 

The  states  of  the  mountain  \\  est  will  naturally  be  the  arena  of  our  future 
national  expansion  in  population  and  industry,  and  nature  has  so  richly  endowed 
Wyoming  that  it  is  destined  to  be  the  greatest  of  them  all. 

OTHER   IMPORT.\NT    MIXER.VL  DEPOSITS 

As  this  chapter  gives  in  tabulated  form  an  account  of  all  the  useful  minerals 
found  in  Wyoming,  as  reported  by  the  United  States  geological  survey  of  1917, 
we  will  now  refer  only  to  deposits  of  special  interest  and  importance,  such  as 
soda,  phosphates,  potash,  gypsum,  mica,  etc.,  with  a  general  review  of  the  metallic 
ores  which  were  not  fully  described  in  the  table. 

THE  SODA  LAKES 

One  of  the  most  unique  features  of  Wyoming's  mineral  deposits  is  the  lakes 
of  crystallized  sodium  sulphate,  and  carbonate,  found  in  various  parts  of  the 
state,  coming  under  the  general  name  of  "soda  lakes."  These  lakes  are  located 
in  Albany,  Carbon,  Sweetwater  and  Natrona  counties  and  contain  millions  of 
tons  of  natural  soda  in  a  crystallized  form  resembling  snow  and  ice.  Scientifically, 
these  lakes  are  the  result  of  evaporation  of  mineral  springs  highly  charged  with 
soda,  the  source  being  generally  subterranean.  The  lakes  will  vary  in  surface 
extent  from  twenty  to  two  hundred  acres  and  the  deposits  from  two  to  sixteen 
feet  thick. 

A  Government  report  on  the  Downey  lakes,  nine  miles  south  of  Laramie 
City,  says : 

"The  deposit  on  one  lake  covers  an  area  of  about  one  hundred  acres,  being 
a  solid  bed  of  crystallized  sulphate  of  sodium  about  nine  feet  thick.  The  deposit 
is  supplied  from  the  bottom  by  springs  whose  waters  hold  the  salts  in  solution, 
and  they  are  rapidly  crystallized.  When  the  solid  material  is  removed,  the  rising 
water  fills  the  excavation  and  crystallizes  in  a  few  days.     Hence  the  deposit  is 


HISTORY  OF  WYOxMING  401 

practically  inexhaustible,  as  it  contains  50,000,000  cubic  feet  of  chemically  pure 
crystals  of  sulphate  of  soda,  ready  to  be  utilized." 

This  description  will  apply  generally  to  all  the  soda  lakes,  although  they  may 
vary  in  chemical  composition,  as,  for  instance,  the  Rock  Creek  lakes  contain  a 
large  percentage  of  sulphate  of  magnesium  or  epsom  salt.  Others  contain  car- 
bonate and  bicarbonate  of  soda  in  varying  percentage. 

Near  Laramie  are  the  Union  Pacific,  the  Morgan  and  the  Downey  lakes. 
North  of  the  Platte  River,  near  Independence  Rock,  are  the  Gill  lakes. 

The  Rock  Creek  lakes,  twenty-six  in  number,  have  an  area  of  about  twelve 
hundred  acres  and  are  located  in  a  basin  ten  miles  from  Rock  Creek  Station. 

An  analysis  of  the  Gill  lakes  soda  shows : 

Sodium  sulphate 74- 5° 

Magnesium  sulphate 2.52 

Sodium  chloride 54 

Water i-6i 

Undetermined 83 


All  these  immense  deposits  of  natural  soda  can  be  used  commercially  and 
industrially,  as  caustic  soda,  salt  cake,  soda  ash,  concentrated  lye,  etc.  They 
are  especially  available  for  the  manufacture  of  glass,  as  good  white  glass  sand 
and  limestone  are  found  :n  nearby  formations 

POTASH  DEPOSITS 

A  recent  discovery  of  a  rock  formation  in  the  Leucite  Hills  of  Sweetwater 
County  is  attracting  much  attention,  as  it  is  reported  to  contain  1 1  per  cent  potash 
and  12  per  cent  aluminum.  A  company  has  been  organized  to  work  this  rock 
and  tests  are  being  made  of  the  best  methods  of  extracting  the  potash.  The 
United  States  Government  is  co-operating  with  the  owners  of  the  claim.  The 
geologist  estimates  that  twenty  million  tons  of  the  caustic  can  be  extracted  from 
the  exposed  outcrop  of  this  deposit,  and  its  successful  working  would  relieve 
the  great  world  scarcity  now  existing  in  this  important  product. 

PHOSPH.VTE  BEDS 

Several  years  ago  the  United  States  geological  bureau  reported  the  existence 
of  immense  phosphate  beds  along  the  western  border  of  the  state  in  Lincoln 
County.  Part  of  the  phosphate  area  extended  over  into  Idaho  and  Utah,  but 
it  was  estimated  that  Wyoming  had  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of 
phosphate  rock,  and  this  area  was  withdrawn  by  the  President. 

Mr.  F.  B.  Weeks  of  the  geological  bureau,  who  made  the  examination  and 
report  on  this  deposit,  estimated  that  it  contained  from  ten  to  twenty  billion 
tons.  This  is  interesting  as  pointing  to  a  great  industry  in  the  near  future,  when 
these  enormous  deposits  will  be  needed  and  utilized  as  a  fertilizer.  Indeed,  the 
industry  is  already  being  developed  and  during  the  past  season  thousands  of  tons 


402  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

have  been  shipped  from  this  county  to   California  and  other  states,   Sage  and 
Sublet  being  the  present  shipping  points. 


Mica  has  come  into  prominence  since  the  world  war  began,  the  demand  being 
much  greater  than  the  supply.  The  United  States  Government  sent  out  its 
geologists  and  agents  in  quest  of  some  source  of  supply,  and  in  May.  1918,  a 
group  of  six  old  mica  mines  in  Whalen  Canyon,  near  Hartville,  owned  by  Messrs. 
Stein,  Lauk  and  Frederick,  was  found  to  be  available  for  immediate  operations. 
Indeed,  it  was  reported  by  the  Government  officials  as  one  of  the  greatest  mica 
fields  discovered  in  this  country.  The  location  of  the  mines  is  on  a  section  of 
state  school  land. 

A  force  of  men  have  been  put  at  work  on  the  properties  and  they  will  be 
developed  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

M.«iRVELOUS  COPPER  POCKET 

One  of  the  riches  bunches  of  copper  ore  ever  found  in  the  world  was  uncov- 
ered by  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company  in  the  Sunrise  district,  near  Hart- 
ville, in  their  mining  for  iron  in  191 7.  It  lay  in  a  matri.x  of  hematite  iron  ore, 
in  one  solid  mass,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  walls  of  iron,  and  was  gradually 
exposed  as  the  iron  ore  was  worked  out.  The  ore  was  a  wonderfully  rich  com- 
bination of  carbonate,  oxide  and  glance,  running  from  fifteen  to  sixty-five  per  cent 
copper.  Over  one  hundred  carloads  of  rich  ore  was  taken  from  this  pocket  and 
the  official  report  of  the  company  shows  a  shipment  of  5,585  tons,  having  an 
estimated  value  of  over  one  million  dollars !  The  small  space  from  which  this 
ore  was  taken,  as  it  lay  in  a  compact  body,  makes  it  one  of  the  marvels  of  mining 
history. 

LIME.STONE   FOR  SUC,.\R   FACTORIES 

The  superior  purity  of  the  limestone  rock  found  in  the  Hartville  district 
makes  it  an  ideal  stone  for  sugar  factories,  and  at  the  present  time  the  rock  is 
being  mined  at  the  Bartlett  quarries,  close  to  the  Town  of  Hartville,  and  at  the 
quarries  of  the  Great  Western  Sugar  Company,  near  Guernsey  and  at  Horse 
Creek.  These  quarries  employ  over  two  hundred  men  and  the  industry  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  I.  S.  Bartlett  &  Sons  were  the  first  to  open  quarries  and 
establish  the  industry  in  this  section. 

MET.ALLIC  ORES .\   CENER.XL  VIEW 

Wyoming  lies  centrally  in  the  Rocky  ^lountain  range,  and  is  bounded  on  three 
sides  with  states  rich  in  metallic  ores — Colorado  on  the  south,  Utah  and  Idaho 
on  the  west  and  Montana  on  the  north.  The  great  ranges  extending  through  and 
overlapping  this  state  are  mineral-bearing,  and  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota,  extend- 
ing through  the  entire  state  along  its  eastern  border,  is  noted  for  its  deposits  of 
gold  and  copjjer,  as  well  as  iron  and  tin. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  403 

Millions  in  gold  have  been  taken  from  Wyoming  placers  in  territorial  days, 
and  in  recent  years  large  copper  deposits  have  been  discovered  and  worked. 

The  fact  that  this  state  is  sparsely  populated  and  is  offering  fortunes  in  the 
sheep  and  cattle  business,  and  great  financial  prizes  to  investors  in  oil  and  coal 
enterprises,  accounts  for  the  fact  that  scientific  m'ning  has  been  greatly  neglected 
for  the  last  ten  years.  A  sheepman,  for  instance,  who  is  making  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  per  cent  annually  on  his  investment,  would  not  accept  a  gold  prospect 
as  a  gift,  or  undertake  a  mining  venture  requiring  expert  knowledge  and  manage- 
ment, no  matter  how  rich  or  promising  the  veins  or  deposits.  Also,  when  the 
first  lode  claims  were  worked  the  cost  of  mining,  transportation  and  ore  reduction 
was  so  great  that  many  rich  mines  could  not  be  worked  profitably,  and  after 
struggling  through  these  adverse  circumstances,  the  claimants  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  other  opportunities  that  oiifered  them  sure  and  quick  returns. 

The  time  is  now  most  opportune  to  develop  the  great  metallic  resources  of 
our  mountains.  Modern  mining  with  labor-saving  machinery,  cheaper  scientific 
methods  of  reduct  on.  new  and  improved  transportation  facilities,  have  given 
mining  investments  a  security  and  permanency  they  never  had  before. 

At  the  present  time,  therefore,  Wyoming  oiifers  rare  inducements  to  the  pros- 
pector, miner  and  investor,  especially  in  gold  and  copper. 

EARLY  GOLD   MINING 

Gold  is  found  in  various  sections  of  Wyoming  and  has  been  mined  from  the 
earliest  settlement  of  the  territory.  The  first  mining  in  the  state  was  gulch 
mining,  as  in  all  frontier  sections.  Raymond,  in  his  report  on  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  issued  in   1870,  says : 

"Gold  in  the  Sweetwater  district  was  first  discovered  in  1842  by  a  Georgian 
who  came  out  with  the  American  Fur  Company  for  his  health.  Thirteen  years 
after,  a  party  of  forty  men  arrived,  who  found  gold  everywhere  in  the  river  as 
well  as  tributary  streams.  The  river  was  turned  from  its  channels  and  the  old 
bed  worked  with  good  success." 

In  i860,  a  band  of  gold  hunters  worked  on  Strawberry  Gulch,  and  the  remains 
of  their  old  sluices,  rockers  and  toms  may  still  be  seen.  South  Pass,  however, 
became  the  scene  of  the  most  extensive  placer  mining  in  the  state.  The  first 
miners  there,  in  1861,  were  driven  away  by  the  Indians.  In  1866  part'es  came 
in  from  Virginia  City  and  organized  a  mining  district.  In  1869  there  were 
2.000  people  in  the  camp  and  South  Pass  became  the  second  largest  town  in  the 
territory.  Before  that  time  the  Carisa  and  other  m'ning  lodes  were  discovered 
and  worked.  There  were  three  stamp  mills  in  operation  and  five  more  mills 
on  the  way  and  under  construction.  Up  to  1870  Professor  Knight  estimates  that 
over  five  million  dollars  in  gold  had  been  taken  out. 

The  next  most  extensive  placer  mining  was  on  Douglas  Creek  and  its  tribu- 
taries, espec'ally  Moore's  Gulch,  where  the  claims  were  so  rich  that  miners  were 
willing  to  stay  and  fight  Indians. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  state  many  gold  seekers  came  in  from  Montana 
and  Dakota  and  found  rich  placers  along  the  tributaries  of  Powder  River,  where 
the  famous  Lost  Cabin  placers  were  found. 

-All  these  placer  fields  are  evidences  of  gold  veins  in  the  adjacent  mountains, 


404  .    HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

as  they  are  formed  from  the  disintegration  and  erosion  of  such  veins,  but  little 
exploration  in  the  high  ranges  to  locate  the  gold  mines  could  be  done  because 
they  were  so  far  away  from  railroad  transportation  and  working  facilities. 


Copper  is  found  in  nearly  every  section  of  Wyoming.  Its  prevalence  is  so 
universal  that  it  may  well  be  called  a  copper  state,  although  it  has  not  been 
extensively  mined,  for  reasons  given  heretofore. 

The  leading  copper  districts  of  the  state  are  Grand  Encampment  in  the  Sierra 
Madre  Mountains,  the  New  Rambler  district  in  the  Snowy  range,  the  Hartville 
district  in  the  Black  Hills  of  Wyoming  and  in  the  Sunlight  and  Kirwin  districts 
of  the  Shoshone  range  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state.  At  Tie  Siding, 
Albany  County,  native  copper  has  been  found  in  large  quantities,  but  no  deep 
mining  has  yet  been  done  there.  Copper  mining  began  at  Hartville  in  1881  and 
has  been  carried  on  there  and  at  other  camps  in  the  district  continuously.  Last 
year  the  district  produced  over  one  million  dollars'  worth  of  copper. 

The  scene  of  the  greatest  development  in  copper  mining  has  been  in  the  Grand 
Encampment  district,  which  had  produced  about  two  million  dollars  when  numer- 
ous subsidiary  companies  were  organized,  as  wheels  within  wheels,  and  a  wild 
stock  jobbing  speculation  began  with  capitalizations  of  twenty  million  dollars 
to  thirty  million  dollars,  so  that  the  affairs  of  the  various  companies  became  so 
involved  and  complicated  that  they  were  thrown  into  court  and  all  operations 
suspended. 

The  Ferris-Haggerty  mine,  discovered  in  1898  and  purchased  by  the  North 
America  Copper  Company,  was  the  basis  of  the  extensive  operations  that  ensued 
in  the  building  of  large  reduction  works  at  Grand  Encampment  and  an  aerial 
tramway  over  the  mountains  sixteen  miles  from  the  mine  to  the  works,  and 
the  construction  of  subsidiary  plants,  as  well  as  the  equipment  of  the  mines  and 
houses  for  employees,  etc. 

The  Doane  Rambler,  the  Portland  and  various  other  mines  contributed  to 
the  ore  supplies  handled  at  the  smelting  works. 

The  great  extent  and  value  of  the  Ferris-Haggerty  group  is  well  established 
and  undisputed,  and  when  the  present  litigation  is  over,  that  section  will  become 
one  of  the  great  copper  producing  districts  of  the  country.  The  ores  consist  of 
yellow  copper  pyrites,  brown  oxides  and  blue  carbonates. 

Another  noted  copper  mine  is  the  New  Rambler,  in  .\lbany  County,  dis- 
covered in  1900.  This  mine  has  produced  about  one  million  pounds  of  the  richest 
copper  ores  known,  containing  a  small  percentage  of  platinum.  The  ore  is  a 
covellite,  a  beautiful  blue  sulphide,  with  brilliant  cr\'stallizations.  The  company 
has  a  small  matte  smelter  in  connection  with  its  mining  plant. 

Silver  Crown,  twenty-five  miles  northwest  of  Cheyenne,  has  been  the  scene 
of  copper  mining  at  different  periods  during  the  past  forty  years,  and  several 
large  deposits  have  been  penetrated  there  by  the  Fairview,  Ferguson,  Louise  and 
other  mines,  and  few  districts  in  the  state  have  better  prospects  for  future  devel- 
opment in  copper  production.  At  this  camp  there  are  also  several  low-grade 
gold  and  copper  deposits  of  great  magnitude. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  405 

USEFUL   MINERALS  FOUND  IN   WYOMING 

(As  Reported  by  the  United  States  Geologicai  Survey  of  1917.) 

Agate  (moss).  Carbon  County,  has  been  mined  near  Sweetwater  River; 
common  in  other  locaHties.  Fremont  County,  head  of  Long  Creek  and  on  Sage 
Hen  Creek,  north  of  Granite  Mountains.  Natrona  County,  on  Sage  Hen  Creek, 
northeast  of  Granite  Mountains.  Platte  County,  Wilde  and  Deercorn  mine,  two 
miles  northwest  of  Guernsey,  moss  agate,  also  red  and  banded ;  mined  inter- 
mittently. 

Allanite.  Albany  County,  near  Albany  Station.  Occurs  near  line  between 
sections  3  and  10,  township  14,  range  78  west,  in  pegmatite. 

Anglesite  (lead  sulphate).  Carbon  County,  at  Ferris,  with  galena,  cerusite 
and  quartz. 

Argentite  (silver  sulphide).    Laramie  County,  with  other  ores,  Laramie  Peak. 

Asbestos  (chiefly  chrysotile).  Albany  County,  Laramie  range.  Carbon 
County,  in  Seminoe  Mountains.  Converse  County,  occurs  ten  miles  south  of 
Glenrock.  Crook  County,  Black  Hills.  Natrona  County,  mined  on  Casper  Moun- 
tain, eight  miles  south  of  Casper,  and  on  Smith  Creek,  twenty  miles  southeast 
of  Casper;  fair  quality;  associated  with  serpentine;  two  mills  erected  in  1910; 
small  production.    Atlantic  district,  Fremont  County,  operations  pending. 

Asphalt.  Fremont  County,  occurs  four  miles  northeast  of  Fort  Washakie 
at  a  depth  of  1,500  feet  in  wells  drilled  for  oil,  and  in  nearly  all  of  the  oil  dis- 
tricts as  maltha  or  brea.  Bighorn  County,  west  slope  of  Big  Horn  Mountains 
in  sections  28,  29,  32,  33,  township  52  north,  range  89  west. 

Azurite  (blue  carbonate  of  copper).  Albany  County,  Rambler,  and  Blanche 
mines  at  Holmes,  Grand  Encampment  district.  Carbon  County.  Occurs  but  not 
mined  in  Seminoe  district.  Crook  County,  Warren's  Peak.  Johnson  County, 
Big  Horn  Mountains.  Platte  and  Goshen  counties,  in  Hartville  Uplift  in  many 
prospects ;  mined  in  Copper  Belt  mines. 

Barite  (heavy  spar).  Albany  County,  Medicine  Bow  Mountains;  not  mined. 
Crook  County,  Black  Hills.     Park  County,  at  Kirwin. 

Bentonite  (medicinal  or  paper  clay).  Occurs  in  Albany,  Bighorn,  Carbon. 
Converse,  Crook,  Fremont,  Hot  Springs,  Johnson,  Natrona,  Park,  Sheridan  and 
Weston  counties ;  used  for  weighing  paper,  as  an  adulterant,  for  hoof  packing, 
and  in  the  manufacture  of  antiphlogistine.  Albany  County,  extensive  deposits 
well  developed  on  Rock  Creek  in  eastern  part  of  county ;  deposits  also  occur 
respectively  at  eight  and  twenty  miles  southwest  of  Laramie ;  has  been  shipped 
from  Rock  Creek  and  Laramie  Basin.  Bighorn  County,  thick  deposits  in 
northern  part  of  Big  Horn  Basin,  near  Hartman  and  the  Alontana  boundary. 
Weston  County,  near  Newcastle ;  has  been  shipped  from  Clay  Spur  and  New- 
castle.    In  Hot  Springs  County  it  occurs  in  beds  three  feet  thick. 

Bismuth.     See  Bismuthinite  and  Bismutite. 

Bismuthinite.     Albany  County,  occurs  near  Cummings  City ;  not  mined. 

Bismutite.    Albany  County,  has  been  mined  on  Jelm  Mountain. 

Bornite  (purple  copper  ore).  Carbon  County,  mined  at  Encampment  district. 
Platte  County,  formerly  mined  about  Hartville. 

Brown  iron  ore    (limonite).     Albany  County,  occurs  at   Jelm  mines.     Con- 


406  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

verse  County,  near  Douglas.  Fremont  County,  on  Little  Pope  Agie  Creek ;  not 
mined. 

Cassiterite.  Crook  County.  Stream  tin  has  been  found  sparingly  at  various 
times  in  the  gulches  around  Nigger  Hill,  S.  D.,  on  state  line. 

Cement  material  (Portland).  .Albany  County,  fifteen  feet  of  pure  marl  in 
Niobrara  formation,  eight  miles  southwest  of  Laramie.  Laramie  County,  Nio- 
brara and  Minnekahta  limestones  and  Graneros  shale  member  of  the  Benton, 
near  Cheyenne.     Weston  County,  near  Newcastle.     Not  used. 

Cerargyrite  (horn  silver).  Crook  County,  Black  Buttes  mines,  Warren's 
Peak.  Fremont  County,  associated  with  other  ores  in  Wind  River  Mountain 
mines. 

Cerium  metals.     See  AUanite  and  Monazite. 

Cerusite  (carbonate  of  lead).  Albany  County,  in  schists  and  diorite  at  Ester- 
brook;  has  been  mined  and  shipped.  Carbon  County,  with  galena  and  quartz  at 
Ferris.  Crook  County,  Black  Butte  mines,  hard  and  soft  carbonates ;  argen- 
tiferous :  has  been  mined. 

Chalcocite  (copper  glance).  Albany  County,  in  gneiss  and  schist  at  Jelm; 
gold  and  silver  values ;  Doane-Rambler  and  other  mines.  Carbon  County,  impor- 
tant ore  of  Encampment  district.  Platte  and  Goshen  counties,  important  ore 
in  Hartville  Uplift ;  carries  gold  and  silver  at  some  mines. 

Chalcopyrite  (copper  pyrites).  Albany  County,  in  granite  and  schist  at  Jelm 
mines ;  gold  values.  Carbon  County,  important  ore  of  Encampment  district ; 
Seminoe  Mountains.  Fremont  County,  South  Pass  City,  with  other  ores.  Lara- 
mie County,  with  iron  ores  in  quartz  at  Ulcahoma  mine,  near  Hecia ;  carries  gold 
and  silver.  Park  County,  at  Kirwin.  Platte  and  Goshen  counties,  important 
ore  of  Hartville  Uplift. 

Chromite  (chromic  iron  ore).  Large  deposits  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
state.  Converse  County,  mined  at  Deer  Creek  Canyon,  fifteen  miles  southwest 
of  Glenrock.     Natrona  County,  s'milar  deposit  occurs  on  Casper  Mountain. 

Chromium.    See  Chromite. 

Chrysocolla  (copper  silicate).  Platte  and  Goshen  counties,  Hartville  iron 
range.    Mined  at  Green  Hope,  Silver  Cliff  and  Copper  Belt  mines. 

Chrysotile.     See  Asbestos. 

Clay  (brick).  Abundant  throughout  the  state.  Brick  made  in  the  following 
localities;  Albany  County,  Laramie;  Bighorn  County,  Basin,  Cody,  Park  and 
Worland ;  Carbon  County,  Encampment ;  Converse  County,  Douglas ;  Crook 
County,  Gillette;  Fremont  County,  Lander  and  Thermopolis;  Natrona  County, 
Casper ;  Platte  County,  Wheatland ;  Sheridan  County,  Sheridan ;.  Sweetwater 
County.  Green  River;  Laramie  County,  Cheyenne.     Also  in  other  counties. 

Clay   (medicinal  or  paper).     See  Bentonite. 

Coal.  Estimated  tonnage  of  coal  in  the  ground  second  largest  in  the  United 
States ;  about  fifty  per  cent  of  the  area  of  the  state  is  underlain  by  coal-bearing 
foimations. 

Coal  (bituminous).  Laramie  Basin — Albany  County,  mined  for  local  use  at 
Rock,  Dutton  and  Mill  creeks. 

Coal  (bituminous  and  sub-bitummous  ).  Green  River  Field — Carbon,  Fremont, 
Sweetwater  and  Uinta  counties :  contains  4.1^00  sc|uare  miles  of  available  coal 
and  20,000  square  miles  of  coal  deeply  buried.     Carbon  County,  bituminous  coal 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  407 

mined  at  Hanna  and  Rawlins.  Sweetwater  County,  Rock  Springs.  Uinta  County, 
Cumberland,  Diamondville,  Kemmerer  and  Spring  \alley.  Henry's  Fork  Field— 
Uinta  County,  coal  widely  distributed :  little  developed. 

Coal  (bituminous  coking).  Cambria  Field — Weston  County,  large  mine  at 
Cambria;  about  twelve  square  miles  of  workable  coal;  has  been  coked. 

Coal  (sub-bituminous).  Big  Horn  Basin — Bighorn  and  Park  counties,  mines 
near  Basin,  Cody,  Crosby.  Gebo,  Meeteetse  and  Thermopolis.  Powder  River 
Field — Largest  in  the  state ;  lies  between  Black  Hills  and  Big  Horn  Mountains ; 
extends  from  Montana  line  south  to  North  Platte  River;  Upper  Cretaceous  and 
Eocene;  beds  have  a  maximum  thickness  of  forty-five  feet;  ii,ooo  square  miles 
underlain  by  workable  beds.  Mines  in  Converse  County  at  Glenrock,  Big  Muddy, 
Inez  Station  and  Lost  Spring ;  Johnson  County,  Buffalo ;  Sheridan  County,  Car- 
ney, Dietz,  Monarch  and  Sheridan.  Small  quantity  for  local  use  taken  at  many 
places.  Wind  River  Basin — Fremont  and  Natrona  counties.  Mined  in  Popo 
Agie  \^alley,  eight  miles  northeast  of  Lander  and  near  Hudson ;  eight  feet. 

Cobalt.  Albany  County,  with  gold-copper  ores  in  Medicine  Bow  mines  at 
Holmes.     Laramie  County,  with  copper  ores  in  Silver  Crown  district. 

Copper  ( native).  Albany  County,  in  granite  at  Rambler  mine,  Grand  Encamp- 
ment district.  Fremont  County,  Copper  Mountain  district.  Platte  and  Goshen 
counties,  Hartville  Uplift ;  mined  in  Iron  Belt  mines.    Tie  Siding,  Albany  County. 

Copper  Minerals.  Copper  is  the  predominant  metal  produced  in  the  follow- 
ing districts :  Albany  County,  Douglas  Creek,  Horse  Creek,  Jelm  Mountains  and 
Laramie  Peak;  Carbon  County,  Encampment,  French  Creek,  Rankin  and  Semi- 
noe;  Converse  County,  Warbonnet;  Fremont  County,  Copper  Mountain,  De 
Pass  and  Owl  Creek;  Goshen  County,  Rawhide  Buttes ;  Johnson  County,  Bull 
Camp  ;  Laramie  County,  Hecla  ;  Natrona  County,  Casper  Mountain  ;  Park  County, 
Kirwin,  Sunl-ght ;  Uinta  County,  Cockscomb.  See  also  Azurite,  Bornite,  Chal- 
cocite,  Chalcopyrite,  Chrysocol'a,  Covellite,  Cuprite.  Malachite,  Melaconite,  Ten- 
nantite  and  Tenorite. 

Corundum  (emery).  Fremont  County,  Wind  River  range  :  not  mined. 

Covellite.  Albany  County,  mined  at  Rambler  mine  at  Holmes,  Grand  Encamp- 
ment district.     Platte  and  Goshen  counties,  Hartville  Uplift. 

Cuprite  (red  copper  oxide).  Albany  County,  Rambler  mine  at  Holmes,  Grand 
Encampment  district.  Bighorn  County,  prospects  in  Bull  Creek,  ^^'alker  Prairie, 
in  Big  Horn  Mountains.  Crook  County,  associated  with  hard  carbonate  ores  at 
Black  Buttes  and  Inyankara  Peak ;  has  been  m'ned.  Platte  and  Goshen  counties, 
mined  in  Hartville  Uplift;  prospects  in  Whalen  Canyon,  Muskrat  Canyon  and 
Rawhide  buttes. 

Epsomite  (Epsom  salt,  magnesium  sulphate).  Long,  needle-shaped  crystals 
in  soda  lakes  in  Albany.  Carbon  and  Natrona  counties.  Brooklyn  Lake,  area 
ninety  acres,  covered  with  nearly  pure  deposit,  near  Wilcox  Station,  Albany 
County. 

Flagstone.  Common  in  same  localities  as  marble.  I'.mestone  and  sandstones. 
Has  been  quarried  for  local  use. 

Galena  (argentiferous).  Albany  County,  mined  for  gold  and  silver  in  gneiss 
and  schist  at  Jelm.  Carbon  County,  at  Ferris  in  fissure  veins  with  quartz,  cerusite. 
anglesite.  Crook  County,  has  been  mined  at  Black  Buttes.  Park  County.  Kir- 
win.    Albany  County.  Esterbrook. 


408  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Gas.     See  Natural  Gas. 

Gold  (lode).  Produced  in  following  districts,  in  most  cases  predominant 
metal :  Albany  County,  Centennial,  Holmes,  and  Jelm  Mountains  ;  Crook  County, 
Bear  Lodge  and  Black  Buttes ;  Fremont  County,  Atlantic,  Owl  Creek  and  South 
Pass;  Goshen  County,  Rawhide  Buttes;  Laramie  County,  Hecla ;  Lincoln  County, 
Horse  Creek,  eighty-five  miles  north  of  Kemmerer,  near  Merna.  See  also  Cyl- 
vanite. 

Gold  (placer).  Albany  County,  Douglas  Creek  and  Keystone;  Bighorn 
County,  Shoshone  River  and  Bald  Mountain  ;  Carbon  County,  on  the  South  French 
Creek ;  Crook  County,  Sand  Creek  and  Nigger  Hill ;  Fremont  County,  Atlantic 
and  Lewiston ;  South  Pass  City,  hydraulicking.  In  1912-13  was  dredged  on 
Wind  River,  seven  miles  west  of  Riverton  and  eight  miles  northeast  of  Riverton, 
near  Noble.  Johnson  County,  in  Kelley  Creek,  near  Buffalo,  and  in  Big  Horn 
Mountains ;  Park  County,  Shoshone  River  and  Clark  Fort  at  Crandall ;  Sweet- 
water County,  Green  River;  Uinta  County,  in  sands  of  Snake  River,  mined  inter- 
mittently, and  on  Snake  Creek. 

Granite.  Abundant  in  Big  Horn  Mountains,  Hartville  Cplift,  Laramie  range 
and  Medicine  Bow  range ;  production  small. 

Graphite  (plumbago).  Fremont  County,  near  Miners'  Delight ;  Goshen  County, 
Haystack  Hills;  Platte  County,  near  Ironton(has  been  mined);  Platte  County, 
Halleck  Canon. 

Grindstone.     Carbon  County,  quarried  near  Rawlins ;  small  production. 

Gypsum.  Albany  County,  rock  gypsum  is  mined  at  Red  Butte,  and  used  by 
one  mill  for  making  plaster ;  gypsite,  or  earthy  gypsum,  is  dug  near  Laramie 
and  used  by  two  mills  for  mak-ng  plaster.  Has  been  mined  west  of  Sheridan; 
occurs  abundantly  in  Bighorn,  Carbon,  Converse,  Crook,  Fremont,  Johnson, 
Laramie,  Natrona,   Sweetwater,  Uinta  and  Weston  counties. 

Halite  (common  salt).  In  soda  lakes  in  Albany,  Carbon  and  Natrona  coun- 
ties. Salt  springs  numerous  in  several  counties.  Crook  County,  at  Cambria,  salt 
was  made  by  evaporating  water  of  Salt  Creek. 

Hematite  (red  iron  ore).  Carbon  County,  extensive  deposit  north  of  Raw- 
lins was  mixed  with  flux ;  also  on  south  side  of  the  Seminoe  Mountains,  thirty- 
five  miles  north  of  Rawlins,  and  at  Jelm  mines.  Platte  and  Goshen  counties, 
chief  ore  of  Hartville  iron  range ;  mined  at  Sunrise,  Lone  Jack  and  Good  Fortune 
mines. 

Ilmenite  (titanic  iron  ore).  Laramie  County,  Iron  Mountain;  immense  dike 
not  mined. 

Iron.  Iron  is  the  chief  metal  produced  in  Laramie  County,  at  Iron  Mountain, 
and  in  Platte  County,  at  Hartville.  Chromic  iron  ore  is  produced  in  Converse 
County,  in  Deer  Creek  district.  See  also  Brown  iron  ore,  Chromite,  Hematite, 
Limenite,  Magnetite,   Mineral  paint,  Pyrite  and  Pyrrhotite. 

Kaolin.     Carbon  County,  occurs  near  the  soda  lake,  pure  and  in  quantity. 

Lead.     See  Anglesite,  Cerusite  and  Galena. 

Limestone.  Albany  County,  three  miles  northeast  of  Laramie,  used  for  lime 
in  beet  sugar  refining.  Limestones  of  Carboniferous  and  Jurassic  ages  in  many 
counties  afford  an  abundance  of  good  lime  suitable  for  plaster;  some  of  these 
limestones  are  hydraulic. 

Limestone    (building).      Quarried:      .Albany    County,    at    Laramie:    Carbon 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  409 

County,  Rawlins;  Fremont  County,  Thermopolis ;  Laramie  County,  Horse  Creek; 
Platte  County,  Hartville  and  near  Guernsey;  Sheridan  County,  Sheridan;  Sweet- 
water County,  Green  River. 

Limestone  (flux).  Quarried:  Carbon  County,  at  Rawlins;  Platte  County, 
Guernsey;  Bartlett  Quarries,  at  Hartville. 

Linionite  (brown  hematite).     See  Brown  iron  ore. 

Magnetite  (magnetic  iron  ore).  Albany  County,  in  diorite  near  Foxpark. 
Carbon  County,  with  hematite,  near  Rawlins. 

Malachite  (green  carbonate  of  copper).  Albany  County,  abundant  in  Ram- 
bler mine,  and  found  in  Blanche  mine  at  Holmes,  Grand  Encampment  district. 
Carbon  and  Crook  counties,  prospects  at  Bull  Camp  and  Walker  Prairie,  in 
Big  Horn  Mountains,  with  other  ores.  Park  County,  Kirwin,  as  vein  mineral. 
Platte  and  Goshen  counties,  important  ore  of  Hartville  Uplift;  mined  at  Green 
Hope,  Silver  Clifif,  Lone  Jack  and  Copper  Belt  mines. 

Manganese  ore.     Albany  County,  west  side  of  Laramie  Peak. 

Marble.  Albany  County,  west  flank  of  Laramie  range;  east  flank  Medicine 
Bow  range;  lOO-foot  ledge  of  good  quality,  Copper  Lake  Station.  Converse 
County,  Douglas,  red,  good  quality.  Crook  County,  west  flank  Black  Hills. 
Fremont  County,  Rattlesnake  Mountains.  Johnson  County,  Big  Horn  Mountains. 
Platte  County,  Hartville,  east  bank  Laramie  range,  abundant  in  the  Carbonifer- 
ous ;  pure  white  marble  occurs  twenty  miles  west  of  Wheatland. 

Marl.  Albany  County,  fifteen  feet  pure  marl,  eight  miles  southwest  of 
Laramie. 

Melaconite  (black  oxide  of  copper).  Albany  County,  quantity  in  Rambler 
mine.  Holmes.     Platte  County,  Michigan  mine. 

Mica  (muscovite).  Albany  County,  in  Medicine  Bow  range.  Converse 
County,  occurs  in  sizable  plates  at  Glenrock.  Fremont  County,  sixty  miles  west 
of  Lander.  Goshen  County,  in  Haystack  Mountains  near  Hartville.  Platte 
County,  near  fronton. 

Mineral  paint.  Carbon  County,  made  from  soft  iron  ore  at  Rawlins.  Suit- 
able material  at  Hartville  and  other  iron  localities. 

Mirabilite  (sodium  sulphate,  glauber  salt).  In  soda  lakes  in  Albany,  Carbon 
and  Natrona  counties ;  has  been  mined  in  Albany  County  near  Laramie  and  in 
Natrona  County,  Sweetwater  Valley. 

Molybdenite.    Park  County,  in  Bryan  mine  at  Kirwin.     Strong  mine,  Albany. 

Monazite.  Carbon  County,  in  black  sands  in  Bald  Mountain  district.  Sheri- 
dan County,  reported  from  Big  Horn  Mountains. 

Natron  (carbonate  of  soda).  Sweetwater  County.  Green  River;  borings  in 
the  Wasatch  sandstone  (Eocene?)  at  depth  of  125  and  700  feet  yield  an  almost 
concentrated  solution  of  sodium  carbonate  utilized  for  the  manufacture  of  caustic 
soda.  Common  in  the  soda  lakes  of  Albany,  Carbon,  Natrona  and  Sweetwater 
counties;  not  marketed. 

Natural  gas.  Bighorn  County.  Big  Horn  Basin  gas  field ;  gas  from  anticlines 
at  western  base  of  Big  Horn  Mountains  :  used  commercially  at  Basin,  Byron.  Lovell 
and  Greybull.  Converse  County,  small  field  near  Douglas.  Hot  Springs  County, 
considerable  quantities,  as  yet  not  utilized,  in  Grass  Creek  oil  field.  Occurs  in 
central  Park  County,  near  Cody,  and  in  southern  Park  County,  in  Buffalo  Basin. 

Nickel   ore.     Converse  County,   in   pyrrhotite,   Esterbrook  district.     Laramie 


410  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

County,  in  ores  of  Ulcahoma  mine,  and  associated  with  copper  ores,  Little  London 
mine,  near  Hecla. 

Niter.     Sweetwater  County,  soda  niter  in  Leucite  Hills. 

Oil.    See  Petroleum. 

Oil  shale.     See  Shale. 

Ozokerite  (mineral  wax).  Fremont  County,  occurs  twenty  miles  southeast 
of  Lander.  Sweetwater  and  L-inta  counties,  near  Colorado  line,  in  Tertiary  and 
Cretaceous;  shipped  east  for  use  in  manufacture  of  ointments  and  insulating 
material. 

Palladium.  Albany  County,  in  copper  ores  with  platinum  in  Rambler  mine 
at  Holmes. 

Petrified  wood.    Common  in  badlands  in  many  parts  of  the  state. 

Petroleum.  Productive  areas  of  considerable  importance  in  Bighorn  County, 
near  Basin,  Byron  and  Greybull.  About  fifteen  wells  drilled  on  Torchlight 
Dome,  three  miles  east  of  Basin ;  ten  wells  on  a  small  anticline  directly  north  of 
this  dome  ;  and  about  thirty-five  wells  on  the  Greybull  Dome,  at  the  mouth  of  Grey- 
bull  River.  Petroleum,  paraffin  base,  in  Fremont  County,  north  and  east  of 
Lander,  near  Riverton,  Saddlerock ;  in  Hot  Springs  County,  along  Grass  Creek, 
five  miles  northwest  of  Ilo ;  and  in  Natrona  County,  at  Salt  Creek,  north  of 
Casper.  Hot  Springs  County,  in  Grass  Creek  anticline,  twenty  or  more  wells 
drilled  ;  nearly  all  found  oil.  Petroleum  occurs  in  small  quantities  in  Bighorn 
County,  near  Bonanza ;  in  Converse  County,  near  Douglas :  in  Crook  County,  near 
ilVIoorcroft ;  in  Johnson  County,  along  Powder  River ;  in  Lincoln  County,  near 
Labarge ;  in  Weston  County,  near  Newcastle ;  and  in  Uinta  County,  near  Spring 
Valley.  The  total  production  of  the  state  in  191 3  was  2,406.522  barrels,  valued 
at  $1,187,232;  in  1914  it  was  3,560,375  barrels,  valued  at  $1,679,192. 

Phosphate  rock.  Fremont  County,  extends  fifty  miles  northwest  and  south- 
east from  Lander  and  occurs  along  northern  boundary.  Hot  Springs  County, 
underlies  area  near  Thermopolis  and  along  southern  boundary.  Lincoln  County, 
mined  and  shipped  at  Cokeville ;  large  area  140  miles  long ;  beds  ten  feet  thick. 

Platinum.  Albany  County,  in  copper  ores  of  the  Rambler  tnine,  at  Holmes. 
Lincoln  County,  in  concentrates  from  Snake  River  placers.     See  also  Sperrylite. 

Potash.  Sweetwater  County,  large  quantity  in  wyomingite  and  other  rocks 
of  Leucite  Hills  No  method  known  for  making  it  commercially  available.  See 
also  Niter. 

Pumice.     Albany  County,  beds  four  to  si.x  feet  thick  near  Sportsman's  Lake. 

Pyrite  (iron  pyrites).  Albany  County,  with  copper  ores.  Encampment  dis- 
trict, in  Jelm  and  Ulcahoma  mines ;  mined  for  gold  and  silver  content.  Sweet- 
water and  other  counties,  with  gold  and  quartz  veins;  little  worked. 

Pyrrhotite.  Albany  and  Converse  count'es,  underlying  iron  oxides  at  Cooney 
Hill  and  with  copper  ores  in  prospects  in  North  Laramie  district. 

Road  metal.    See  Asphalt,  Granite,  Limestone,  Marble  and  Sandstone. 

Salt.  Uinta  County,  mined  at  Auburn.  Salt  produced  from  brine  south  of 
Star  Valley  on  Salt  Creek.     See  also  Halite. 

Sand  (building).     Dug  in  small  quantity  for  local  use  at  many  places. 

Sand  (glass).  Albany  County,  from  soft  sandstone  of  Casper  formation. 
Has  been  quarried  three  miles  east  of  Laramie. 

Sandstone.     Albany  County,  quarried  at  Laramie,   small   quantity.      Bighorn 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  411 

County,  Cody  :  Carbon  County,  Rawlins  :  Crook  County,  Aladdin  ;  Fremont  County, 
Lander  and  Thermopolis ;  Laramie  County,  Iron  Mountain  and  Underwood; 
Sheridan  County,  Arno,  Dietz  and  Absarokee  Park ;  Uinta  County,  Cumberland, 
Evanston,  Oakley,  Frontier  and  Glencoe ;  and  at  many  other  towns  and  villages. 

Shale.     Albany  County,  used  for  making  brick  at  Laramie. 

Shale  (oil).  Green  River  formation  (Eocene),  in  southwestern  part  of  the 
state,  on  Green  River  and  its  tributaries;  some  shale  rich  in  oil. 

Silver  (native).  Platte  County,  Silver  Clift  mine  in  Hartville  Uplift  and 
in  other  copper  mines.     See  also  Argentitc,  Cerargyrite  and  Sylvanite. 

Sperrylite.     Albany  County,  has  been  found  at  Rambler  mine,  Holmes. 

Sphalerite.     Platte  County,  mined  with  hematite  in  Hartville  mines. 

Sulphur.  Hot  Springs  County,  massive  and  in  small  crystals,  in  travertine 
near  Thermopolis ;  mined  and  shipped.  Park  County,  in  local  deposits  on  south 
side  of  Shoshone  River;  at  lower  end  of  Shoshone  Canyon,  and  on  west  side 
of  Sulphur  Creek;  occurs  in  the  Sunlight  Basin,  fifty-two  miles  northwest  of 
Cody ;  has  been  mined  near  Cody. 

Sylvanite.     Crook  County,  occurs  in  Bear  Lodge  Mountains. 

Tennantite.  Platte  County,  has  been  mined  north  of  Guernsey  in  Copper 
Bottom  prospect,  southeast  quarter  section  23,  township  29  north,  range  65  west. 

Tenorite.    Albany  County,  quantity  at  Rambler  mine.  Holmes. 

Thorium.     See  Monazite. 

Tin.    See  Cassiterite. 

Titanium.     See  Ilmenite. 

Travertine.  Hot  Springs  County,  near  Thermopolis,  on  Big  Horn  River  ( abun- 
dant), and  in  Yellowstone  National  Park  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state. 

Trona  (sodium  carbonate).  Sweetwater  County,  number  of  wells  at  Green- 
water  ;  produce  good  soda ;  shipped. 

Tufa.     See  Travertine. 

Tungsten.    See  Wolframite. 

Wolframite.    Albany  County,  small  stringer  in  copper  mine  near  Holmes. 

Wood,  silicified.     Abundant  in  Yellowstone  National  Park. 

Wyomingite.  Sweetwater  County,  in  Leucite  H'lls,  abundant.  Future  source 
of  potash  when  method  for  making  it  commercially  available  is  discovered. 

Yttrium.     See  Allanite. 

Zinc.     See  Sphalerite. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
FINANCIAL  HISTORY 

EARLY  CONDITIONS  IN  WYOMING FINANCIAL  GROWTH ASSESSMENTS  OF  1889  AND 

I917   COMPARED PUBLIC  REVENUES THE  BONDED  DEBT SECURITY BANKING, 

ORIGIN  OF BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES WYOMING  BANKS STATE  BANKING 

LAWS BANKS   IN    189O PIONEER  BANKERS BANKS  IN    I918— STATE  BANKERS 

ASSOCIATION. 

Only  a  little  more  than  fifty  years  ago  the  first  actual  settlers  of  Wyoming 
began  the  work  of  building  up  a  state  in  a  region  that  for  many  years  had  been 
considered  unfit  for  habitation  by  civilized  people.  There  were  no  weaklings 
among  those  pioneers.  Most  of  them  were  men  of  courage  and  energy,  full  of 
hope  for  the  future,  but  unfortunately  they  possessed  but  a  limited  amount  of 
ready  cash.  It  is  the  history  of  every  new  state  that,  until  the  resources  are  de- 
veloped to  a  point  that  yields  an  income,  the  demand  for  public  expenditures  out- 
strips the  sources  of  public  revenues.  In  creating  the  temporary  government  for 
the  Territory  of  Wyoming,  Congress  helped  by  making  appropriations  for  certain 
purposes,  and  by  granting  large  tracts  of  land,  though  the  land  was  then  of  slight 
value.  In  fact  the  land  did  not  acquire  a  value  until  the  number  of  inhabitants 
grew  sufficiently  to  create  a  demand  for  it  for  homes  and  ranches.  During  these 
early  years  the  burden  of  taxation  fell  heavily  upon  the  settlers,  yet  they  never 
faltered  in  their  determination  to  conquer  the  wilderness  and  establish  their  state 
upon  a  firm  foundation. 

FINANCIAL  GROWTH 

No  doubt  the  best  method  of  determining  the  financial  growth  of  the  state  is  by 
a  comparison  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  taken  at  different  periods. 
While  these  valuations  in  Wyoming  have  been  somewhat  fluctuating  at  times, 
the  general  trend  has  been  steadily  upward.  In  1889  the  Territory  of  Wyoming 
was  twenty  years  old.  The  financial  progress  during  those  twenty  years  is 
shown  in  the  last  report  of  the  territorial  secretary,  in  which  the  assessed  valua- 
tion of  property  is  given  as  follows: 

Albany  County    $4,122,194 

Carbon  County    ^ 3-784,028 

Converse  County 2,146,364 

Crook  County    2,278,496 

Fremont   County    i. 819.738 

Johnson  County 1,963,648 

Laramie  County    7,925,871 

412 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  413 

Sheridan  County $  1,228,756 

Sweetwater  County 3,142,232 

Uinta  County 3,019,166 

Total  for  the  territory $31,430,493 

The  year  following  this  assessment  Wyoming  was  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  a  state  and  the  United  States  census  for  that  year  showed  a  population  of 
62,555,  including  1,850  Indians  not  distributed  by  counties.  The  per  capita  wealth 
of  the  territory  was  therefore  only  a  little  over  five  hundred  dollars.  In  1889 
there  were  but  ten  counties,  none  of  which  showed  an  assessed  valuation  of  ten 
million  dollars.     Now,  compare  the  above  valuation  with  that  of  1917,  to  wit: 

County  Valuation 

Albany  ' $15,585,683 

Bighorn     ■  9,135,482 

Campbell     6,363,463 

Carbon    16,622,257 

Converse 9,927,722 

Crook 7.357,255 

Fremont    12,985,999 

Goshen    6,062,773 

Hot  Springs    6,591,102 

Johnson 7,272,918 

Laramie     25,190,855 

Lincoln    16,856,331 

Natrona    19,074,557 

Niobrara  6,463,414 

Park    8,330,187 

Platte 10,816,282 

Sheridan   21,203,057 

Sweetwater    21,935.562 

Uinta 9,418,068 

Washakie    -. 4,188,332 

Weston   6,515,346 

Total  for  the  state $247,896,645 

During  the  period  of  statehood  since  1890,  the  number  of  counties  increased  to 
twenty-one,  nine  of  which  returned  a  valuation  of  over  ten  millions  of  dollars  each, 
and  three  returned  a  valuation  of  over  twenty  million  dollars  each.  Estimating  the 
population  in  1918  at  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand,  the  per  capita  wealth  of 
the  state  was  almost  sixteen  hundred  dollars.  Thus,  while  the  population 
increased  less  than  two  hundred  per  cent,  the  assessed  valuation  increased  nearly 
seven  hundred  per  cent.  Then,  too,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
assessed  valuation  of  property  is  far  below  the  actual  value,  in  many  instances 
not  much  over  one-half.  It  would  probably  be  a  conservative  statement  to  say 
that  the  taxable  property  of  the  state  is  worth  at  least  four  hundred  million 
dollars,  in  which  case  the  per  capita  wealth  would  be  over  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars. 


414  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


PUBLIC  REVENUES 


The  framers  of  the  Wyoming  Constitution  provided  that  the  tax  levied  annu- 
ally for  state  purposes — exclusive  of  that  levied  for  the  support  of  the  educa- 
tional and  charitable  institutions — should  not  exceed  four  mills  on  the  dollar. 
A  limit  was  also  placed  upon  the  rate  levied  in  the  several  counties  and  municipal- 
ities for  local  purposes.  While  the  general  tax  thus  provided  for  is  the  principal 
source  of  revenue,  the  state  derives  a  large  income  every  year  from  land  rentals, 
leases  and  sales,  etc.  According  to  the  report  of  the  state  treasurer  for  the 
biennial  period  ending  on  September  30,  1916,  the  total  receipts  for  the  last 
year  of  that  period  amounted  to  $2,182,341.40.  The  main  sources  of  income  were 
as  follows : 

Direct  property  tax $847,938.55 

Land  rentals  and  interest 355,912.43 

Sales  of  state  lands 307,982.43 

Fees  of  state  officers  and  boards 82,793.91 

Interest,  treasury  department 77,803.22 

United  States  forest  reserve  fund   ' 80,913.93 

Tax  on  insurance  companies    37,289.66 

Game   department    29,i93J74 

United  States  Agricultural  College  fund 50,000.00 

Workmen's  Compensation    (employers  assessment)....  184.903.56 

Miscellaneous  receipts   127,609.97 

Total     $2,182,341.40 

In  the  disbursement  of  public  funds  the  constitution  provides  that  no  money 
shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury  except  on  appropriations  made  by  the  Legisla- 
ture, though  the  state  treasurer  may  pay  interest  on  the  public  debt  without  legisla- 
ive  appropriation,  but  in  no  case  can  the  treasurer  pay  out  money  without  a 
warrant  from  the  proper  authority.  Some  years  ago  the  Legislature  created  a 
board  of  deposits,  consisting  of  the  governor,  secretary  of  state  and  the  state 
treasurer,  to  select  banks  in  which  to  deposit  the  state's  funds,  said  banks  to  be 
designated  as  state  depositories,  to  furnish  satisfactory  security  and  pay  interest 
upon  the  deposits.  At  the  close  of  the  year  ending  on  September  30,  1916, 
eighty-nine  banks  in  the  state  were  listed  as  state  depositories  and  paid  the  state 
three  per  cent  interest  on  daily  balances.  The  total  amount  received  by  the 
state  was  $77,803.22,  as  shown  by  the  report  of  the  state  treasurer,  though  a 
portion  of  this  was  interest  upon  trust  funds  and  permanent  investments. 

At  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  on  September  30,  1914,  the  state  treasurer  re- 
ported a  balance  in  the  treasury  of  $718,426.85.  Two  years  later,  without  any 
increase  in  the  rate  of  taxation,  the  balance  in  the  treasury  or  deposited  in  the 
accredited  banks  amounted  to  $1,046,656.07. 

THE    BONDED   DEBT 

The  Territorial  Legislature  of  1886  passed  acts  providing  for  the  erection 
of  a  capitol  building  at  Cheyenne  to  cost  $150,000;  an  insane  asylum  at  Evan- 
ston  to  cost  $30,000;  a  state  university   building  at   Laramie   to  cost  $50,000; 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  415 

and  an  institute  for  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb  at  Cheyenne  for  the  support  of 
which  an  appropriation  of  $8,000  was  made.  To  pay  for  the  erection  of  the 
buildings  provided  for  in  the  act,  the  territorial  authorities  were  authorized  to 
issue  bonds.  In  his  report  for  the  year  1887,  Mortimer  N.  Grant,  territorial  audi- 
tor, gave  the  amount  of  outstanding  bonds  as  $230,000.  He  also  reported  that 
these  bonds,  drawing  six  per  cent  interest,  had  been  sold  at  a  premium  and 
constituted  the  entire  debt  of  the  territory.  This  debt  was  assumed  by  the  State 
of  Wyoming  upon  its  admission  to  the  Union  three  years  later. 

The  Constitution  of  Wyoming  provides  that  the  state  shall  not  create  any 
indebtedness  in  excess  of  one  per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  taxable 
property,  except  to  suppress  insurrection  or  to  provide  for  the  public  defense. 
Another  constitutional  provision  is  that  "No  debt  in  excess  of  the  taxes  for  the 
current  year  shall  in  any  manner  be  created  in  the  State  of  Wyoming,  unless  the 
proposition  to  create  such  debt  shall  have  been  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people 
and  by  them  approved,  except  to  suppress  insurrection  or  to  provide  for  public 
defense." 

Under  these  wise  provisions  the  Legislatures  of  Wyoming  have  adopted  the 
policy  of  defraying  the  cost  of  new  institutions  by  tax  levies  rather  than  by 
issuing  bonds,  proceeding  on  the  theory  that  it  is  less  burdensome  to  pay  taxes  for 
two  or  three  years  than  to  pay  interest  on  long  term  bonds.  The  result  is  that 
the  state  has  never  issued  many  bonds  for  any  purpose.  According  to  the  state 
treasurer's  report  for  the  biennial  period  ending  on  September  30,  1916,  the  bonds 
then  outstanding  were  as  follows:  Insane  asylum  bonds  issued  in  1887,  due 
$3,000  on  January  ist  of  each  year,  $15,000;  public  building  bonds  issued  in  1888, 
due  $9,000  each  year  beginning  on  July  i,  1919,  $90,000,  making  a  total  bonded 
indebtedness  of  $105,000,  the  interest  on  which  is  six  per  cent  per  annum.  This 
is  an  indebtedness  of  only  about  seventy  cents  per  capita  for  the  population  of 
the  state. 


And  what  assurance  has  the  holder  of  the  Wyoming  state  bonds  that  the 
debt  will  be  paid?  The  bonds  issued  by  the  territory  and  afterward  assumed  by 
the  state  constitute  a  lien  upon  every  dollar's  worth  of  property  within  the  limits 
of  Wyoming.  Even  at  the  low  rate  of  assessment  for  tax  purposes,  the  property 
of  the  state  showed  a  valuation  of  $247,896,645  in  191 7,  or  more  than  two 
thousand  dollars  of  assets  for  each  dollar  of  liabilities.  Leaving  private  property 
out  of  the  question,  the  state  in  its  corporate  capacity  owns  lands  and  public 
buildings  worth  many  times  the  outstanding  bonds.  Under  these  conditions  there 
is  no  wonder  that  the  bonds  of  Wyoming  should  command  a  premium  in  all  the 
financial  centers  of  the  countn'. 


The  earliest  public  bank  known  was  the  Bank  of  \'enice,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1 171  as  a  bank  of  deposit,  the  Government  being  responsible  for  the 
fund  deposited  with  the  bank.     It  went  down  with  the  \'enetian  empire  in  1797, 

Modern  banking  methods  originated  with  the  Bank  of  Florence,  established 


416  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

about  the  middle  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.  It  was  soon  followed  by  the  Bank 
of  Genoa  and  for  many  years  the  Italian  bankers  dominated  the  financial  transac- 
tions of  the  civilized  world. 

The  Bank  of  Amsterdam  was  founded  in  1609  and  ten  years  later  the  Bank 
of  Hamburg  opened  its  doors  for  business.  At  that  time  there  was  no  bank  in 
England  and  the  business  men  who  had  a  surplus  of  funds  deposited  with  the 
mint  in  the  Tower  of  London  until  Charles  I  appropriated  the  fund  on  deposit 
to  the  royal  use.  After  that  English  merchants  deposited  their  funds  with  the 
goldsmiths,  who  became  bankers  in  a  small  way,  loaning  money  for  short  periods 
and  paying  interest  on  deposits  left  with  them  for  a  given  time. 

In  1690  the  Bank  of  Sweden  invented  and  first  issued  bank  notes.  This  was 
an  important  agency  in  leading  William  Patterson  to  suggest  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land, which  was  chartered  in  1694.  England  and  France  were  then  at  war  and 
subscribers  to  the  war  loan  of  £1,500,000  became  stockholders  in  the  bank  to  the 
extent  of  their  subscriptions  to  the  loan. 

B.\XKS    IX    THE    UNITED    ST.\TES 

The  first  bank  in  the  United  States  was  established  at  Philadelphia  in  1780 
and  was  known  as  the  Pennsylvania  Bank.  It  was  founded  by  Robert  Morris, 
George  Clymer  and  a  few  others  and  played  an  important  part  in  saving  the 
financial  credit  of  the  new  republic.  In  1781  it  was  reorganized  as  the  Bank 
of  North  America  and  continued  for  ten  years,  when  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  incorporated  by  act  of  Congress  and  given  a  twenty-year  charter.  The 
capital  stock  was  limited  to  $10,000,000  and  the  bank  was  made  the  fiscal  agent 
of  the  United  States.  Upon  the  expiration  of  the  charter  in  181 1,  Congress  failed 
to  renew  it,  and  the  business  of  the  bank  passed  into  the  hands  of  Stephen 
Girard  of  Philadelphia. 

The  War  of  1812  followed  immediately  after  the  expiration  of  the  bank's 
charter  and  the  Government  was  placed  in  financial  straits  through  want  of  an 
accredited  fiscal  agent.  The  Second  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  therefore 
chartered  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  and  began  business  in  January,  181 7, 
under  a  charter  for  twenty  years.  The  capital  stock  of  this  bank  was  fixed  at 
$35,000,000,  of  which  the  Government  held  twenty  per  cent.  At  the  expiration 
of  the  charter.  President  Andrew  Jackson  vetoed  the  bill  renewing  it  and  in  1840 
the  bank  went  into  liquidation. 

In  the  meantime  a  number  of  banks  had  been  chartered  by  State  Legislatures, 
with  the  consent  of  Congress.  After  the  aflfairs  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
were  wound  up,  the  number  of  state  and  private  banks  increased  all  over  the 
country.  This  was  the  era  of  the  so-called  "Wild  Cat"  banks.  Speculation  ran 
rife  during  the  ten  years  following  the  liquidation  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  and  there  were  in  circulation  over  five  dollars  in  bank  notes  for  each  dol- 
lar of  specie  held  for  their  redemption.  About  1853  the  reaction  set  in  and 
during  the  next  four  years  there  were  5,123  bank  failures  in  the  United  States. 

The  present  national  banking  law  was  enacted  as  a  war  measure  and  was 
approved  by  President  Abraham  Lincoln  on  June  3,  1864,  though  a  number  of 
amendments  have  since  been  added  to  the  original  bill.     These  national  banks 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  417 

are  the  only  ones  with  authority  to  issue  notes  that  can  be  used  as  currency, 
though  in  every  state  there  are  banks  of  discount  and  deposit  that  operate  under 

the  laws  of  the  state. 

WYOMING  BANKS 

Article  X  of  the  Constitution  of  Wyoming  gives  the  Legislature  authority  to 
provide  for  banking  institutions  by  general  law.  By  the  act  of  March  9,  iSSS, 
more  than  two  years  before  the  admission  of  the  state,  the  Territorial  Legislature 
enacted  a  law  providing  for  the  organization,  incorporation  and  management  of 
banks.  This  law,  with  some  modilications,  constitutes  the  present  banking  laws 
of  Wyoming.  Under  its  provisions  five  or  more  persons  may  incorporate  a 
bank,  setting  forth  in  their  articles,  the  names  of  the  stockholders,  the  amount  of 
capital  stock,  the  pkice  where  the  bank  is  to  be  located,  etc.  It  also  pro\ides  certain 
restrictions  under  which  the  bank  must  be  conducted,  such  as  making  reports 
of  its  condition  when  called  on,  prohibiting  the  loaning  of  more  than  ten  per  cent 
of  the  capital  stock  to  any  one  person,  firm  or 'corporation,  etc.  In  case  of  viola- 
tion of  any  of  the  features  of  the  banking  laws,  the  attorney-general  is  authorized 
to  institute  proceedings  in  the  proper  district  court  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
recreant  bank.  The  law  also  provides  for  the  organization  of  savings  banks  and 
associations,  loan  and  trust  companies,  and  defines  their  powers  and  duties.  Most 
of  the  banks  of  the  state  have  been  incorporated  under  the  state  laws,  though  in 
all  the  larger  cities  and  towns  the  national  banks  are  well  represented. 

In  the  fall  of  1867  H.  J.  Rogers  &  Company  opened  a  bank  in  Cheyenne, 
which  was  the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Wyoming. 
The  bank  was  at  first  located  in  the  store  of  Cornforth  Brothers,  but  was  soon 
moved  into  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Eddy  streets.  Looking 
through  the  files  of  the  Cheyenne  Leader  for  October,  1867,  one  finds  the  adver- 
tisements of  this  bank,  with  the  statement  that  it  bought  and  sold  land  warrants, 
quartermasters'  vouchers.  Government,  territorial,  city  and  county  bonds,  and 
issued  sight  drafts  on  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  Missouri 
River  towns. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1867,  the  firm  of  J.  A.  Ware  &  Company,  com- 
posed of  J.  A.  Ware  of  Nebraska  City,  John  W.  Hugus  and  Posey  S.  Wilson  • 
of  Omaha,  opened  a  bank  in  Cheyenne.    Mr.  Hugus  was  afterward  actively  inter- 
ested  in   banking   operations   at   Rawlins. .    Kountze    Brothers    &    Company,    of 
Omaha,  opened  a  branch  of  their  bank  in  Cheyenne  late  in  the  year  1867. 

On  March  7,  1871,  the  First  National  Bank  of  Cheyenne  was  chartered  with 
A.  R.  Converse  as  president ;  Posey  S.  Wilson,  cashier ;  A.  R.  Converse,  George  F. 
Price,  Thomas  Duncan,  J.  W.  Iliff  and  S.  F.  Nuckolls,  directors.  The  capital 
stock  was  fixed  at  $100,000,  of  which  $70,000  was  paid  up  before  the  bank 
opened  its  doors  for  business.     This  is  the  oldest  national  bank  in  the  state. 

At  the  time  Wyoming  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1890,  there  were  eleven 
national  banks  in  the  state,  to  wit:  First  National  of  Cheyenne,  organized  in 
1871 ;  Laramie  (now  First)  National  of  Laramie,  1873;  First  National  of  Evan- 
ston,  1874;  Stock  Growers  National  of  Cheyenne,  1881;  First  National  of 
Buffalo,  1883;  First  National  of  Rawlins,  1883;  First  National  of  Lander,  1884; 


418  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Albany  National   of  Laramie,   1886;   First   National   of   Douglas,    1886;   First 
National  of  Rock  Springs,  1888;  First  National  of  Sheridan,  1890. 

In  addition  to  these  eleven  national  banks  there  were  four  state  and  private 
banks  and  the  total  bank  deposits  of  the  territory  amounted  to  $3,159,586.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1918,  there  were  five  cities — Casper,  Cheyenne,  Laramie, 
Rock  Springs  and  Sheridan — each  of  which  reported  larger  bank  deposits  than 
the  entire  territory  on  January-  i,  1890,  while  Basin,  Douglas,  Evanston,  Lander, 
Rawlins  and  Thermopolis  were  not  far  behind.  This  great  increase  in  the  bank 
deposits  is  a  good  index  to  the  wonderful  industrial  development  of  the  state. 

PIONEER  B.^NKERS 

In  the  early  history  of  banking  in  Wyoming,  the  business  was  carried  on 
chiefly  by  individuals  who  designated  themselves  as  bankers,  a  few  of  whom 
have  already  been  mentioned.  Others  were  Morton  E.  Post  and  Thomas  A.  Kent, 
of  Cheyenne;  Edward  Ivinson,  of  Laramie;  John  W.  Hugus,  of  Rawlins;  Hugus 
&  Chatterton,  of  Fort  Steele;  Hunter  &  Morris,  of  Green  River;  James  France, 
of  Rawlins ;  Timothy  Kinney,  of  Rock  Springs ;  North  &  Stone  and  A.  C.  Beck- 
with,  of  Evanston;  E.  Amoretti,  of  Lander;  Richards  &  Callander,  of  Lusk; 
Richards  &  Cunningham,  of  Casper ;  Frank  Brothers,  of  Sundance ;  Meyer  Frank, 
of  Newcastle ;  E.  A.  Whitney,  of  Sheridan ;  and  H.  R.  Paul,  of  Douglas.  Some 
of  these  men  are  still  actively  connected  with  the  banking  interests  of  the  state. 

BANKS  IN  1918 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  Wyoming  banks  as  given  in  the  Bankers'  Directory 
for  January-,  1918,  with  the  year  in  which  each  was  organized,  the  amount  of 
capital  stock  and  deposits,  and  the  president  and  cashier.  For  the  convenience  of 
the  reader  these  have  been  arranged  by  towns  in  alphabetical  order : 

Afton— The  Afton  State  Bank  was  organized  in  1907,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$25,000.    Deposits,  $220,640.    W.  V.  Allen,  president ;  D.  D.  Lynch,  cashier. 

Arvada — Bank  of  Arvada,  incorporated  under  the  state  laws  in  1916.  with  a 
paid  up  capital  of  $10,000.  Deposits.  S35,ooo.  M.  H.  Shields,  president ;  W.  V. 
Kirby,  cashier. 

Baggs — First  State  Bank,  organized  in  1908  with  a  capital  stock  of  $10,000. 
Deposits,  $68,000;  J.  ]\I.  Rumsey,  president;  L.  B.  Maupin,  cashier. 

Basin — The  City  of  Basin  has  three  banks.  The  Bighorn  County  Bank  was 
organized  in  1898,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $40,000.  Deposits,  January  i,  1918,  were 
$335,000;  D.  L.  Darr,  president;  R.  P.  Pearson,  cashier.  The  Basin  State  Bank 
was  incorporated  in  1907.  Its  capital  stock  is  $50,000 ;  deposits,  $525,000 ;  Henry 
Jordan,  president;  H.  H.  Hime,  cashier.  In  1912  the  First  National  Bank  of  Basin 
began  business  with  a  capital  stock  of  $35,000.  Its  deposits  amounted  to  $400,- 
000  on  January  i,  1918;  A,  K.  Lee,  president;  J.  C.  Stewart,  cashier. 

Big  Piney — The  State  Bank  of  Big  Piney  was  incorporated  in  1913.  Its  cap- 
ital stock  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $166,000;  James  ]\Iichelson,  president;  Albert 
Larson,  cashier. 

Buft'alo — The  First  National  Bank  of  Buffalo  is  one  of  the  old  banks  of 
Wyoming.    It  was  chartered  in  1883,  has  a  capital  stock  of  850,000;  deposits  of 


lli;sT   XATIOXAL  BANK.  CHEYENNE 


ifK  GROWERS   XAJhiNAI.   I'.A.NK.  (  HEYENNE 


420  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

$712,000;  H.  P.  Rothwell,  president;  E.  D.  Metcalf,  cashier.  Tlie  Stock  Growers 
Bank  of  Buffalo  was  organized  in  1902,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $30,000;  deposits, 
$520,000 ;  Fred  Waegele,  president ;  S.  C.  Langworthy,  cashier.  The  Wyoming 
Loan  and  Trust  Company  was  incorporated  in  1906,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$25,000 ;  deposits,  $145,000 ;  Richard  Young,  president ;  S.  B.  Cochran,  cashier. 

Burlington — In  1905  the  Burlington  State  Bank  was  established  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000.  It  carries  deposits  of  $125,000,  with  C.  Webster,  president; 
C.  F.  Hensley,  cashier. 

Burns^In  1907,  before  the  name  of  this  town  was  changed  from  Luther  to 
Burns,  the  Luther  State  Bank  was  organized.  The  capital  stock  of  this  bank 
is  $10,000;  deposits,  $122,000;  J.  L.  Thomas,  president;  S.  H.  Sibley,  cashier. 

Carpenter — The  Bank  of  Carpenter  was  incorporated  on  May  3,  1916.  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $10,000.  Its  deposits  on  January  i,  1918,  were  $39,000.  George 
H.  Gilland  is  president  and  S.  C.  Powers,  cashier. 

Casper — Casper  has  five  banks.  The  Casper  'National  was  organized  in  1903  ; 
has  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits  of  $2,574,000;  A.  J.  Cunningham,  presi- 
dent; Q.  K.  Deaver,  cashier.  The  same  year  the  Stockmen's  National  was  or- 
ganized. Its  capital  stock  is  $50,000;  deposits,  $1,380,000;  C.  H.  Townsend, 
president;  C.  E.  Hofifine,  cashier.  The  Wyoming  National  received  its  charter 
and  opened  its  doors  for  business  in  1914.  Capital  stock,  $50,000;  deposits, 
$1,500,000;  B.  B.  Brooks,  president;  C.  F.  Shumaker.  cashier.  The  First  Trust 
and  Savings  Company  was  organized  in  1915  with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000. 
C.  H.  Townsend,  president  of  the  Stockmen's  National  Bank,  is  also  president 
of  this  institution,  and  W.  D.  Ratcliff  is  cashier.  Its  deposits  on  January  i,  191 8, 
were  $153,000.  The  Citizens  State  Bank  began  business  in  1917.  It  has  a 
capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits  of  $220,000;  F.  J.  Leeper,  president;  W.  J. 
Bailey,  cashier. 

Cheyenne — In  Cheyenne  there  are  six  banking  institutions.  The  First  National 
was  chartered  in  1871 ;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000;  deposits  of  $5,502,000; 
George  E.  Abbott,  president;  A.  D.  Johnston,  cashier.  The  Stock  Growers 
National  Bank  received  its  charter  and  began  business  in  i88r.  It  has  a  capital 
stock  of  $100,000,  deposits  of  $5,653,000,  with  A.  H.  Marble  president  and  Albert 
Cronland  cashier.  The  Citizens  National  Bank  began  business  in  1906  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $100,000.  Its  building  at  the  corner  of  Eighteenth  Street  and 
Carey  Avenue  was  erected  in  1912.  Deposits.  $1,800,000;  A.  A.  Spaugh,  presi- 
dent; Wesley  I.  Dunn,  cashier.  The  Wyoming  Trust  and  Savings  Bank  was 
incorporated  under  the  state  laws  in  1909.  Capital  stock,  $60,000;  deposits, 
$720,000;  A.  H.  Marble,  president;  H.  B.  Henderson,  cashier.  The  Lfnion  Trust 
Company  began  business  in  1916  with  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000;  George  E. 
Abbott,  president;  C.  L.  Beatty,  secretan,'.  .No  report  on  deposits  in  the  Bankers 
Directory  for  January,  1918.  The  Bankers  and  Stockmen's  Trust  Company  was 
established  in  1917.  Capital  stock,  $300,000:  A.  A.  Spaugh,  president;  T.  P. 
Fahey,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

Chugwater — The  Chugwater  Valley  Bank  was  established  in  1913.  It  has 
a  capital  stock  of  Sio.ooo;  deposits.  $121,000;  A.  H.  Marble,  president;  F.  V. 
Ellis,  cashier. 

Clearmont — The  Clearmont  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1909  with  a  can- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  -121 

ital  stock  of  $10,000.    T.  C.  Diers  is  president;  G.  T.  Cook,  cashier;  and  the  de- 
posits amount  to  $45,000. 

Cody — The  two  banks  of  Cody  are  the  Frist  National  and  the  Shoshone 
National.  The  former  was  chartered  in  1904  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000  and 
its  deposits  on  January  i,  1918,  were  $350,000.  L.  B.  Ewart  is  president  and 
F.  F.  McGee,  cashier.  The  Shoshone  National  received  its  charter  and  began 
business  in  1905.  Its  capital  stock  is  $25,000;  deposits,  .$655,000;  S.  C.  Parks,  Jr.. 
president;  C.  L.  Brady,  cashier. 

Cokeville — In  1909  the  State  Rank  of  Cokeville  was  established  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $25,000.  P.  J.  Quealy  is  president;  J.  A.  Larson,  cashier;  and  the  bank 
carries  deposits  of  $152,000. 

Cowley — The  Cowley  State  bank  was  organized  in  1916.  Its  capital  stock  is 
$10,000;  deposits,  $85,000;  George  S.  Crosby,  president;  H.  E.  Ross,  cashier. 

Dayton — In  1918  the  Dayton  Bank  was  twelve  years  old.  having  been  organ- 
ized in  1906.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $10,000 ;  deposits  of  $1 10,000 ;  G.  W.  Perry, 
president;  M.  M.  Owen,  cashier. 

Dixon — The  Stock  Growers  Bank  of  Dixon  was  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  the  state  in  1906.  Its  capital  stock  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $265,000;  A.  R. 
Reader,  president ;  E.  W.  Reader,  cashier. 

Pouglas — The  First  National  Bank  of  Douglas  was  founded  in  18S6,  soon 
after  the  town  was  started.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $75,000;  deposits  of  $700,- 
000;  C.  F.  Coffee,  president;  T.  C.  Rowley,  cashier.  The  Douglas  National 
Bank  was  chartered  in  1906  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits,  $535,000; 
M.  R.  Collins,  president;  Wilkie  Collins,  cashier.  The  Commercial  Bank  and 
Trust  Company  was  incorporated  in  1914;  capital  stock,  $30,000;  deposits,  $500,- 
000 ;  G.  W.  Metcalf ,  president ;  C.  D.  Zimmerman,  cashier. 

Dubois — The  only  bank  in  Dubois  is  that  of  Amoretti,  Welty,  Helmer  & 
Company,  which  began  business  in  1913  with  an  authorized  capital  of  $10,000 
and  in  1918  reported  deposits  of  $115,000.  E.  .\nioretti,  Jr.,  president;  E.  B. 
Helmer,  cashier. 

Encampment — The  Encampment  State  Bank  began  business  in  1908.  Its  cap- 
ital stock  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $98,000;  C.  H.  Sanger,  president,  F.  H.  Healy. 
cashier. 

Evanston — The  City  of  Evanston  has  three  banks,  the  oldest  of  which  is  the 
First  National,  organized  in  1874.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits  of 
$822,000;  J.  E.  Cosgriff,  president:  O.  E.  Bradbury,  cashier.  The  Evanston 
National  Bank  was  chartered  in  1907  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  F.  H. 
Harrison  is  president,  O.  H.  Brown,  cashier,  and  the  bank  carries  deposits  of 
$380,000.  The  Stock  Growers  Bank  was  incorporated  under  the  state  laws  in 
1915.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits  of  $345,000:  James  Pingree. 
president ;  William  Pugh,  cashier. 

Freedom — The  Freedom  State  Bank  was  organized  in  1916;  has  a  capital 
stock  of  $15,000;  deposits  of  ^75,000;  J.  F.  Jenkins,  president;  P.  P.  Baldwin, 
cashier. 

Garland — In  1905  the  Garland  State  Bank  began  business  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000.  It  carries  deposits  of  ,$63,000.  FI.  J.  Thompson  is  president 
and  E.  S.  Dabbs  cashier. 

Gillette — There  are  two  banks  in  Gillette.     The  Bank  of  Gillette  was  organ- 


422  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ized  in  1902;  capital  stock,  $50,000;  deposits,  $533,000;  W.  D.  Townsend,  presi- 
dent; M.  H.  Siiields?  cashier.  The  Stockmens  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1907 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000;  deposits,  $233,000;  J.  A.  Allison,  president;  A. 
B.  Maycock,  cashier. 

Glendo — The  Glendo  State  Bank  began  business  in  1917..  It  has  a  capital  stock 
of  $10,000  and  in  May,  1918,  reported  deposits  of  $15,000.  B.  F.  Hiester  is  presi- 
dent and  G.  A.  Swallow  is  cashier. 

Glenrock — This  town  has  two  banks.  The  Glenrock  State  Bank  was  estab- 
lished in  1897;  capital  stock,  $15,000;  deposits,  $347,000;  J.  E.  Higgins,  presi- 
dent; Charles  H.  Armour,  cashier.  The  Bank  of  Glenrock  was  incorporated  in 
1917  with  a  capital  stocTv  of  $15,000  and  on  January  i,  1918,  reported  deposits 
of  $86,000;  A.  A.  Spaugh,  president;  William  Booker,  vice  president  and  cashier. 

Green  River — The  State  Bank  of  Green  River  began  business  in  1895.  Its 
capital  stock  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $56,000;  Hugo  Gaensslen,  president;  T.  E. 
Rogers,  cashier.  In  191 5  the  First  National  Bank  of  Green  River  was  chartered 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  T.  S.  Taliaferro,  Jr.,  president ;  J.  A.  Chrisman. 
cashier;  deposits,  $232,000. 

Greybull — There  are  two  banks  in  Greybull — the  First  National  and  the  First 
State.  The  former  was  chartered  in  1905,  has  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000,  deposits 
of  $419,000 ;  R.  T.  Covert,  president ;  C.  J.  Williams,  cashier.  The  latter  began 
business  in  1913 ;  capital  stock.  $25,000;  J.  T.  Hurst,  president;  C.  M.  Loring. 
cashier;  deposits,  $255,000. 

Guernsey — The  two  banks  of  Guernsey  are  the  Guernsey  State  and  the  Com- 
mercial State.  The  Guernsey  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1905;  has  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  $10,000;  deposits,  $85,000;  A.  C.  Fonda,  president;  A.  M.  Fonda, 
cashier.  The  Commercial  State  Bank  was  organized  in  1914.  Capital  stock, 
$10,000;  deposits,  $155,000;  H.  S.  Clarke,  president;  E.  P.  Perry,  cashier. 

Hanna — In  the  fall  of  1891  Otto  Gramm  and  C.  W.  Wilkinson  opened  a  bank 
at  Carbon.  In  1904  it  was  removed  to  Hanna  and  is  now  known  as  the  Carbon 
State  Bank.  The  capital  stock  is  $40,000 ;  deposits,  $370,000 ;  John  Ouealy.  presi- 
dent ;  Otto  Frederick,  cashier. 

Hillsdale — The  Hillsdale  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1916;  capital  stock, 
$10,000;  deposits,  $36,000;  J.  C.  Nash,  president;  F.  O.  Osborn,  cashier. 

Hudson — The  Bank  of  Hudson  was  incorporated  in  1908  with  a  capital  stock 
of  $10,000,  and  on  Januan,-  i,  1918,  reported  deposits  of  $135,000.  M.  Henry, 
president;  H.  G.  Bissell,  cashier.  In  1912  the  Farmers  and  ^lerchants  Bank  of 
Hudson  began  business.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  Sio.ooo;  deposits  of  $30,000; 
W.  B.  Armagast,  president ;  A.  P.  Fair,  cashier. 

Hulett — The  Hulett  State  Bank  was  established  in  1907  with  a  capital  stock 
of  $20,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  it  reported  deposits  of  8153,000.  ^^'.  A. 
Ripley  is  president  and  C.  C.  Storm,  cashier. 

Jackson — In  1914  the  Jackson  State  Bank  began  business  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000.  R.  E.  Miller  is  president;  Harry  Wagner,  cashier;  deposits, 
$175,000. 

Kane — The  First  State  Bank  of  Kane  was  established  in  191 5.  Its  capital 
stock  is  $10,000 ;  deposits,  $40,000 ;  D.  L.  Darr,  president ;  M.  B.  Rhodes,  cashier. 

Kaycee — There  are  two  banks  in  Kaycee.  The  Powder  River  State  Bank 
began  business  in  igog;  capital  stock,  $50,000;  deposits.  S204.000 ;  ^^".  J.  Thom, 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  423 

president;  J.  J.  Cash,  cashier.  The  First  State  Bank  of  Kaycee  was  estabHshed 
in  1917;  capital  stock,  $25,000;  deposits,  $36,000;  James  M.  Hibbard,  president; 
F.  M.  Barnhart,  cashier. 

Keeiine — The  Bank  of  Keeline  was  originally  located  at  Jireh,  where  it  began 
business  in  1915.  In  1917  it  was  removed  to  Keeline.  The  capital  stock  of  this 
bank  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $40,000;  A.  A.  Spaugh,  president;  il.  R.  McKenna, 
cashier. 

Kemmerer — The  First  National  Bank  of  Kemmerer  received  its  charter  in 
1900,  when  the  town  was  but  three  years  old.  It  now  occupies  a  handsome  build- 
ing; has  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000;  deposits  of  $1,290,000;  P.  J-  Quealy,  presi- 
dent; Roy  A.  Mason,  cashier.  The  Kemmerer  Savings  Bank  was  established  in 
1909.  The  capital  stock  of  this  bank  is  $35,000;  deposits,  $500,000;  A.  D. 
Hoskins,  president ;  E.  L.  Smith,  cashier.    The  bank  owns  its  own  building. 

Lagrange — The  Stock  Growers  Bank  of  Lagrange  was  organized  in  1917  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $10,000 ;  deposits,  $25,000 ;  A.  H.  ]\Iarble,  president ;  R.  E. 
Tremain,  cashier. 

Lander — The  City  of  Lander  has  four  banking  institutions.  The  First  National 
was  chartered  in  1884;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits,  $688,000;  S.  C. 
Parks,  president ;  G.  F.  Westbrook,  cashier.  The  Lander  State  Bank  began  business 
in  1890  with  a  capital  stock  of  $60,000;  has  deposits  of  $513,000;  A.  D.  Lane,  presi- 
dent ;  M.  A.  Nelson,  cashier.  In  1906  the  Central  Trust  Company  was  organized 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000;  S.  C.  Parks,  president;  W.  E.  Hardin,  cashier; 
deposits,  $175,000.  The  Stock  Growers  Bank  was  established  in  1916.  Capital 
stock,  $30,000;  deposits,  $295,000;  John  W.  Cook,  president;  J.  M.  Lowndes, 
cashier. 

Laramie — The  three  banks  of  Laramie  are  the  First  National,  the  Albany 
National  and  the  First  State.  The  First  National  was  established  as  the  Laramie 
National  Bank  in  1873.  Its  capital  stock  is  $100,000;  deposits,  $1,733,000;  J. 
\A'.  Hay,  president;  H.  R.  Weston,  cashier.  The  Albany  National  Bank  began 
business  in  1886.  Capital  stock  $100,000;  deposits,  $1,100,000:  Robert  H. 
Homer,  president ;  C.  D.  Spalding,  cashier.  The  First  State  Bank  of  Laramie  was 
organized  in  1910  with  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000.  Herman  Hegewald  is  presi- 
dent ;  C.  W.  Dekay,  cashier ;  and  the  bank  carries  deposits  of  $403,000. 

Lingle — In  1910  the  Lingle  State  Bank  was  incorporated.  It  has  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000  and  deposits  of  $70,000.  H.  S.  Clarke  is  president,  and  J.  T. 
McDonald,  cashier. 

Lost  Spring — The  Citizens  Bank  of  Lost  Spring  began  business  in  1917. 
Capital  stock,  $10,000;  deposits,  $30,000:  S.  G.  Butterfield,  president  and  man- 
ager. 

Lovell — In  the  Town  of  Lovell  there  are  two  banks — the  First  National  and 
the  Bank  of  Lovell.  The  former  was  chartered  in  1906;  has  a  capital  stock  of 
$30,000:  deposits  of  $252,000;  Roy  J.  Covert,  president;  S.  T.  Smith,  cashier. 
The  Bank  of  Lovell  was  established  in  1916.  Capital  stock.  $20,000:  deposits, 
$135,000;  W.  B.  Snyder,  president:  J.  M.  Snyder,  cashier. 

Lusk — The  Bank  of  Lusk  is  one  of  the  oldest  state  banks  in  Wyoming.  It 
was  established  in  1886;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000;  deposits  of  $300,000; 
W.  C.  Reed,  president:  N.  E.  Hartwell.  cashier.     In  1914  the  Wyoming  State 


424  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Bank  of  Lusk  was  incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of  $10,000.  John  Goeller  is 
president;  John  W.  Newell,  cashier;  and  the  bank  carries  deposits  of  $53,000. 

Lyman — The  Farmers  and  Stock  Growers  Bank  of  Lyman  was  incorporated 
in  191 5.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $10,000;  deposits  of  $120,000;  A.  Kendall, 
president;  F.  A.  Campbell,  cashier. 

Manderson — In  1916  the  Manderson  State  Dank  opened  its  doors  for  business. 
It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $10,000;  deposits  of  $100,000;  J.  H.  Montgomery,  presi- 
dent; L.  O.  Gray,  cashier. 

Manville — The  Bank  of  Manville  was  organized  in  1907  with  a  capital  stock 
of  $10,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  it  reported  deposits  of  $41,000;  H.  B.  Card, 
president ;  J.  A.  Manorgan,  cashier. 

Marbleton — ^The  Marbleton  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1913.  Its  capital 
stock  is  $20,000;  deposits,  $160,000;  ^^^  W.  Luce,  president;  J.  C.  Rumsch, 
cashier. 

Medicine  Bow — In  191 1  the  Medicine  Bow  State  Ijank  began  business  with  an 
authorized  capital  stock  of  $10,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  it  reported  deposits  of 
$90,000;  J.  E.  Cosgrii?,  president;  R.  R.  Finkbiner,  cashier. 

Meeteetse — There  are  two  banks  in  Meeteetse — the  First  National  and  the 
Meeteetse  State  Bank.  The  former  began  business  in  1902  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$25,000.  It  has  deposits  of  $211,000;  A.  J.  McDonald,  president;  J.  L.  Price, 
cashier.  The  State  Bank  of  Meeteetse  began  business  in  1907.  The  capital 
stock  of  this  bank  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $125,000;  D.  H.  Wilson,  president;  R. 
J.  McNally,  cashier. 

Moorcroft — The  Moorcroft  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1906.  It  has  a  capital 
stock  of  $15,000;  deposits  of  $200,000;  Arthur  Jayne,  president;  D.  R.  Shackel- 
ford, cashier. 

Newcastle — In  Newcastle  there  are  three  banking  institutions — the  First 
National,  the  Weston  County  Bank  and  the  Newcastle  National.  The  First 
National  Bank  was  chartered  in  1904.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000;  deposits, 
$718,000;  J.  L.  Baird,  president ;  E.  P.  Coyle,  cashier.  The  Weston  County  Bank 
began  business  in  1906  with  a  capital  stock  of  $20,000  and  on  January  i,  1918, 
reported  deposits  of  $210,000.  John  Sedgwick,  president ;  G.  A.  Stoecker,  cashier. 
The  Newcastle  National  Bank  received  its  charter  in  mij;  capital  stock,  .S25,ooo: 
deposits,  $45,000;  .A.  M.  Nichols,  president;  C.  F.  Morrison,  cashier. 

Pine  Bluffs — The  Pine  Bluffs  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1907  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $25,000.  Its  deposits  on  January  i,  1918,  amounted  to  S233.000. 
C  E.  Beyerle,  president;  Sumner  'M'ller.  cashier.  The  Farmers  State  Bank  of 
Pine  Bluffs  was  organized  in  IQ15.  Capit;il  stock,  $15,000;  deposits,  .Sgo.ooo; 
E.  W.  Stone,  president;  A.  B.  Mitchell,  cashier. 

Pinedale — The  State  Bank  of  Pinedale  was  established  in  11)12.  The  capital 
stock  of  th-s  bank  is  $10,000;  deposits,  $132,000;  Abner  I.uman,  jiresident;  P.  C. 
Hagenstein,  cashier. 

Powell — The  Powell  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1909;  ca]:)ital  stock, 
$25,000;  deposits,  $155,000;  J.  E.  Dowling,  president;  H.  W.  Howell,  cashier. 
In  191 2  the  First  National  Bank  of  Powell  began  business.  It  has  a  capital 
stock  of  ,^35,000;  deposits  of  $215,000;  S.  A.  Nelson,  president;  A.  C.  Sinclair, 
cashier. 

Ranchester — In  1912  the  Ranchester  State  Bank  was  incorporated  with  a  capital 


HISTORY  OF  WYOiMlNG  425 

stock  of  $10,000.  On  January  I,  1918,  it  reported  deposits  of  $50,000.  C.  C. 
Trader,  president;  V.  F.  Trader,  cashier. 

Rawlins — There  are  three  banks  in  RawHns.  The  First  National  was  chartered 
in  1883;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $75,000;  deposits  of  $853,000;  J.  E.  Cosgriff,  presi- 
dent; G.  A.  Bible,  cashier.  The  Rawlins  National  Bank  began  business  in  1900. 
Capital  stock;  $100,000;  deposits,  $1,180,000;  William  Daley,  president;  H.  A. 
France,  cashier.  The  Stock  Growers  National  Bank  was  chartered  in  1909  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $75,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  it  reported  deposits  of  8447,000. 
J.  M.  Rumsey  was  then  president  and  H.  Breitenstein  was  cashier. 

Riverton — The  three  banks  of  Riverton  are  the  Riverton  State  Bank.  The  First 
State  Bank  and  the  Farmers  State  Bank.  The  first  was  organized  in  1906;  has  a 
capital  stock  of  $25,000 ;  deposits  of  $325,000 :  A.  J.  Cunningham,  president ;  W. 
F.  Breniman,  cashier.  The  First  State  Bank  began  business  in  1913;  capital 
stock,  $25,000:  deposits,  $225,000;  F.  M.  Stratton,  president;  T.  H.  Stratton, 
cashier.  In  1917  the  Farmers  State  Bank  was  opened.  The  capital  stock  of  this 
bank  is  $25,000;  deposits,  $70,000;  E.  H.  Luikart,  president;  H.  J.  Hall,  cashier. 

Rock  River — The  Rock  River  State  Bank  was  established  in  1906  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  it  reported  deposits  of  $40,000!  Felix 
Atkinson,  president;  H.  A.  Thompson,  cashier. 

Rock  Springs — The  First  National  Bank  of  Rock  Springs  was  chartered  in 
1888  with  a  capital  stock  of  $100,000.  Deposits  on  January  i,  1918,  were  $1,- 
500,000.  A.  Kendall,  president;  J.  P.  Boyer,  cashier.  In  1892  the  Rock  Springs 
National  Bank  began  business.  Capital  stock,  $100,000:  deposits,  $1,765,000; 
John  W.  Hay,  president ;  Robert  D.  Murphy,  cashier.  The  North  Side  State 
Bank  of  Rock  Springs  was  incorporated  in  1912;  capital  stock.  $75,000:  deposits, 
$650,000;  C.  Juel,  president;  V.  J.  Facinelli,  cashier. 

Saratoga — In  Saratoga  there  are  two  banks — the  Saratoga  State  and  the  Stock 
Growers  State.  The  former  was  organized  in  1899 ;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $15,000 ; 
deposits  of  $200,000;  J.  B.  Cosgriff,  president;  G.  W.  Broadhurst,  cashier.  The 
latter  began  business  in  1916;  capital  stock,  $10,000:  deposits,  $75,000;  C.  A. 
Cook,  president ;  F.  B.  Durrie,  cashier. 

Sheridan — The  First  National  Bank  of  Sheridan  was  founded  in  i8')0  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $100,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  the  deposits  amounted  to  S075,- 
000.  R.  H.  Walsh  is  president  and  C.  L.  Chapman,  cashier.  The  Bank  of 
Commerce  was  organized  in  1893;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $150,000;  deposits  of 
$1,300,000;  B.  F.  Perkins,  president;  E.  B.  Allan,  cashier.  In  1894  the  Sheridan 
Banking  Company  laegan  business  with  an  authorized  capital  stock  of  $50,000; 
P.  P.  Reynolds,  president ;  J.  D.  Thorn,  cashier ;  deposits,  $520,000.  The  Sheri- 
dan County  Savings  Bank  was  established  in  1903.  Capital  stock,  Sioo.ooo ; 
deposits,  $532,000 ;  P.  P.  Reynolds,  president ;  W.  G.  Grilifin,  cashier.  The  Sheri- 
dan National  Bank  was  chartered  in  1906;  capital  stock,  $50,000;  deposits,  $643,- 
000;  J.  E.  Cosgriff,  president;  C.  L.  Hoag,  cashier.  The  Citizens  State  Bank  of 
Sheridan  was  incorporated  in  1910;  capital  stock.  $50,000;  deposits,  $300,000; 
D.  Kahn,  president;  T.  C.  Diers,  cashier. 

Shoshoni — The  First  National  Bank  of  Shoshoni  was  chartered  in  1905  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $25,000.  A.  J.  Cunningham  is  president :  R.  T.  Linn,  cashier ; 
and  the  bank  carries  deposits  of  $215,000. 

South  Superior — The  Miners  State  Bank  of  South  Superior  was  incorporated 


426  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

in  191 1.  Capital  stock,  $10,000;  deposits,  $121,000;  A.  Kendall,  president;  D.  E. 
jMcCurtain,  cashier. 

Sundance — Two  banks  are  located  in  Sundance — the  Sundance  State  Bank  and 
the  Citizens  Bank.  The  former  was  organized  in  1895;  has  a  capital  stock  of 
$25,000;  deposits  of  $400,000;  L.  A.  Brown,  president;  J-  G.  Bush,  cashier.  The 
Citizens  Bank  began  business  in  1913.  Capital  stock,  $25,000;  deposits,  $103,- 
000 ;  A.  H.  Bowman,  president ;  J-  E.  Ford,  cashier. 

Superior — The  First  Bank  of  Superior  was  incorporated  in  icpg  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000;  W.  H.  Gottsche,  president;  H.  L.  Levesque,  cashier;  deposits, 
$192,000. 

Thermopolis — This  city  has  three  banks.  The  First  National  was  established 
in  iipi  with  a  capital  stock  of  $40,000.  On  January  i,  1918,  the  deposits 
amounted  to  $570,000 ;  H.  P.  Rothwell,  president ;  W.  T.  Bivin,  cashier.  In 
1907  the  Wyoming  Trust  Company  was  incorporated.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of 
$25,000;  deposits  of  $300,000;  David  Dickie,  president;  A,  J.  Lowry,  cashier. 
The  Thermopolis  State  Bank  began  business  in  1908.  Capital  stock,  $25,000; 
deposits,  $611,000;  C.  W.  Ford,  president;  O.  E.  Shellburne,  cashier. 

Torrington — The  First  National  Bank  of  Torrington  was  chartered  in  1904; 
has  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000;  deposits  of  $305,000;  H.  S.  Clarke,  Jr.,  president; 
J.  T.  McDonald,  cashier.  The  Torrington  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1912. 
Its  capital  stock  is  $25,000;  J.  T.  Snow,  president;  Frank  Cloos,  cashier;  deposits, 
$145,000.  A  new  bank  was  incorporated  in  Torrington  about  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1918.  It  is  the  Citizens  National,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000;  W.  O. 
Eaton,  president;  R.  F.  Tebbett,  cashier. 

Upton — The  Bank  of  Upton  dates  from  igio.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $10,- 
000;  deposits  of  $130,000;  J.  L.  Baird,  president;  C.  T.  Minnick,  cashier. 

\'an  Tassell — The  Bank  of  \'an  Tassell  was  incorporated  in  1913;  has  a 
capital  stock  of  $10,000;  deposits  of  $125,000;  W.  L.  Hoyt,  president;  Howell 
Jones,  cashier. 

Wheatland — The  three  banks  of  Wheatland  are  the  State  Bank  of  Wheatland, 
the  Stock  Growers  Bank  and  the  Platte  County  State  Bank.  The  first  was  organ- 
ized in  1903 ;  has  a  capital  stock  of  $40,000 ;  deposits  of  $810,000 ;  F.  N.  Shiek, 
president;  D.  W.  Brice,  cashier.  The  second  began  business  in  191 1.  Its  capital 
stock  is  $20,000;  deposits,  $240,000;  George  Mitchell,  president;  Kent  Snyder, 
cashier.  The  Platte  County  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1914;  has  a  capital 
stock  of  $10,000;  deposits  of  $136,000;  D.  Miller,  president;  L.  C.  Butler,  cashier. 

Worland — In  1906  the  First  National  Bank  of  Worland  opened  its  doors  for 
business.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000;  deposits  of  $568,000;  C.  W.  Erwin, 
president ;  B.  J.  Keys,  cashier.  The  second  bank  to  be  established  in  Worland  is  the 
Stoclj  Growers  State  Bank,  which  began  business  in  1910.  It  has  a  capital  stock 
of  $25,000;  deposits  of  $450,000;  G.  B.  McClellan,  president;  J.  T.  Cunningham, 
cashier.  The  Fanners  State  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1917.  The  capital  stock  of 
this  bank  is  $25,000;  deposits,  $56,000;  E.  H.  Luikart,  president;  O.  F.  Drefeld, 
cashier. 

ST.\TE    B.ANKERS    ASSOCI.XTIOX 

The  \\'yoming  .State  Bankers  Association  was  organized  at  Cheyenne  on 
September  26,  1908.     A.  H.  Marble,  of  Cheyenne,  was  elected  president ;  B.  F. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  427 

Perkins,  of  Sheridan,  vice  president;  H.  \'an  Densen,  of  Rock  Springs,  secre- 
tary: J.  DeF.  Richards,  of  Douglas,  treasurer.  The  business  meetings  during  the 
day  were  followed  by  a  banquet  at  the  Masonic  Temple  in  the  evening.  The 
organization  of  this  association  brought  the  bankers  of  the  state  in  closer  touch  with 
each  other  and  by  an  interchange  of  ideas  every  member  of  the  association  has 
gained  information  regarding  the  details  of  the  banking  business.  Officers  are 
elected  annually.  The  present  officers  (1918)  are  as  follows:  S.  C.  Langworthy, 
of  Buffalo,  president :  A.  D.  Johnston,  of  Cheyenne,  vice  president ;  Harry  B. 
Henderson,  of  Cheyenne,  secretary.  \V.  J.  Thorn,  of  Buffalo,  treasurer. 

There  have  been  but  few  disastrous  bank  failures  in  Wyoming,  the  most 
notable  ongs  being  the  private  banks  of  Morton  E.  Post  and  Thomas  A.  Kent,  of 
Cheyenne,  the  Cheyenne  National  and  a  bank  at  Douglas.  These  failures  were 
caused  more  by  a  chain  of  unfortunate  circumstances  than  by  dishonesty  on  the 
part  of  the  bank  managers.  As  a  rule,  the  banks  of  the  state  are  well  managed. 
They  are  large  enough  and  strong  enough  to  serve  the  communities  in  which  they 
are  located,  and  most  of  them  are  conducted  by  men  who  know  how  to  be 
conservative  without  being  non-progressive — men  who  know  that  banks  cannot 
prosper  unless  the  state  generally  is  prosperous,  and  who  therefore  aid  by  every 
legitimate  means  the  progress  and  development  of  Wyoming. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION  IN  WYOMING 

FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM — GREAT  SCHOOL  REVENUES THE  BEGINNING — 

FIRST    LEGISLATIVE    ENACTMENTS THE    FIRST    REPORT CONDITIONS    IN     iS// 

FIRST      STATISTICS      AVAILABLE — STATEHOOD TEXT      BOOKS      AND      CURRICULUM 

TEACHERS'   INSTITUTES THE   STEEVER  CADET   SYSTEM HIGH   SCHOOLS KIN- 
DERGARTENS  PRIVATE   AND  SECULAR   SCHOOLS OTHER  SCHOOLS THE    PRESENT 

SYSTEM CENSUS    AND    APPORTIONMENT    BY    COUNTIES — SCHOOL    STATISTICS    IN 

I916 — UNIVERSITY  OF   WYOMING. 

Doctor  Winthrop  of  Boston  was  called  to  Wyoming  several  years  ago  to 
assist  the  Legislature  in  formulating  an  educational  bill.  Among  other  things 
he  said:  "Wyoming  can  start  at  once  an  educational  system  that  has  taken 
Massachusetts  and  Wisconsin  fifty  years  to  formulate  and  perfect." 

Wyoming  has  been  fully  alive  to  its  splendid  advantages  and  opportunities 
in  this  respect.  From  its  earliest  settlement  down  to  the  present  time  its  citizen- 
ship has  always  taken  a  keen  interest  in  the  establishment  and  liberal  maintenance 
of  its  public  school  system,  and  today  the  state  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  states 
for  its  high  intelligence  and  low  rate  of  illiteracy. 

The  state  constitution  requires  an  intelligence  qualification  for  every  voter, 
and  in  its  legislative  capacity  the  state  has  provided  for  compulsory  education, 
for  a  supply  of  free  textbooks,  for  physical  examination  of  pupils,  and  it  was 
the  first  state  in  the  Union  to  adopt  the  Steever  system  of  military  training  for 
high  school  students. 

GREAT  SCHOOL  REVENUES 

By  one  of  those  romantic  freaks  of  fortune  which  appear  only  in  the  new 
and  wonderful  West,  Wyoming's  public  schools  will  soon  have  the  largest  finan- 
cial endowment  per  capita  of  any  state  in  the  Union.  The  state  school  lands, 
from  which  an  income  is  derived,  amount  to  about  three  million  five  hundred 
thousand  acres.  The  value  of  this  land  at  $10  per  acre  (and  it  cannot  be  sold 
for  a  less  price)  would  be  $35,000,000.  But  a  small  portion  is  being  sold,  how- 
ever, and  the  income  which  is  being  derived  from  such  sales  and  from  the  agri- 
cultural and  oil  leases  must  be  devoted  exclusively  to  school  purposes.  Owing  to 
the  recent  remarkable  oil  discoveries,  the  rentals  from  that  source  have  been 
growing  by  leaps  and  bounds  and  a  permanent  school  fund  is  thus  being  created, 
of  which  only  the  interest  is  used,  all  gross  receipts  being  placed  in  the  permanent 
fund.  The  state  treasurer  is  authorized  to  invest  this  fund  in  stable  securities 
428 


HIOH  SCHOOL.  CHEYENNE 


CENTRAL  SCHOOL,  CHEYENNE 


430  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

which  can  earn  about  5>^  per  cent  interest.  In  the  year  1917  about  half  a 
milhon  dollars  was  thus  received  as  interest  and  distributed  to  the  public  schools 
in  each  county  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pupils  last  reported. 

For  the  month  of  March,  1918,  the  receipts  from  rentals  and  oil  leases 
amounted  to  about  fifty  thousand  dollars — or  $600,000  for  one  year.  This  is 
only  the  beginning.  The  fund  in  the  state  treasury  is  $1,500,000.  The  rapid 
development  of  the  oil  industry  will  increase  this  amount  over  and  over  until  there 
will  be  in  a  few  years  many  millions  in  the  permanent  school  fund.  The  interest 
will  not  only  make  all  school  taxes  unnecessary,  but  it  will  also  give  every  boy  and 
girl  in  Wyoming  a  high  school  and  collegiate  education  free  of  expense. 

The  State  University  is  similarly  favored,  as  its  lands  have  been  found  to 
contain  many  rich  oil  basins  upon  which  producing  wells  are  fast  coming  in.  The 
revenue  from  the  university  lands,  according  to  good  authority,  will  amount  to 
$12,000,000  within  the  next  ten  years  and  in  a  short  time  the  University  of  Wyo- 
ming will  be  the  most  richly  endowed  state  university  in  the  United  States. 

THE  BEGINXING 

The  educational  history  of  Wyoming  dates  from  the  organization  of  the 
territory  in  1869.  At  the  time  when  the  first  census  of  the  inhabitants  was  taken 
in  i860,  Wyoming  then  being  a  part  of  Dakota,  there  were  but  three  groups  of 
permanent  settlers.  Two  of  these,  each  consisting  of  from  one  hundred  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  people,  were  located  about  Fort  Bridger  and  Fort  Laramie, 
and  there  were  several  ranches  along  the  North  Platte  River,  in  what  are  now  Platte 
and  Goshen  counties.  The  total  population  did  not  exceed  four  hundred,  in- 
cluding the  trappers  and  frontiersmen  of  divers  vocations  who  frequented 
this  new  country.  Within  the  next  decade  the  population  increased  rapidly, 
owing  to  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  Wyoming  had  a  population 
of  9,118  in  1870.  according  to  the  United  States  census,  consisting  of  8.726 
whites,  183  negroes,  143  Chinese  and  66  Indians  not  on  reservations. 

The  first  school  building  in  Wyoming  was  dedicated  to  "free  education"  at 
Cheyenne  on  January  5,  1868,  when  the  thermometer  registered  23°  below  zero. 
Notwithstanding  the  weather,  nearly  all  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  were  present. 

FIRST  LEGISL.VTIVE  REGUL.\TIOX 

Provision  for  the  regulation  and  maintenance  of  education  in  ^\'yoming  was 
made  in  the  first  session  of  the  territorial  assembly  and  approved  December 
TO,  1869.  This  act  created  the  territorial  auditor  "ex  officio"  superintendent  of 
public  instruction  and  fixed  his  salary  for  this  work  at  S500.  His  duties  were 
defined  as  follows : 

"The  duties  of  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction  shall  be  as  follows : 
He  shall  file  all  papers,  reports  and  public  dockets  transmitted  to  him  by  the 
school  officers  of  the  several  counties  each  year,  separately,  and  hold  the  same 
in  readiness  to  be  exhibited  to  the  governor,  or  to  any  committee  of  either  House 
of  the  Legislative  Assembly ;  and  shall  keep  a  fair  record  of  all  matters  pertaining 
to  the  business  of  his  office.  He  shall  have  general  supervision  of  all  the  district 
schools  of  the  territory,  and  shall  see  that  the  school  system  is  as  early'  as 
practicable,   put   into   uniform   operation;   and   shall    recommend   to   the   several 


HISTORY  OF  WYOiMING  431 

school  districts  a  uniform  series  of  textbooks  to  be  used  in  the  schools  thereof. 
He  shall  prepare  and  have  printed  suitable  forms  for  all  reports  required  by 
this  act;  and  shall  transmit  the  same,  with  such  instruction  in  reference  to  the 
course  of  studies  as  he  may  judge  advisable,  in  the  several  officers  entrusted 
with  the  management  and  care.  He  shall  make  all  further  rules  and  regulations 
that  may  be  necessary  to  carry  the  law  into  full  effect,  according  to  its  spirit  and 
intent,  which  shall  have  the  same  force  and  eft"ect,  as  though  contained  therein. 
He  shall  cause  so  many  copies  of  this  act.  with  forms  and  regulations,  and  in- 
structions herein  contemplated  thereunto  annexed,  to  be  from  time  to  time  printed 
and  distributed  among  the  several  school  districts  of  the  territory,  as  he  shall  deem 
expedient.  He  shall  make  a  report  to  the  Legislative  Assembly  on  the  first  day  of 
each  regular  session  thereof,  exhibiting  the  condition  of  public  schools,  and  such 
other  matters  relating  to  the  aft'airs  of  his  office  as  he  may  think  proper  to  com- 
municate. He  shall  make  an  equal  distribution  of  the  school  funds  among  the 
several  counties  on  the  first  iNIonday  in  December,  according  to  the  aggregate 
number  of  the  days  attendance  of  the  scholars  attendijig  the  common  schools,  in 
the  several  counties,  as  reported  by  the  County  Superintendents  of  the  several 
coimties,  who  shall  make  reports  of  the  same  on  or  before  the  first  iMondav  in 
November  to  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction.'' 

His  duties,  as  defined  by  the  statutes,  were  almost  identical  with  those  of  the 
present  superintendent,  except  that  the  apportionment  was  made  on  aggregate 
attendance  instead  of  on  the  census  basis. 

A  further  act  of  the  assembly  created  the  office  of  county  superintendent  of 
schools,  though  no  provision  was  made  for  the  manner  of  election.  The  county 
tax  for  the  maintenance  of  schools  was  fixed  at  not  more  than  two  mills  on  the 
dollar  and  the  county  superintendents  were  required  to  report  annuallv  to  the 
state  superintendent.  Should  they  fail  to  do  so,  they  were  to  forfeit  the  sum  of 
$ioo.  It  does  not  appear  that  this  provision  was  ever  enforced  or  even  noticed, 
for  year  after  year  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  in  his  annual 
report,  bemoaned  the  laxity  of  the  county  superintendents.  The  blame,  no  doubt, 
rests  quite  as  much  upon  the  district  clerks  as  upon  the  county  superintendents, 
for  the  former  were  by  law  required  to  supply  annually  a  report  of  the  affairs  in 
their  respective  districts,  containing  practically  the  same  information  which 
district  clerks  are  now  required  to  include  in  their  reports  to  the  county  superin- 
tendent. Failure  to  make  this  report  was  punishable  by  a  fine  of  $23,  but  there 
is  no  record  of  such  a  penaltv  ever  being  imposed. 

The  result  was.  naturally,  an  entirely  inadequate  record  of  the  early  schools, 
which  has  made  difficult  the  compilat-ion  of  a  detailed  history  of  this  period. 

The  board  of  district  directors  were  empowered  to  determine  the  site  of  the 
school  houses,  the  expenditures  for  the  erection  of  rent  of  the  same,  and  the  curri- 
culum to  be  followed  in  the  lower  schools.  In  the  matter  of  secondary  and  high 
school  education  the  determination  of  the  last-named  feature  w^as  left  to  the  county 
superintendent,  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  district  board. 

Provision  was  also  made  that,  when  there  were  fifteen  or  more  colored  children 
within  a  specified  district,  the  board  might,  with  the  approval  of  the  county 
superintendent,  provide  a  separate  school.  Apparently,  however,  no  such  segre- 
gated schools  have  ever  been  established,  negroes  being  admitted  to  the  schools 
with  whites. 


432  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  district  treasurer  was  to  keep  two  distinct  funds,  one  called  the  "teachers' 
fund,"  comprising  all  monies  paid  for  school  purposes,  save  only  local  taxes 
collected  in  the  district,  which  comprised  the  "school  house"  fund. 

The  Educational  Act  of  1869  remained  in  force  for  two  years,  then  a  few 
minor  changes  were  made.  The  state  auditor  was  relieved  of  his  "ex  officio'' 
duties  as  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction;  the  office  was  abolished  for 
a  time,  the  county  superintendents  during  this  time  reporting  annually  to  the 
governor. 

In  the  legislative  session  of  1873  the  whole  system  of  education  was  reviewed 
and  altered.  The  acts  are  of  singular  importance,  being  the  true  foundation  of 
subsequent  legislation  and  of  the  system  now  in  force.  The  act  of  1869  was  in 
most  respects  repealed  and  provisions  relative  to  the  duties  of  the  various  school 
officers  replaced  by  more  explicit  regulations.  The  state  librarian  (an  office  created 
two  years  previously)  was  made  "ex  officio"  state  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction.   ^^'ith  statehood  the  state  superintendency  became  a  separate  office. 

THE   FIRST  REPORT 

The  first  report  on  public  instruction  was  made  in  1871  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Hayford, 
of  Laramie,  the  territorial  auditor  for  the  preceding  biennium.  Doctor  Hayford 
reported  good  schools  in  Albany  and  Laramie  counties,  fair  schools  in  Uinta  and 
Carbon  counties,  but  in  Sweetwater  County  neither  superintendent  nor  schools. 
The  report  embodied  two  summaries  for  Carbon  and  Uinta  counties,  prepared  by 
the  respective  county  superintendents,  R.  W.  Baxter  and  R.  H.  Carter.  There 
were  only  five  counties  at  that  time.    These  summaries  follow : 

Counties                        School  Teachers  Pupils 

Houses  iMale     Female 

Carbon i  2             i                                74 

Uinta I  2             2  115 

.\t  this  time  the  population  of  Wyoming  was  scattered  along  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  for  a  distance  of  500  miles,  with  a  school  wherever  enough  children 
were  congregated.  The  provision  for  support  was  liberal ;  it  came  entirely  from 
taxation,  the  school  lands  not  yet  having  come  into  market.  The  five  counties 
had  county  superintendents.  Laramie  City  and  Cheyenne  had  graded  schools  of 
three  departments  each,  to  wh'ch  high  schools  were  later  to  be  added.  Schools 
in  other  districts,  though  small,  were  efficiently  managed. 

The  report  of  the  commissioner  of  education  in  1872  supplements  the  above 
statistics  by  listing  five  private  schools,  with  a  total  income  of  85,500.  Among 
these  was  the  Wyoming  Institute,  a  Baptist  school  of  secondan,-  grade,  founded 
in  1870  by  Rev.  D.  J.  Pierce  at  Laramie.  In  1872  it  had  four  instructors,  one  man 
and  three  women. 

The  quotation  which  follows  in  the  next  paragraph  is  from  a  letter  of  Governor 
Hoyt.  1877,  printed  in  the  report  of  the  commissioner  of  education  for  that  year. 
This  throws  more  light  on  the  educational  situation  in  Wyoming  during  early 
territorial  days  and  in  part  makes  up  for  the  entire  lack  of  statistical  data  in  th-s 
period. 


.iff^l^^ 

[UK- 

llllfl 

^m 

Jlllll 

fi^n 

&l^li 

Jiiii 

Mi  I A  I    miii-ii'f  i><rii 


Xatrona  County  High  Sfhool.  Park  School. 

SCHOOLS  OF  CASPER 


J  j 

I 

\Wji 

ii 

I^Jj 

m  '* 

|M 

f^ni 

^^m 

l^^^i^ 

WMtC^'^ 

Ep 

r^ 

IP 

nUi 

ml ■  - 

iwwrw-^— - 

_^aaH 

CATHOLIC  ACADKilV,  CHEYENNE 


434  ,  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

CONDITIONS  IN   1877 

"Of  the  school  system  now  in  operation,  as  well  as  of  the  schools  themselves, 
I  am  able  to  speak  in  terms  of  high  commendation.  The  gradation  is  complete 
from  the  lowest  primary  to  the  end  of  high  school,  which  last  is  able  to  fit  its 
pupils  for  admission  to  the  ordinary  college  of  the  comitry;  so  that  when  the 
college  or  university  comes  to  be  established  it  will  rest  upon  the  existing  public 
schools  of  the  territory.  The  schools  are  directed,  and  taught  by  persons  well 
qualified  for  their  responsibilities  by  study  in  academies,  colleges,  and  in  several  in- 
stances, normal  schools  of  the  East,  and  in  general  are  doing  excellent  work.  In- 
deed, after  careful  inspection  of  nearly  every  school  in  the  territory  and  attendance 
upon  some  of  the  examinations  and  public  exercises  at  the  end  of  the  last  school 
year,  I  am  constrained  to  say  that  the  graded  schools  give  evidence  of  an  efficiency 
that  would  do  honor  to  the  older  cities  of  the  East. 

"It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  public  at  large  feels  a  great  pride  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  territory,  and  is  ever  ready  with  liberal  means,  as  well  as 
with  active  moral  influence  to  promote  their  advancement.  In  fact,  I  have  never 
known  a  community,  whether  in  this  country  or  in  Europe,  more  zealously  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  popular  education  than  the  people  of  this  new  territory.'" 

Many  authorities  since  Governor  Hoyt  so  lauded  the  schools  have  stated 
that,  undoubtedly,  he  had  in  mind  the  schools  of  Laramie  and  Cheyenne,  also 
that  his  words  were  spoken  rather  oratorically.  Conditions  were  excellent 
among  the  schools  of  the  territory  at  that  time,  but  were  not  entirely  beyond 
criticism. 

FIRST   STATISTICS   AVAILABLE 

Beginning  with  the  year  1883,  statistical  information  becomes  available.  The 
following  figures  are  taken  from  the  manuscript  reports  of  the  superintendents  of 
public  instruction,  preserved  in  the  state  archives  at  Cheyenne. 

1883  1885  1888  1889 

Xvmiber  of  School  Houses 39  "/J  131  138 

Xumber  of  Schools  Taught 83  132  190  230 

Number  of  Pupils — 

Male 1 ,67s  2,252  2,5 1 1  3,492 

Female 1,677  2,153  2,893  3o6o 

Total    3,352  4,405  5,404  7,052 

Xumber  of  Teachers — 

Male 19  Z2  56  58 

Female 70  116  163  201 

Total    89  148  219  259 

Cost  per  Pupil  per  :\Ionth $2.87  $4.14  ...  $2.78 

The  total  population  of  the  territorv  had  increased  in  this  ])eriod  from  20,789 
in  1880  to  60,705  in  1890.  Thus  the  population  had  trebled  while  the  school 
population  had  only  a  little  more  than  doubled.  This  indicates,  of  course,  the 
obvious  fact  that  the  bulk  of  the  immigration,  on  which  the  territory  chiefly  relied 
for  its  increments,  consisted  of  adults.  It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  in  the 
six  years  from  1883  until  1889  the  number  of  school  houses  increased  from  39  to 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  435 

138.  With  the  doubling  of  the  school  attendance  in  this  period  the  cost  of  in- 
struction per  pupil,  however,  was  kept  reasonably  low — $2.87  in  1883;  $2.78  in 
1899.  A  rather  marked  increase  in  the  cost  of  instruction  is  shown  in  the  year 
1885,  but  this  is  probably  accounted  for  by  an  increased  equipment  and  by  an  im- 
proved quality  of  instruction  procured.  The  last  factor  is  indicated  in  a  measure 
by  the  average  monthly  compensation  of  teachers.  In  1883  it  was,  for  the  whole 
terrritory.  $57.25;  in  1885,  $58.06;  in  1889,  $61.67. 

The  character  of  the  school  buildings  in  this  period  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  list,  compiled  from  a  variety  of  sources.  The  list  is  in  no  way  complete, 
but  is  a  fair  indication  of  the  conditions  which  prevailed  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago.  Schools  were  conducted  in  the  following:  Log  building  with  a  dirt  roof; 
upper  room  of  a  railroad  section  house;  rented  building;  spare  room  of  a  ranch; 
vacant  office  of  a  mining  company ;  l^lacksmith's  shop ;  basement  of  the  town  hall : 
and  a  sheep  wagon. 

STATEHOOD 

On  November  5,  1889,  the  people  of  the  territory  ratified  the  constitution 
framed  by  the  state  constitutional  convention  and  on  July  10.  i8go,  Wyoming 
was  admitted  to  the  Union.  The  constitution  and  the  first  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature virtually  accepted  the  system  of  education  in  vogue  during  territorial  days 
and  from  this  point  may  be  said  to  date  the  modern  history  of  education  in  Wyo- 
ming. 

The  following  table  shows  the  growth  of  school  house  construction  since  state- 
hood : 

1890    198  houses 

1895    305  houses 

1900   372  houses 

1905    503  houses 

1910   640  houses 

1916 .1,101  houses 

The  following  table  showing  the  number  of  teachers,  both  male  and  female, 
and  the  enrollment  for  each  decade  since  1870  will  be  found  instructive: 

Years 


1890 

1900  

1910 

1916 . 

TEXT-BOOKS  .\ND  CURRICULUM 

In  the  early  days  of  the  territory  there  was  little  uniformity  in  the  matter  of 
text-books;  but  in   1873  the  third  Territorial   Assembly  placed  the   selection   of 


Teachers 

EnrolhiK 

Alale     Female 

2              2 

31            39 

2,070 

58          201 

7.^7-, 

89         481 

14.51^ 

141          968 

24-477 

253       1.482 

32,630 

436  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

text-books  in  the  hands  of  the  Territorial  Teachers'  Institute,  "provided  that  the 
series  of  books  so  adopted  shall  not  be  changed  oftener  than  once  in  three  years.'' 
However,  the  institutes  could  not  be  given  authority  to  insist  on  the  uniform 
adoption  of  the  texts  they  had  selected.  The  assembly  of  1888  ordered  the 
territorial  superintendent  of  public  instruction  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  county  and 
city  superintendents  to  adopt  text-books  for  five  years.  Before  the  expiration  of 
that  time,  however,  a  state  constitution  had  been  drawn  up  and  adopted,  which 
specifically  declared  that  "neither  the  Legislature  nor  the  superintendent  of  public 
instruction  shall  have  power  to  prescribe  text-books  to  be  used  in  the  public 
schools." 

This  led  to  considerable  confusion,  until  a  ruling  was  finally  made  that  the 
territorial  enactment  of  1888  was  valid.  As  early  as  1892  the  state  su])erintendent 
recommended  free  text-books,  but  it  was  not  until  1901  that  legislative  action 
was  taken  on  this  point.  In  1896,  in  one  district  of  Laramie  Count}-,  the  school 
board  tried  the  device  of  purchasing  a  supply  of  books  and  selling  them  to  the 
pupils  at  cost,  an  arrangement  which  worked  excellently.  The  adoption  of  free 
books  in  1901  met  with  general  approval.  The  Territorial  Assembly  of  1885  pro- 
vided that  physiology  and  hygiene,  especially  the  effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics, 
be  taught  in  all  schools  above  the  second  primary  grade  and  in  all  educational  in- 
stitutions supported  wholly  or  in  part  by  the  territory.  To  this  in  1910  was  added 
the  humane  treatment  of  animals. 

CERTIFIC.XTION 

In  the  Educational  Act  of  1873  '^^  county  superintendent  of  schools  was  author- 
ized "to  examine  persons,  and  if  in  his  opinion  such  persons  were  qualified  to 
teach  in  the  puljlic  schools,  to  give  a  certificate,  authorizing  him  or  her  to  teach  a 
public  school  in  his  county  for  one  year.  Whenever  practicable,  the  examination 
of  teachers  shall  be  competitive,  and  the  certificate  shall  be  graded  according  to 
the  qualifications  of  the  applicant." 

A  law  of  1876  empowered  the  territorial  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
to  grant  honorary  certificates  of  qualification  to  teachers  of  proper  learning  and 
ability  and  to  regulate  the  grade  of  county  certificates.  These  "honorary  certi- 
ficates" were  granted  primarily  on  the  basis  of  continuous  years  of  service.  Forty 
were  given  between  1883  and  1887.  At  the  same  time  the  county  superintendents 
were  empowered  to  grant  certificates  for  two-year  periods.  During  the  next  ten 
years  little  change  was  made  in  the  matter  of  certification.  In  1897-98  the  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  recommended  that  graduates  of  the  univer- 
sity, especially  those  having  taken  normal  training,  receive  certificates  without 
further  examination.    This  change  was  made  soon  after. 

In  1899  the  state  board  of  examiners  was  created.  Their  duty  was  to  jjrepare 
uniform  examination  questions  and  to  serve  as  a  court  of  appeal  from  the  de- 
cisions of  the  county  superintendents.  During  the  first  year,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Prof.  C.  B.  Ridgaway,  of  the  university,  sixteen  sets  of  questions  were 
prepared  for  the  use  of  the  county  superintendents.  The  board  also  examined 
thirty-three  applicants  for  certificates,  recommended  sixteen,  and  declined  to 
recommend  seventeen.  In  1899  provision  was  made  for  issuing  three  grades  of 
certificates  and  a  professional  or  state  certificate,  the  latter  to  be  granted  by  the 


HIliH  SCHOOL.  KEMMERER 


?i  T'T    1     1  .    -F  f  p       rr-T   '■' 


From  the  Herbfrt  Coffcen  CttUectlon 


HIGH  SCHOOL,  SHERIDAN 


438  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

board  of  examiners.  Examinations  for  the  other  three  grades  were  still  con- 
ducted by  the  count}-  superintendents  in  subjects  prescribed  by  law.  In  1907  the 
board  was  empowered  to  examine  all  candidates  for  certificates  in  the  state.  Ex- 
aminations were  conducted  at  stated  intervals  and  the  recipients  of  certificates 
'were  allowed  to  teach  in  any  county  of  the  state.  In  1909  subjects  for  examina- 
tion in  the  three  classes  were  more  specifically  fixed  by  law. 

teachers'  institutes 

The  Educational  Act  of  1873  required  the  territorial  superintendent  of  public 
instruction  to  conduct  annually  a  teachers'  institute,  lasting  not  less  than  four 
nor  more  than  ten  days.  Its  chief  duty  was  the  selection  of  text-books.  In 
1883  an  appropriation  of  $1,500  was  made  to  pay  the  traveling  expenses  of 
teachers  attending  institutes.  Four  years  later  attendance  was  required  by  law. 
Provision  was  further  made  for  the  payment  by  the  counties  of  expenses  inci- 
dental to  the  holding  of  institutes,  including  the  compensation  of  lecturers. 
The  Legislature  of  191 3  authorized  the  holding  of  joint  institutes  by  two  or  more 
counties.  The  outcome  of  this  was  the  act  of  191 5,  providing  for  state  insti- 
tutes. These  were  to  be  maintained  in  part  by  nominal  fees  required  of  all 
teachers  in  the  state.  At  these  meetings  the  specific  needs  and  problems  of  the 
teachers  and  schools  are  discussed,  generally  in  connection  with  a  series  of 
lectures. 


HIGH    SCHOOLS 

Section  23  of  Chapter  7,  Title  IV,  of  the  Laws  of  Wyoming,  passed  at  the 
first  session  of  the  Territorial  Assembly,  made  provision  as  follows : 

"The  county  superintendent  and  district  board  of  directors  may  determine 
whether  a  school  of  a  higher  grade  shall  be  established  in  the  district,  the  num- 
ber of  teachers  to  be  employed,  and  the  course  of  instruction  to  be  pursued 
therein,  and  the  board  may  erect  for  the  purpose  one  or  more  permanent  school- 
houses,  and  shall  cause  such  classification  of  the  pupils  as  they  may  deem  neces- 
sary, but  in  selecting  the  site  for  such  school  house,  or  school  houses,  the  perma- 
nent interest  and  future  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  entire  district  shall  be 
consulted." 

An  enactment  of  the  State  Legislature  of  1905  provided  for  the  creation,  on 
vote  of  the  county,  of  special  high  school  districts  and  the  location  at  the  county 
seat  of  county  high  school  buildings  in  the  same.  In  1915  the  counties  were  em- 
powered to  lay  a  tax  not  exceeding  two  mills  on  the  dollar  for  the  payment  of 
teachers'  salaries  and  contingent  expenses  in  such  high  schools  and  a  total  tax 
not  exceeding  ten  mills  on  the  dollar  in  case  of  the  construction  of  a  building, 
provided  such  high  schools  maintained  a  four  year  course  qualifying  for  admis- 
sion to  the  university. 

The  first  high  school  established  was  at  Cheyenne  in  1875.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  one  at  Buffalo  in  1881 ;  Newcastle,  1889;  Rawlins  soon  after;  Lander, 
1890;  and  Sheridan  in  1893.  There  are  now  fifty-one  high  schools,  with  four 
year  courses  of  study. 


HIGH  SCHOOL,  NEWCASTLE 


HIGH  SCHOOL,  EVANSTON 


440  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

THE  STEEVER    CADET    SYSTEM 

In  the  year  191 1  Lieut.  E.  Z.  Steever,  U.  S.  A.,  introduced  into  the  Cheyenne 
High  School  a  system  of  training  known  as  the  cadet  system  and  which  was 
created  by  him  as  a  means  of  furthering  military  education  and  training  in  the 
public  schools.  Lieutenant  Steever  remained  a  year  in  Cheyenne,  superintending 
the  work  and  perfecting  the  system,  which  has  now  been  adopted  in  many  high 
schools,  colleges  and  universities  throughout  the  country.  In  1913  Lieutenant 
Steever  established  the  cadet  system  in  other  Wyoming  towns. 

The  value  of  the  Steever  idea,  as  introduced  into  the  public  schools,  cannot 
be  overestimated.  That  it  is  popular,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  since  its  intro- 
duction in  the  Cheyenne  High  School  60  per  cent  of  the  male  students  have  enlisted 
for  the  course,  which  is  non-compulsory.  The  state  itself  has  become  sufificiently 
interested  to  make  an  appropriation  to  assist  in  the  purchase  of  uniforms,  allow- 
ing about  $6  for  each  cadet.  The  Steever  system  has  attracted  the  attention  of 
military  authorities  in  the  country  and  it  is  estimated  that,  with  the  adoption  of 
the  "Wyoming  idea"  in  the  schools  of  the  nation,  320,000  young  men  would  re- 
ceive the  necessary  military  knowledge  each  year  to  fit  them  for  active  military 
work  in  the  service  of  their  country.  Also,  not  only  has  the  system  benefited  the 
individual  student  physically,  but  has  materially  increased  the  average  scholar- 
ship. About  twice  each  year  public  tournaments  are  held  at  Cheyenne  and  other 
places,  at  which  time  the  cadets  exhibit  the  features  of  the  training. 

Lieutenant  Steever  has  recently  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  is  stationed  at  Camp  Dix,  Dallas,  Texas,  where  he  has  been  in  com- 
mand of  the  aviation  camp. 

KINDERG.^RTENS 

The  beginnings  of  kindergarten  instruction  in  W'yoming  were  of  private 
nature.  In  1886  ]Mrs.  F,  D,  M.  Bratten  established  the  ^lagic  City  Kinder- 
garten in  Cheyenne,  charging  a  tuition  fee  of  $4  a  month.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  she  had  ten  pupils.  Subsequently  other  private  kindergartens  were  opened 
in  various  communities  of  the  state.  It  was  not  until  1895,  however,  that  pro- 
vision was  made  for  public  kindergartens.  In  that  year  the  Legislature  empow- 
ered the  trustees  of  any  school  district  to  establish  free  kindergartens  for  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  four  and  six. 

PRIVATE    AND   SECULAR    SCHOOLS 

At  first  private  schools  exceeded  in  importance  the  public  schools.  The 
census  of  1870  enumerated  four  public  schools  with  four  teachers,  while  it  listed 
five  day  and  boarding  schools  with  eleven  teachers.  The  public  schools  were 
attended  by  175  pupils,  however,  the  private  schools  by  130, 

With  improvement  in  the  standard  of  public  education,  the'  private  schools 
became,  for  a  period,  of  less  significance.  One  of  the  few  to  survive  for  a  time 
was  the  Wyoming  Institute,  a  Baptist  school  at  Laramie,  mentioned  before.  This 
school  was  abandoned  in  1873.  During  its  last  year  it  had  twenty-one  boys  and 
eighteen  girls  as  students,  but  was  unable  to  survive. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  Ul 

At  Laramie  was  another  educational  institution,  which  was  started  about 
1870.  This  was  the  St.  Mary's  School,  a  Roman  Catholic  institution,  which 
failed  to  make  much  progress  until  1880.  In  1881  it  had  four  teachers  and 
seventy-three  pupils.  The  next  year  its  enrollment  had  jumped  to  no  pupils, 
fifty  of  whom  were  boys.  The  figures  for  1883-84  give  for  St.  Mary's  School 
thirty-five  boys  and  fifty  girls.  The  next  year  St.  Mary's  gave  place  to  a  larger 
and  better  equipped  Roman  Catholic  school  established  at  Cheyenne  by  the  So- 
ciety of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus.  During  the  first  year  the  Convent,  or  Academy, 
of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus  occupied  the  old  church  building  at  the  corner  of 
Twenty-first  and  O'Neill  streets,  but  in  1886  the  present  building  was  begun. 
The  school  was  moved  to  the  new  quarters  in  the  month  of  January,  1887. 
This  original  building  has  been  improved  and  enlarged  at  various  times  since 
1886  and  now  affords  commodious  quarters  to  twenty-one  nurses  and  250  pupils. 
From  ninety  to  one  hundred  pupils  were  enrolled  during  the  first  year  of  the 
academy's  existence.  The  academy  is  in  charge  of  Mother  Mary  Stanislaus,  the 
mother  superior,  and  Mother  Mary  Gonzaga. 

Another  private  institution  was  the  Wyoming  Collegiate  Institute  at  Big 
Horn,  a  Congregational  school  started  in  1894-95  with  two  men  and  one  woman 
teachers  and  an  enrollment  of  thirty-four  boys  and  twenty-two  girls.  The  pre- 
vious year,  though,  1893,  the  Sheridan  High  School  had  been  started  and  forth- 
with the  Wyoming  Collegiate  Institute  declined  and  was  finally  abandoned. 

In  1905  was  opened  the  Cheyenne  Business  College  and  in  the  same  year  the 
Big  Horn  College  in  Basin.  The  latter  enterprise  was  financed  by  a  number  of 
prominent  Big  Horn  citizens  and  the  school  included  courses  in  commercial,  aca- 
demic and  musical  subjects. 

In  1909  was  founded  Jireh  College  at  Jireh,  Niobrara  County,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Christian  Church.  This  institution  offers  courses  in  secondary 
subjects  and  some  elementary  instruction  of  college  grade.  Since  1903  the  en- 
rollment of  the  private  schools  of  Wyoming  has  increased  from  260  in  that  year, 
to  427  in   1916. 

OTHER  SCHOOLS 

The  problem  of  Indian  education  was  met  soon  after  the  organization  of  the 
territory  and  some  attempt  made  to  provide  the  elements  of  vocational  educa- 
tion for  the  red  man.  In  1870  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  maintained  an 
Indian'  school  among  the  Shoshonis  with  ten  pupils.  A  few  years  later  the 
school  had  dwindled  to  six,  and  in  1874  no  Indian  school  was  maintained.  In 
1878  a  day  school  was  established  and  a  boarding  school  contemplated.  In  1880 
the  agent  among  the  Shoshonis  and  Bannocks  submitted  the  following  report: 

Tribe        Population       No.  of  Schools       Pupils       Months  of  School    No.  Who 
M  F.  Can  Read 

Shoshoni   .  .  i ,  1 50 I 33 4 33^ 20 

.\rapaho    ..    913 i 33 6 21-2 41 

More  recently  the  task  of  educating  the  Indian  has  been  undertaken  more  seri- 
ously both  by  the  churches  and  the  Federal  Government. 


442  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

One  of  the  purposes  of  the  Wyoming  University  Extension  Association,  es- 
tabhshed  in  1891,  was  the  organization  of  a  State  Teachers'  Association.  A  step 
in  this  direction  was  taken  by  the  pubUcation  for  a  time  of  the  "Wyoming  School 
Journal,"  edited  by  Prof.  Henry  Merz  of  the  university.  Meetings  of  the  State 
Teachers'  Association  were  held  in  Laramie,  1891 ;  Cheyenne,  1892;  Rawlins, 
1893;  Rock  Springs,  1894;  Evanston,  1895;  and  Laramie,  1897.  The  associa- 
tion, however,  was  already  upon  the  decline  and  within  five  years  succumbed. 
The  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  in  1902  reported  Wyoming  as  the 
only  state  without  a  teachers'  association.  Two  years  later,  1904,  a  new  State 
Teachers'  Association  was  organized  at  a  meeting  of  state  educators  in  Casper. 
The  association  was  formed  in  September  and  in  December  appeared  the  first 
number  of  the  new  "Wyoming  School  Journal,"  which  has  been  issued  every 
month  except  July  and  August  during  the  years  since  1904.  The  \\'yoming  State 
Teachers'  Association  has  met  annually  since  its  reorganization. 

THE   PRESENT   SYSTEM 

At  the  session  of  the  Wyoming  Legislature  in  191 7  an  "Act  to  establish  a 
State  Department  of  Education''  was  passed  which  completely  revolutionized 
the  system  of  educational  administration  then  existing. 

Under  the  terms  of  this  act  "the  general  supervision  of  public  schools  shall 
be  entrusted  to  a  State  Department  of  Education,  at  the  head  of  which  shall 
be  a  State  Board  of  Education.  *  =■=  *  The  commissioner  of  education  shall  be 
the  executive  officer  of  the  board,  with  powers  and  duties  to  be  defined  by  law." 

One  of  the  salient  features  of  the  act  is  that  it  practically  eliminates  the 
executive  power  of  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  leaving  this  official 
with  none  of  his  former  duties  to  perform.  Under  the  new  law  all  county  educa- 
tional aflfairs  are  under  the  control  of  the  county  superintendent  of  schools,  and 
the  district  schools  are  under  the  care  of  the  district  board  of  school  trustees. 

The  state  board  of  education  is  composed  of  seven  members.  It  is  required 
that  at  least  three  of  the  board  members  be  persons  actively  engaged  in  educa- 
tional work.  The  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  is  known  as  an  ex 
officio  member,  but  without  the  right  to  vote.  The  members  are  appointed  by 
the  governor  of  the  state  for  terms  of  six  years,  an  appointment  being  made 
everv-  two  years.  No  salary  is  paid  the  board  members,  but  each  is  allowed  neces- 
sary expenses  while  engaged  in  official  work.  Meetings  are  held  semi-annually 
on  the  second  Monday  in  '^\ay  and  November. 

The  commissioner  of  education,  who  must  be  an  experienced  educator,  is 
appointed  by  the  board  and  is  the  executive  officer,  although  he  has  no  vote.  A 
salarj'  of  $3,000  per  annum  is  paid  to  the  commissioner  and  his  duties  consist 
in  issuing  certificates,  construing  laws,  etc.  Another  position,  that  of  chief  of 
the  certification  division,  pays  a  salary  of  $2,000  a  year. 

Among  the  many  duties  of  the  state  board  of  education  are  the  following: 
to  prescribe  policies  of  educational  administration  throughout  the  state;  to  regu- 
late courses  of  study  and  standardization ;  to  prescribe  rules  for  certification ;  to 
provide  for  an  annual  school  census:  to  make  a  complete  biennial  report  to  the 
governor  and  Legislature ;  to  oversee  elementary,  high,   vocational  and   special 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  443 

schools;  to  conduct  all  investigations;  to  advise  with  the  university   regarding 
normal  study  and  to  assume  the  duies  of  the  state  board  of  examiners. 

The  relation  between  the  board  and  the  university  is  explained  by  the  fol- 
lowing words  from  the  act:  "Nothing  in  this  Act  or  any  chapter  thereof  shall  be 
construed  to  limit  or  contravene  the  functions  and  powers  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  University  of  Wyoming  as  hitherto  established  by  law  in  conformity 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  and  the  laws  of  the  United 
States." 

CENSUS  AND  APPORTIONMENT  BY  COUNTIES 

The  following  table,  compiled  by  Edith  K.  O.  Clark,  superintendent  of  public 
instruction,  in  her  report  of  1915-16,  shows  the  school  census  and  apportion- 
ments by  counties : 

County  School  Census  Apportionment 

Albany    .' 2,049  $17,192.29 

Bighorn    2.401  20.145.78 

Campbell    576  4.8.^2.97 

Carbon    2,093  17.56148 

Converse    945  7,929.10 

Crook   2,206  18,509.62 

Fremont     1,839  15,430.27 

Goshen     1,336  11,209.81 

Hot   Springs   675  5,663.64 

Johnson    i  ,010  8,482.87  ' 

Laramie    4.147  341795.74 

Lincoln    4,321  36,255.69 

Natrona    i.i97  10,043.52 

Niobrara    1,045  8,768.15 

Park 1,477                ■  12,392.88 

Platte    1,581  13,265.50 

Sheridan 4,101  34,409.76 

Sweetwater    2,867  24,055.79 

Uinta    1,866  15.656.82 

Washaki     523  4.388.27 

Weston     1.328  11,142.69 


Count\ 


SCHOOL  STATISTICS  P.V  COUNTIES  IN    I916 

Enrollment     School  Houses     Private  School     Teachers 


Albany    1.423 

Bighorn    1.857 

Campbell    527 

Carbon   1,557 

Converse    833 

Crook   1.524 

Fremont     1.746 


Attendance 

53 

219 

123 

45 

15 

80 

30 

17 

41 

47 

6 

87 

33 

12 

53 

Q5 

9 

lOI 

63 

18 

93 

444  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

County  Enrollment     School  Houses         Private  School     Tcaciicrs 

Attendance 

Goshen   1,127  55  2  89 

Hot  Springs    622  18  31 

Johnson    728  30  2  42 

Laramie    3,108  122  3  186 

Lincoln     3,679  59  13  152 

Natrona    1,160  18  55 

Niobrara    787  44  6  57 

Park   1,248  31  19  57 

Platte    1,562  70  136 

Sheridan    3,483  77  81  135 

Sweetwater    2,586  27  3  69 

Uinta    1,475  3°  62 

Washakie 499  I9  -7 

Weston    1,099  40  2  59 

Total    32,630  1,006  427  1,735 

There  were  32,433  white  pupils  and  197  negro  pupils  recorded  in  1916.  There 
were  30,684  native  born  pupils  and  1,148  who  were  foreign  born.  Average  cost 
per  pupil  per  month — $8.50.  Average  wage  for  male  teachers — $85.81  per 
month;  for  female  teachers,  $61.91. 

UNIVERSITY    OF  WYOMING 

The  State  University  of  Wyoming  is  located  at  the  City  of  Laramie.  One 
of  the  first  steps  taken  toward  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution  may  be 
said  to  have  been  the  act  of  Congress,  approved  February  18,  1862,  entitled  "An 
Act  to  grant  lands  to  Dakota,  Montana,  Arizona,  Idaho  and  Wyoming  for  uni- 
versity purposes."  This  act  gave  to  Wyoming,  then  a  territory,  seventy-two  sec- 
tions, or  46,080  acres  of  land,  to  be  selected  from  the  government  tracts  then 
within  the  territory. 

In  his  report  to  the  secretary  of  the  interior,  1878,  the  governor  of  Wyoming 
mentioned  that  a  need  would  soon  be  felt  for  a  college  in  the  territory.  By 
legislative  enactment  in  1886,  the  governor  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  com- 
mission of  one  to  make  the  selection  of  university  land  under  the  Congressional 
act.  Finally,  45,291  acres  were  chosen  and  largely  leased  to  ranchmen  and  stock- 
men for  grazing  purposes.  The  territory  never  sold  any  of  these  lands,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  a  constitutional  provision  placed  a  minimum  price  of  $10  per 
acre  upon  it  before  it  could  be  sold. 

Higher  education  did  not  receive  any  special  legislation  until  the  ninth  Terri- 
torial Legislature  passed  a  bill,  approved  March  4,  1886,  which  authorized  formal 
action  toward  the  organization  of  the  university.  This  act  provided  for  an  in- 
come for  current  expenses  by  an  annual  tax  of  one-quarter  mill  on  all  taxable 
property  in  the  territorv-.  The  bill  provided  for  the  establishment  of  an  insti- 
tution under  the  name  and  style  of  "The  University  of  Wyoming,  to  be  located 
at  or  near  Laramie,"  the  same  to  "impart  to  young  men  and  women,  on  equal 


STATE  INIVERSITY  OF  WYO.MIXC,  LAKAM 


WOilEX'S  HALL,  STATE  I'XIVERSITY  OF  WYOJIIXG.  LAKAJII 


446  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

terms,  a  liberal  education  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  different  branches  of 
literature,  the  arts  and  sciences,  with  their  varied  applications."  The  government 
of  this  institution  was  vested  in  a  board  of  seven  trustees,  "three  of  whom  shall 
at  all  times  be  residents  of  the  City  of  Lararriie."  This  number  was  increased 
to  nine  in  1891. 

Hon.  Stephen  W.  Downey  was  the  father  of  the  bill  creating  the  university. 

Francis  E.  Warren,  governor  of  the  territory,  appointed  a  building  commis- 
sion to  have  charge  of  the  general  construction  work.  A  tract  of  land  was  se- 
cured, consisting  of  twenty  acres,  procured  jointly  from  the  City  of  Laramie  and 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  By  the  summer  of  1887  a  portion  of  the 
building  was  completed,  but  the  entire  structure  was  not  finished  until  1890, 
costing  over  $85,000.    This  edifice  was  known  as  the  Liberal  Arts  Building. 

On  September  6,  1887,  however,  the  territorial  university  was  opened.  The 
university  proper  opened  with  a  faculty  of  seven,  including  the  president,  cx- 
Governor  Hoyt.  The  first  department  organized  was  the  College  of  Liberal 
Arts,  the  acknowledged  nucleus  of  all  university  departments.  A  preparatory 
department  was  immediately  added,  owing  to  the  unavoidable  ill-preparation  on 
the  part  of  matriculants  from  most  areas  of  Wyoming,  and  preparations,  further- 
more, were  made  even  at  this  early  date  for  all  the  schools  essential  to  a  state 
university.  The  two  departments  organized  immediately  thereafter  were:  A 
School  of  Mines  and  a  School  of  Agriculture,  although  the  catalog  of  1890-91 
announced,  in  addition  to  the  above,  a  department  of  Law  and  a  School  of  Com- 
merce. The  School  of  Agriculture  was  reorganized  in  1891  and  the  division  of 
]\[ining  the  next  year.  The  following  significant  words  were  used  in  the  report 
of  the  commission  to  visit  the  university,  December,  1887:  "We  regard  it  also 
as  fortunate  that  the  different  departments  of  a  great  University  as  proposed, 
should  be  in  one  place,  under  one  management  and  faculty,  not  broken  up  into 
parts  and  separated  by  long  distances  and  perhaps  diverse  sentiment.  In  unity 
there  is  at  once  economy  and  strength.  The  'Colorado  Plan'  illustrates  the  re- 
verse." 

At  the  time  of  seeking  admission  as  a  state,  the  constitutional  convention  had 
made  provision  for  the  university.  The  first  State  Legislature  which  convened 
in  Cheyenne,  November  12,  1890,  also  passed  an  act  providing  for  the  Wyoming 
Agricultural  College,  its  location  to  be  fixed  by  vote  of  the  people;  and  also 
created  and  named  a  board  of  five  trustees  to  control  the  institution.  In  the 
same  session,  however,  the  Legislature  authorized  the  university  to  accept  the 
Federal  appropriations  for  the  support  of  agricultural  colleges  until  such  time 
as  the  Agricultural  College  of  Wyoming  should  be  located  and  established.  Thus 
an  agricultural  college  was  created  at  Laramie.  In  1892  the  question  of  the  lo- 
cation of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Wyoming  was  submitted  to  the  people  and 
by  a  plurality,  Lander  as  selected.  No  legislative  enactment  in  conformity  with 
this  vote  ensued,  however,  and  the  college  remained  at  Laramie.  Finally,  in 
1905,  the  Legislature  definitely  fixed  it  at  that  place,  repealing  the  act  of  1891 
and  ignoring  the  popular  vote  of  1892.  Thereupon  the  trustees  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College  of  Wyoming  brought  suit  against  the  state  treasurer  to  prevent  the 
execution  of  the  act.  The  case  was  ultimately  appealed  to  the  Federal  Supreme 
Court,  which  decided.  May  13,  1907,  that  the  popular  vote  of  1892  was  purely 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  4-17 

advisory  and  that  the  agricultural  college  should  remain  at  Laramie  in  confor- 
mity with  the  legislative  act  of  1905. 

In  1891  the  Wyoming  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  was  established  at 
Laramie  and  sub-stations  were  located  at  Lander,  Saratoga,  Sheridan,  Sundance 
and  Wheatland.  The  sub-stations  were  abolished,  however,  in  1897  in  accord- 
ance with  a  ruling  of  the  Federal  Department  of  Agriculture. 

The  catalog  of  the  university  for  1891-92  announced  provision  for  university 
extension  whereby  the  whole  state  might  share  in  the  benefits  of  the  institution 
and  not  alone  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  attend  it  in  residence.  Steps 
in  this  direction  had  already  been  taken  by  President  Hoyt,  who  organized  the 
Wyoming  Academy  of  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Letters.  "Aleetings,  literary  and  his- 
torical, were  of  frequent  occurrence,  participated  in  by  members  of  the  faculty 
and  by  many  of  the  citizens  of  Wyoming  *  *  *  and  papers  of  more  than 
passing  interest  were  presented  by  persons  from  dififerent  parts  of  the  state." 
Local  extension  "centers"  were  organized  at  Cheyenne  with  sixty-five  members 
and  at  Laramie  with  forty-five  members  and  the  Wyoming  University  Extension 
Association  formed.  The  following  year  another  center  was  added  at  Rock 
Springs  with  fourteen  members.  The  same  year,  also,  a  beginning  of  instruc- 
tion by  correspondence  was  made. 

By  1893-94  the  matter  of  preparation  for  the  university  was  being  more  ade- 
quately handled  by  local  high  schools  and  a  list  of  such  accredited  schools  was 
compiled  whose  graduates  might  enter  the  university  without  further  examina- 
tion; The  list,  then,  comprised  Cheyenne,  Evanston,  Lander,  Laramie,  Rawlins, 
Rock  Springs  and  Sheridan. 

In  1896-97  the  College  of  Agriculture  was  reorganized  with  a  one-year  course, 
a  two-year  course, .and  a  four-year  course.  This  last  led  to  a  degree  and  was 
supplemented  by  a  graduate  department  in  agriculture. 

The  School  of  Military  Science  was  added  in  1892  and  the  School  of  Music 
in   1895. 

The  catalog  of  1897-98  announced  the  readiness  of  the  university  to  grant 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  and  the  next  year  a  preparatory  and  first  year 
medical  course  were  outlined  as  well  as  a  two-year  pre-legal  course.  The  latter 
had  been  foreshadowed  in  the  report  of  the  trustees  of  the  University  in  Decem- 
ber, 1889.  "While  not  yet  prepared  to  open  a  full  law  school  with  regular  courses 
of  instruction  looking  to  a  degree,  the  university  has  made  arrangements  for  lec- 
tures by  a  number  of  distinguished  gentlemen  whose  courses,  to  be  given  at  their 
convenience,  will  afiford  to  private  students  of  the  law  in  the  territory  an  excel- 
lent opportunity  to  lay  the  foundations  in  a  study  of  general  principles  for  a  full 
and  systematic  course  at  a  somewhat  later  day."  The  continuance  of  these,  how- 
ever, did  not  seem  justified  and  it  was  not  until  191 5-16  that  preparations  were 
made  for  their  reestablishment  and  revision. 

The  campus  of  the  university  now  contains  forty  acres,  which  is  gradually 
being  supplied  with  both  shade  and  ornamental  trees. 

The  Liberal  Arts  Building,  the  first  to  be  erected,  faces  the  west  and  is  150 
feet  by  50  feet  in  dimensions  and  is  of  three  stories,  with  basement.  The  material 
used  in  the  construction  is  native  sandstone,  obtained  in  the  nearby  mountains. 
There  are  twenty-eight  rooms,  steam-heated  and  lighted  by  electricity.  The 
auditorium,  seating  400  persons,  is  upon  the  second  floor  of  the  building. 


448  HISTORY  OF  WVO.MIXG 

The  Alechanical  Building,  costing  $12,000,  was  completed  in  the  spring  of 
1893  for  the  College  of  Mechanical  Engineering.  Sandstone  was  also  used  in 
this  stmcture  of  twelve  rooms. 

The  Hall  of  Science  was  completed  in  1902.  The  Gymnasium  and  Armory 
Building  was  erected  in  the  summer  of  1903,  at  a  cost  of  $15,000.  In  the  spring 
of  1907  the  Legislature  transferred  the  old  penitentiary  property  to  the  university 
and  appropriated  $5,000  to  repair  and  equip  it.  The  Woman's  Building  was 
secured  from  the  liberal  appropriation  made  by  the  Legislature  in  1907.  The 
Normal  School  Building  was  erected  by  funds  from  the  1909  appropriation  and 
cost  $50,000.  It  was  finished  August  i,  1910.  The  Central  Heating  Plant,  located 
near  the  center  of  the  campus,  cost  $16,000,  and  was  installed  in  1904.  Agricul- 
tural Hall  was  erected  in  1914  for  instructional  and  laboratory  purposes.  The 
building  cost  $102,000.  The  first  unit  of  a  second  Woman's  Dormitory,  Hoyt 
Hall,  was  constructed  in  1916,  at  a  cost  of  $45,000. 

The  act  of  March,  1886,  creating  the  university,  had  provided  for  its  main- 
tenance by  a  tax  of  one-fourth  of  a  mill  on  all  taxable  property  in  the  territory. 
The  first  state  legislature  in  1891  undertook  to  offset  the  support  granted  by  the 
Agricultural  College  of  the  University  under  the  act  of  1862  and  the  so-called 
Morrill  Act  and  Hatch  Act — whose  terms  were  now  complied  with — by  reducing 
the  state  appropriations  from  one-fourth  of  a  mill  to  one-eighth.  This  remained 
the  source  of  state  support  until  1905.  when  the  rate  was  raised  by  the  Legislature 
to  three-eighths  of  a  mill  and  by  the  Legislature  of  1909  to  one-half  of  a  mill  (but 
limited  to  $33,000  annually).  In  191 1  the  amount  to  be  raised  by  the  half-mill  tax 
was  limited  to  $85,000.  The  Legislature  of  1913  fixed  the  tax  at  three-eighths  of 
a  mill  without  limitation.  In  1915  an  additional  permanent  building  tax  of  one- 
eighth  of  a  mill  was  voted.  In  addition  to  the  income  from  the  earlier  federal 
acts  in  support  of  agricultural  and  mechanical  education,  already  noted,  the 
Agricultural  College  of  the  University  and  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 
have  received  appropriations  from  the  Adamls  Act  of  1906,  the  Nelson  Act  of 
1907  and  the  Smith-Lever  Act  of  1915.  By  an  act  of  the  Wyoming  Legislature 
in  191 5  the  university  is  to  receive  one-fourth  of  the  income  of  200.000  acres  of 
federal  land  granted  to  the  state  for  "charitable,  educational,  penal,  and  reforma- 
tory institutions." 

The  different  presidents  of  the  University  of  ^^'yoming  have  been: 

Dr.  J.  W.  Hoyt — May  11,  1887,  until  December  31,  1890:  deceased. 

Dr.  A.  A.  Johnson — March  27,  1891,  until  June  30,  1896;  Denver,  Colo. 

Dr.  E.  P.  Graves — July  i,  1896,  until  June  30,  1898;  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  E.  E.  Smiley — July  i,  1898,  until  August  31,  1903;  deceased. 

Dr.  C.  W.  Lewis — September  7,  1903,  until  June,  1904;  deceased. 

Dr.  F.  M.  Tisdel — July  22.  1904.  until  ^March  28,  1908 ;  Columbia,  Mo. 

Dr.  C.  O.  Merica — May  8,  1908,  until  July  31,  1912;  Kendallville,  Ind. 

Dr.  C.  A.  Duniway — August  i,  1912,  until  September  i.  1917;  Colorado 
Springs.  Colo. 

Dr.  Aven  Nelson  (acting) — September  i,  1917,  until  June  30,  1918;  Laramie, 
\^^-o. 

The  total  enrollment  in  the  departments  of  the  University,  exclusive  of  short 
courses  and  correspondence  study  students,  has  increased  by  decades  as  follows : 


HISTORY  OF  WYOAIIXG  449 

in  1890  there  were  82  enrolled;  in  1900  there  were  187;  in  1910  there  were  315 
and  in  1917  there  were  618. 

The  people  of  Wyoming  may  well  be  proud  of  this  record  of  the  University's 
material  prosperity  and  its  educational  achievements,  which  have  given  it  such  a 
high  rank  among  the  state  universities  of  our  country.  No  state  in  the  Union  has 
been  more  liberal  in  its  endowments  or  shown  a  broader  and  more  progressive 
spirit  in  promoting  all  the  agencies  for  a  free,  common  school  and  higher  educa- 
tion for  all  classes  of  our  people. 

During  the  past  year  a  night  school  system  of  free  instruction  of  adult 
aliens  is  being  inaugurated  in  the  principal  cities  and  towns  of  the  state  by  the 
official  boards  of  public  instruction,  acting  in  cooperation  with  the  national  govern- 
ment. In  this  way  every  citizen  of  our  great  state  may  be  qualified  to  become  a 
legal  voter,  as  our  state  constitution  has  a  provision  which  requires  that  every 
voter  must  be  able  to  read  the  constitution  in  English. 


CHAPTER  XX^aII 
THE  WYO]\IIXG  PRESS 

ORIGIN  OF  NEWSPAPERS — FIRST  PUBLICATIONS  IN  EUROPE  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES — 

FIRST    NEWSPAPERS    IN    WYOMING THE    LEADER WYOMING    STATE    TRIBUNE 

OTHER    EARLY    CHEYENNE    NEWSPAPERS NEWSPAPERS    OF    LARAMIE — THE    LAR- 
AMIE BOOMERANG THE  LARAMIE  REPUBLICAN OTHER  WYOMING  PUBLICATIONS 

"bill"  NYE "KILL  BARLOw" — WY'OMING  NEWSPAPER  STATISTICS  IN   I918. 

ORIGIN  OF  NEWSPAPERS 

The  newspaper,  as  we  know  it.  was  preceded  many  centuries  by  the  manu- 
script pubhcations  of  old  Rome — engraved  upon  wax  tablets  with  an  instrument 
known  as  the  stylus — which  were  hung  in  prominent  places  in  order  that  people 
might  read  of  the  passing  events  and  the  political  trend  of  the  times.  These 
publications  were  called  the  "Acta  Diurna,"  and  were  issued  irregularly. 

Little  progress  was  made  in  the  profession  of  journalism  until  the  year  1622, 
when  there  was  born  the  first  publication  worthy  of  the  appellation  of  "news- 
paper." Europeans  had  received  their  news  in  the  form  of  manuscript  literature 
and  for  a  time  the  written  news-letter  was  in  vogue,  to  be  enjoyed,  however,  only 
by  those  of  the  wealthier  class  of  people. 

Then,  in  1622,  the  "Weekly  News  from  Italic  and  Germanic''  made  its  saluta- 
tory to  the  London  public.  This  publication  was  printed  upon  a  crude  press 
invented  by  Nathaniel  Butler,  which  press  has  been  designated  by  historians  as 
the  progenitor  of  the  modern  type  of  machine.  The  content  of  this  small  news- 
paper consisted  exclusively  of  social  items  and  satirical  essays  upon  the  foibles 
of  human  nature,  until  1641,  at  which  time  the  parliamentary  reports  were  pub- 
lished. This  was  the  first  attention  given  to  politics.  The  first  advertisement 
appeared  in  1648,  written  in  verse,  and  exploited  a  Belgravia  tailor. 

The  first  daily  morning  newspaper  was  the  "London  Courant,"  published  in 
1709,  consisting  of  a  single  page,  with  two  columns  each  about  five  paragraphs 
in  length,  and  using  for  content  various  translations  from  foreign  journals.  With 
the  inauguration  of  the  first  daily  newspaper,  the  press  quickly  gained  in  favor  and 
before  the  year  1760  over  7,000,000  newspapers  were  sold  annually  in  England 
alone. 

The  first  newspaper,  as  such,  in  the  L'nited  States  was  the  "Boston  Public 
Occurrences,"  established  in  i6go.  This  was  a  small  quarto  sheet,  with  one  blank 
page,  and  was  afterwards  suppressed  by  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  Then  came 
the  "Boston  News-Letter,''  first  conducted  in  1704  by  John  Campbell,  the  postmas- 
ter. The  "Boston  Gazette"'  was  established  in  1719,  then  changed  to  the  "Massa- 
450 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  451 

chusetts  Gazette."  This  paper  and  the  "Xews-Letter"  were  the  official  organs  of 
the  British  administration  vmtil  the  evacuation  of  Boston.  In  1721  James  Frankhn 
began  the  "Xew  England  Courant,"  whxh  suspended  in  1727.  Two  years  later, 
Benjamin  I'>anklin.  who  had  been  employed  by  James  Franklin,  established  the 
"Pennsylvania  Gazette"  at  Philadelphia,  which  he  operated  as  a  weekly  until 
1765.  Then  it  was  merged  with  the  "North  American."  The  "Boston  Evening 
Post"  ran  from  1735  until  1775.  The  "Massachusetts  Spy"  began  in  1770  and 
continued  until  1848;  the  "Philadelphia  Advertiser"  was  started  in  1784;  the  "New 
York  Advertiser"  in  1785.  The  "Evening  Post"  of  New  York  City  was  founded 
in  1801  and  is  still  published. 

FIRST.  NEWSP.-KPliR   I.V    WYOMING 

\\'ithin  a  few  weeks  after  the  first  settlement  was  made  in  Cheyenne  there 
appeared  the  "Cheyenne  Leader,"  the  first  newspaper  in  what  is  now  Wyoming. 
This  paper  was  established  in  July,  1867  by  Nathan  A.  Baker  and  J.  E.  Gates. 
For  nearly  two  months  the  publication  was  printed  at  Denver,  but  on  Thursday, 
September  19,  1867,  Baker  first  printed  an  issue  in  Cheyenne.  In  1868  the 
"Leader"  was  enlarged  and  issued  tri-weekly.  Shortly  thereafter  the  success  of 
the  publication  warranted  a  daily  issue.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  scale  of  prices 
in  those  days;  the  subscription  price  was  $12  per  year  and  $7  for  six  months. 
Advertising  was  scarce,  much  of  it  being  in  the  form  of  "patent"  copy,  for  which 
little  remuneration  was  received.  Consequently,  the  editor  felt  keenly  the  neces- 
sity of  charging  a  round  price  for  his  paper.  Mr.  Baker  began  his  paper  as  an 
independent  republican  organ  and  in  his  salutatory  he  stated : 

"This  is  an  age  of  speed.  Railroads  are  the  motive  influence  that  works 
changes  bewildering  to  contemplate.  An  apt  and  striking  illustration  of  it  is  pre- 
sented in  the  growth  of  Cheyenne,  the  infant  prodigy,  and  railroad  center  of  the 
West.  Sime  six  weeks  ago  but  two  houses  indicated  the  city's  location,  where 
now  between  one  and  two  hundred  houses  stand  to  attest  the  vigor  with  wh-ch 
American  people  set  about  in  important  undertakings.  All  this  indicates  a  confi- 
dence which  must  have  a  sure  basis.  Having  full  conviction  of  the  destined 
importance  of  this  point,  we  have  come  among  you  to  print  a  newspaper  and  we 
ask,  as  the  pioneer  journal,  that  cordial  support  which  we  know  will  spring  from 
persistent,  effective  labors  for  the  commercial  growth  of  our  city.  Promises 
as  to  the  course  of  our  paper  are  hardly  necessary,  as  the  best  test  of  capabilities 
consist  in  the  actual  performance  of  duties  pertaining  to  our  position,  rather  than 
in  words.  We  come  upon  no  speculative  venture,  nor  from  mere  curiosity;  we 
mean  work,  and  shall  give  exclusive  attention  to  our  profession.  So  give  us  that 
kind  encouragement  of  the  heart  as  well  as  of  the  purse  and  our  success  is  assured." 

If  a  review  were  made  of  the  newspaper  histories  of  the  various  states  of  the 
Union,  especially  those  of  the  Middle  and  Far  West,  few  towns  would  be  dis- 
covered wherein  a  daily  newspaper  existed  during  the  pioneer  days.  It  is  a 
notable  fact  that  two  communities  in  Wyoming — Cheyenne  and  Laramie — 
possessed  sufficient  vim  and  progressiveness  to  support  a  daily  paper  during  the 
hard  and  troublesome  days  of  settlement.  The  fact  assumes  greater  singularity 
when  it  is  considered  that  Cheyenne  and  Laramie  were  plains  settlements  and  not 
created  within  easy  distance  of  older  and  large  centers  of  population. 


452  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Mr.  Baker  secured  a  small  printing  outfit,  undoubtedly  a  hand-operated  affair, 
and  had  it  hauled  to  Cheyenne  by  ox-teams  and  installed  in  a  small  building  on 
the  east  side  of  Carey  Avenue,  then  called  Ferguson  Street,  immediately  north  of 
the  alley  between  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  streets.  From  this  small  plant  the  paper 
was  published  by  Mr.  Baker  until  April.  1872,  when  Baker  sold  out  to  Herman 
Glafcke.  The  latter  had  come  to  Wyoming  two  years  previously  as  secretary  of 
the  territory.  Mr.  Glafcke  conducted  the  paper  under  the  republican  policy,  but 
in  later  years,  when  he  again  assumed  control  of  the  "Leader,''  he  operated  it 
as  a  democratic  sheet. 

According  to  one  account,  Mr.  Glafcke  sold  his  paper  in  1877  to  a  group  of 
weahhy  cattlemen,  who  employed  John  F.  Carroll  as  editor  and  Joseph  A. 
Breckons  as  manager,  both  of  whom  were  Pennsylvanians.  However,  another 
authority  (Hubert  Howe  Bancroft)  states  that  Glafcke  retained  the  paper  until 
October,  1881,  then  sold  to  the  Leader  Printing  Company,  composed  of  the 
following  gentlemen :  Morton  E.  Post,  A.  H.  Swan,  G.  L.  Hall,  J.  W.  Collins, 
J.  C.  Baird,  E.  A.  Reed,  Frank  H.  Clark,  and  H.  B.  Kelly.  Notwithstanding  the 
contradictory  nature  of  these  facts,  it  is  known  that  John  F.  Carroll  became  editor 
of  the  paper  on  May  23,  1884,  and  continued  in  that  position  for  three  years,  then 
surrendered  the  ofifice  for  a  few  weeks,  but  soon  returned  to  enter  a  period  of 
service  which  extended  until  the  winter  of  1895-96.  Carroll  was  a  born  newspaper 
man  and  was  gifted  with  a  brilliant  personality  and  trenchant  pen,  which  insured 
him  the  success  he  won.  He  is  directly  responsible  for  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
"Leader,"  during  his  years  of  incumbency,  for  his  journalistic  genius  was  such  that 
could  not  be  denied. 

The  Leader  Printing  Company  sold  out  the  paper  before  the  end  of  the  year 
1881  to  W.  C.  Irvine,  who  in  turn  disposed  of  the  plant  to  the  firm  of  Morrow  & 
Sullivan.  Soon  after  it  was  owned  by  Morrow  alone.  In  1884  the  paper  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  "Democratic  Leader  Company,"  an  organization  composed  of 
W.  C.  Irvine,  J.  C.  Baird,  N.  N.  Craig,  John  F.  Coad,  Fred  Schwartze,  Luke 
Murrin,  David  Miller,  Thomas  Mulqueen,  Charles  F.  Miller,  Luke  \'oorhees. 
C.  P.  Organ  and  others. 

In  the  winter  of  1895-96  the  "Leader"  was  sold  to  Col.  E.  A.  Slack,  then 
owner  of  the  "Cheyenne  Sun,"  an  account  of  which  is  given  later.  Colonel  Slack 
merged  the  two  publications  and  changed  the  ofificial  appellation  to  the  "Cheyenne 
Sun-Leader."  However,  within  a  few  years  the  word  "Sun"  was  dropped  and  the 
old  title  retained.  Wallace  C.  Bond,  a  son-in-law  of  the  Colonel,  was  an  associate 
in  the  business  until  the  latter  was  appointed  receiver  of  the  land  office,  then 
Capt.  Harry  A.  Clark  became  a  partner,  forming  the  firm  of  Bond  &  Clark. 

Under  this  management  the  "Leader"  was  continued  until  the  year  1906.  At 
this  time  I.  S.  Bartlett  and  his  sons  organized  a  company  and  purchased  the 
publication  from  Bond  &  Clark.  Mr.  Bartlett  immediately  changed  the  policy  of 
the  paper  from  republican  to  democratic,  an  affiliation  sustained  until  the  present 
day.  For  two  years  the  Bartletts  conducted  the  "Leader"  in  a  highly  successful 
manner,  then  sold  to  W.  S.  Edmiston.  J.  Ross  Carpenter,  Alexander  Hastie  and 
Sen.  John  S.  Kendrick  were  also  associated  with  the  company  at  this  time.  In 
1914  Mr.  Hastie  was  forced  to  withdraw  from  the  company  on  account  of  ill 
health  and  at  the  same  time  the  Carpenter  and  Kendrick  interests  were  taken 
over  by  the  present  publishing  company.    The  officers  of  this  company  in  1918  are  : 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  453 

Burke  H.  Sinclair,  president ;  Thomas  Hunter,  vice  president ;  E.  A.  Swezea, 
secretary,  treasurer  and  manager.  The  company  has  a  capital  stock  amounting 
to  $60,000. 

Among  the  men  of  prominence  who  have  been  associated  with  the  "Cheyenne 
State  Leader"  during  the  past  half  century  are :  W.  E.  Chaplin ;  Robert  Breckons, 
late  United  States  attorney  to  Hawaii;  Will  Reid,  present  land  office  register; 
S.  A.  Bristol,  Cheyenne ;  T.  Joe  Fisher,  clerk  of  the  District  Court,  Cheyenne ; 
John  F.  Carroll,  for  years  managing  editor  of  the  "Portland  Telegram,"  who 
died  in  the  autumn  of  191 7. 

WYOMING  STATE  TRIBUNE 

On  Xovember  20,  1869  there  appeared  the  first  issue  of  the  "Wyoming 
Tribune"  in  Cheyenne.  Edward  M.  Lee  and  Samuel  A.  Bristol  inaugurated  this 
paper,  the  latter  in  the  capacity  of  editor-in-chief.  Mr.  Bristol  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  came  to  Colorado  in  1867  and  to  Wyoming  in  1869,  just  a  short 
time  before  the  establishment  of  the  paper.  In  addition  to  his  efforts  upon  the 
"Tribune,"  which  paper  was  obliged  to  suspend  in  September,  1872,  Mr.  Bristol, 
in  company  with  John  J.  Knopf,  started  the  first  printing  office  and  book  bindery 
in  Wyoming  in  May,  1882. 

Late  in  the  year  1884  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Hobart,  backed  by  Senator 
Hill  of  Colorado  and  Sen.  F.  E.  Warren  of  Wyoming,  established  another  news- 
paper in  Cheyenne  and  called  it  the  "Wyoming  Tribune."  Whether  or  not  this 
paper  was  a  continuation  of  the  publication  started  in  1869  under  the  same  name 
or  an  entirely  new  venture  is  difficult  to  determine.  The  office  was  located  at  1709 
Ferguson  Street  (now  Carey  Avenue )  and  from  here  the  "Tribune"  was  published 
every  day  except  Sunday.  A  short  time  after  the  paper  had  been  established  J. 
K.  Shingle  became  business  manager  and  George  W.  Perry,  now  of  Sheridan, 
took  the  position  of  editor.  J.  A.  Argesheimer,  now  a  resident  of  Cheyenne,  was 
city  editor  under  the  Hobart  and  Perry  management. 

Sometime  in  December,  1894,  Joseph  'SI.  Carey  purchased  the  plant  and 
organized  the  present  Tribune  Publishing  Company,  which  was  incorporated  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  The  name  of  the  publication  was  changed  to  the  "Wyo- 
ming Daily  Tribune"  and  the  sheet  was  issued  every  morning  except  Monday. 
The  paper  quickly  became  a  live  news  organ  and,  in  addition  to  local  reportorial 
excellence,  had  the  advantage  of  the  Associated  Press  service.  Frank  Bond  became 
editor  under  the  Carey  management,  btit  resigned  to  accept  a  ])Osition  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  and  is  now-  chief  clerk  in  the  general  land  office. 

In  March,  1901,  William  C.  Deming  came  to  Cheyenne  from  Warren.  Ohio, 
and  took  charge  of  the  "Tribune"  as  editor  and  manager.  In  August,  1904,  in 
partnership  with  J.  H.  Walton,  Mr.  Deining  bought  the  paper  from  the  Carey 
interests.  At  this  juncture,  the  "Tribune"  was  changed  to  an  afternoon  daily. 
Mr.  Deming  purchased  the  stock  owned  by  Mr.  Walton  in  October,  1917,  and 
now  possesses  nearly  all  of  the  interest  in  the  plant.  The  "Wyoming  State 
Tribune,"  a  name  adopted  ^larch  25.  1918,  is  republican  in  its  political  affiliation 
and  has  won  a  state  wide  circulation  and  popularity  by  its  editorial  and  mechanical 
excellence. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 


OTirER  EARLY  CHEYENNE   NEWSPArERS 


The  "Cheyenne  Sun"  was  originally  the  "Daily  News."  started  by  the  iirm 
of  Benton  &  Fisher  in  1875.  This  latter  paper  ran  about  six  months,  then  was 
purchased  by  A.  E.  Slack  and  the  name  changed  to  the  "Sun."  The  merger  of  this 
paper  and  the  "Leader"  occurred  when  Slack  purchased  the  latter  in  the  winter  of 
1895-96. 

The  "Star"  was  established  in  Cheyenne  sometime  in  December,  1867,  by 
O.  T.  B.  Williams,  but  survived  only  one  year. 

The  "Argus."  a  democratic  newspaper,  was  started  in  1867  by  L.  L.  Bedell 
and  suspended  in  the  year  1869.  The  printing  firm  of  Stanton  &  Richardson 
revived  the  paper  for  a  period  of  a  few  weeks  only. 

The  Cheyenne  "Gazette"  was  established  by  Webster,  Johnson  and  Garrett 
in  1876.  but  within  a  few  weeks  was  removed  to  the  Black  Hills.  This  paper 
came  originally  from  Plattsmouth,  Xeb..  to  Laramie,  \\'yo.,  and  bore  the  name 
of  "Chronicle." 

The  "Northwest  Li\e  Stock  Journal"  was  started  by  A.  S.  iMercer  and  S.  A. 
ALarney  in  1883,  and  continued  publication  for  over  ten  years. 

NEWSPAPERS  OF  LARAMIE 

"The  Frontier  Index"  was  the  first  newspaper  published  in  the  City  of  Laramie. 
This  paper  was  established  by  Fred  K.  Freeman  &  Brother  in  1868  and  began 
its  existence  as  a  daily  in  May  of  that  year.  The  sheet  was  published  in  the  rear 
of  the  old  Frontier  Hotel,  the  site  of  the  \\'.  H.  Holliday  Building.  However,  the 
life  of  the  "Index"  in  Laramie  was  short  and  uneventful.  In  the  autumn  of  1868 
it  passed  on  with  the  railroad  to  Benton,  then  a  town  located  where  Fort  Steele 
now  stands,  thence  to  Bear  River,  where  it  was  soon  afterward  destroyed  during 
a  riot.  The  "Index"  was  a  three-column,  four-page  paper,  carrying  local  news 
and  advertising. 

The  "Laramie  Daily  Sent'nel"  was  the  second  paper  printed  at  Laramie.  X. 
A.  Baker  was  the  proprietor  and  J.  H.  Hayford  the  editor.  The  first  number  was 
issued  May  i,  1869:  the  "Sentinel"  was  of  five  columns  and  was  issued  daily. 
On  the  first  day  of  May,  1870,  Baker  sold  the  plant  to  J.  H.  Hayford  and  J.  E. 
Gates,  and  the  publication  was  continued  under  the  firm  management  of  Hayford 
Sz  Gates,  with  Hayford  as  editor.  On  January  i,  1879  the  daily  issue  was  sus- 
pended and  the  publication  continued  as  a  weekly  until  March,  1895.  when  the 
plant  was  closed  entirely.  During  the  life  of  this  paper  the  policies  of  the  re- 
publican party  were  supported  and  the  sheet  became  very  popular.  James  H. 
Hayford  was  one  of  the  most  forceful  writers  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region; 
he  was  appointed  judge  of  the  Second  Judicial  District  and  died  about  three  years 
later.    James  E.  Gates  is  still  living  at  Santa  Monica,  Cal. 

The  "Laramie  Daily  Independent"  was  established  December  26,  1871  by  E.  A. 
Slack  and  T.  J.  Webster,  the  former  acting  as  editor.  The  "Independent"  pro- 
claimed a  policy  indicated  by  its  name,  but  in  truth  followed  the  dictates  of  the 
democratic  party  and  began  its  career  in  opposition  to  the  territorial  government. 
In  1872  it  supported  Horace  Greeley  for  President  of  the  L'nited  States.  T.  J. 
A\'ebster  sold  his  interest  in  the  paper  to  Charles  \\'.  Bramel  on  IMarch  21,  1875 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  455 

and  then  the  title  of  the  '"Independent"  was  changed  to  "The  Laramie  Daily  Sun,'' 
which  then  took  up  the  democratic  cause  without  reservation.  The  sheet  was 
suspended,  however,  on  Washington's  Birthday,  1876.  E.  A.  Slack  bought  the 
interest  of  C.  W.  Bramel  and  transported  the  plant  to  Cheyenne,  where,  on 
March  3,  1876,  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the  "Cheyenne  Daily  Sun,"  a  re- 
publican paper. 

The  "Laramie  Daily  Chronicle"  was  established  by  C.  W.  Bramel  about  May, 
1876,  to  fill  the  vacancy  left  by  the  removal  of  the  "'Sun  '  to  Cheyenne.  He 
conducted  the  paper  during  the  summer  and  autumn,  but  after  the  November 
elections  sold  it  to  three  employes — T.  J.  Webster,  A.  R.  Johnson  and  George  A. 
Garrett.  These  three  men  conducted  the  paper  until  March,  1877,  when  they 
moved  the  plant  to  Cheyenne  and  established  there  the  "Daily  Gazette."  Shortly 
afterward,  on  account  of  poor  business  conditions  in  Cheyenne,  the  paper  was 
again  moved  to  Deadwood,  S.  D.  Of  the  three  owners  of  this  democratic  paper, 
only  one,  Mr.  Garrett,  is  now  living  and  he  resides  at  San  Diego,  Cal. 

The  "Laramie  Daily  Times"  was  originally  a  Danish  paper  at  Salt  Lake  City, 
then  was  moved  to  Evanston,  and  finally  L.  D.  Pease  and  C.  W.  Bramel  brought 
it  to  Laramie  City  January  i,  1879.  In  1882  the  plant  was  sold  to  F.  W.  Ott,  who 
continued  it  for  several  years  as  a  weekly  publication,  supporting  the  democratic 
party. 

THE   LARAMIE    BOOMERANG 

The  "Laramie  Boomerang"  was  established  by  a  stock  company  on  March 
II.  1881,  to  supply  a  much-needed  organ  for  the  republican  party.  The  republi- 
cans had  been  used  rather  roughly  by  the  democrats  at  the  fall  elections  of  1880 
and,  in  self  defense,  the  former  decided  that  a  daily  newspaper  would  be  the  best 
fortification.  The  incorporators  of  the  Boomerang  Publishing  Company  were : 
M,  C.  Jahren,  Robert  Marsh,  Henry  Wagner,  A.  S.  Peabody  and  J.  J.  Strode. 
Jacob  Blair  also  held  stock.  A.  S.  Peabody  was  the  president;  M.  C.  Jahren, 
secretary  and  treasurer;  and  E.  W.  Nye,  editor. 

Edgar  Wilson  (Bill)  Nye  was  at  this  time  a  resident  of  Laramie,  having  come 
from  Wisconsin  in  May,  1876.  He  was  connected  with  the  "Sentinel"  while  it 
was  a  daily  paper  and  also  acted  as  correspondent  for  the  old  "Denver  Tribune," 
upon  which  paper  Eugene  Field  was  then  employed,  also  the  "Detroit  Free  Press," 
"Texas  Siftings"  and  "Peck's  Sun."  Nye  continued  as  editor  and  manager 
of  the  "Boomerang"  until  the  winter  of  1882-83,  when  he  was  taken  sick  and  left 
the  state.  He  returned  during  the  following  summer,  sold  his  stock  in  the  paper, 
then  went  upon  the  lecture  platform. 

The  "Boomerang''  then  passed  under  the  control  of  Mark  Jennings,  George  A. 
Garrett,  George  Cannon  and  W.  E.  Chaplin,  each  of  whom  owned  an  equal  amount 
of  stock.  Subsequently,  about  the  year  1885.  Jennings  and  Chaplin  became  the 
sole  owners  and,  still  later,  Jennings  took  over  the  Chaplin  interest  and  conducted 
the  paper  alone  until  the  summer  of  1886,  when  he  sold  to  W.  E.  Chaplin  and  T.  L. 
McKee.  In  1888  the  two  latter  gentlemen  bought  the  few  outstanding  shares  of 
stock,  dissolved  the  corporation  and  entered  into  partnership  under  the  firm  name 
of  ;\IcKee  &  Chaplin.  This  organization  was  perpetuated  until  May,  1890,  then  the 
"Boomerang"  was  sold  to  N.  E.  Corthell,  who  represented  a  number  of  democrats. 


456  HISTORY  OF  WYO-MIXG 

Until  this  time  the  paper  had  been  republican.  After  the  sale,  a  stock  company 
was  organized  and  from  1890  until  1918  the  publication  has  been  issued  by  the 
Boomerang  Publishing  Company.  There  have  been  numerous  changes  in  man- 
agement, but  the  policy  of  the  paper  has  been  consistently  democratic.  In  1915 
the  daily  edition  was  suspended,  but  was  resumed  in  the  fall  of  1916. 

THE  LARAMIE   REPUBLICAN 

The  "Laramie  Republican,"  now  issued  daily  and  semi-weekly,  was  first  pub- 
lished August  14,  1890  by  Thomas  L.  AIcKee  and  W.  E.  Chaplin.  The  republicans 
of  the  county  had  offered  a  bonus  of  $1,500  to  acceptable  individuals  who  would 
establish  a  republican  paper  in  Laramie  and  continue  its  publication  until  after 
the  campaign  of  1890.  The  firm  of  McKee  &  Chaplin  undertook  to  fill  the  contract 
and  carried  it  through  successfully.  In  the  latter  part  of  1891  J-  C.  McRae  pur- 
chased McKee's  interest  and  the  firm  of  Chaplin  and  McRae  operated  the  plant 
for  two  years.  T.  L.  IMcKee  returned  to  the  partnership  about  1895.  '^'''^  '" 
1896  F.  D.  Spafford  became  a  member  of  the  firm.  In  the  spring  of  1898  James 
Mathison  bought  the  McKee  interest  and  since  that  time  Alathison,  W.  E.  Chaplin 
and  Frank  Spafford  have  jointly  owned  the  Republican.  From  the  very  begin- 
ning this  paper  has  been  republican  in  politics  and  has  won  an  enviable  reputation 
in  the  journalistic  field  of  \\'yoming. 

OTHER    WYOMING    PUBLICATIONS 

In  the  fall  of  1882  Charles  L.  Rauner  and  Charles  F.  Wilson  established  a 
daily  paper  in  Laramie  which  they  called  the  Missing  Link.  As  a  daily  it  did 
not  survive  long,  and  as  a  semi-weekly  it  was  issued  just  a  few  months. 

In  1891  ex-Governor  John  W.  Hoyt,  who  had  been  president  of  the  University 
of  Wyoming  just  previous  to  that  time,  conceived  the  idea  that  Wyoming  needed 
a  paper  built  upon  the  style  of  Harper's  Weekly.  Accordingly,  he  established 
the  W^yoming  Journal,  a  weekly  publication.    This  venture  quickly  came  to  an  end. 

About  1906  a  paper  was  established  at  Centennial,  Albany  County,  by  the 
owners  of  the  Laramie,  Hahn's  Peak  &  Pacific  Railroad.  It  was  operated  as  a 
weekly  publication  under  the  name  of  the  Centennial  Post  until  about  191 5. 

The  first  newspaper  in  Uinta  County  was  the  Evanston  Age,  established 
October  10,  1872. 

A  newspaper  called  the  Sweetwater  Miner  was  started  at  Fort  Bridger  in 
February,  1868,  by  Warren  &  Hastings.  This  paper,  which  was  active  in  pro- 
moting immigration  to  this  region,  was  afterward  removed  to  Bryan. 

The  South  Pass  Xews  was  started  in  1868  by  X.  A.  Baker,  sold  to  E.  A. 
Slack,  and  moved  to  Laramie. 

The  first  paper  in  Johnson  County  was  the  Buffalo  Echo,  owned  by  a  stock 
company,  with  T.  \'.  ]VIcCandlish  as  editor. 


In  connection  with  the  newspaper  history  of  \\'yoming,  it  is  fitting  that  some- 
thing more  in  detail  should  be  said  of  Edgar  Wilson.  "Bill"  Xye,  who  was  editor 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  457 

of  the  Laramie  Boomerang  for  over  a  year  and  who  became  in  later  years  one 
of  the  foremost  humorists  and  lecturers  in  the  United  States. 

"Bill"  Xye  was  born  in  Shirley,  Me.,  Augiist  25,  1850,  and  his  death  occurred 
near  Asheville,  N.  C,  February  22,  1896.  While  Xye  was  yet  a  young  man,  his 
parents  removed  to  Hudson,  Wis.  \\'hen  tw-enty-six  years  of  age,  Nye  came  to 
Wyoming,  became  identified  with  the  Sentinel  at  Laramie  and  then  became  editor 
of  the  Boomerang.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1876  and  was  also  elected  to 
the  Wyoming  Legislature.  He  filled  the  position  of  postmaster  and  justice  of 
the  peace  in  Laramie,  the  character  of  the  last-named  office  being  one  of  honor, 
if  not  lucrative.     Nye  wrote  of  this  as  follows: 

"I  was  elected  justice  of  peace  in  1877.  It  was  really  pathetic  to  see  the  little 
miserable  booth  where  I  sat  and  waited  with  numb  fingers  for  business.  But  I 
did  not  see  pathos  which  then  clung  to  every  cobweb  and  darkened  the  rattling 
casement.  Possibly  I  did  not  know  enough.  I  forgot  to  say  the  office  was  not 
a  salaried  one,  but  solely  dependent  upon  fees.  So  w-hile  I  was  called  Judge  Nye, 
and  frequently  mentioned  in  the  papers  with  consideration,  I  was  out  of  coal 
half  of  the  time,  and  once  could  not  mail  my  letters  for  three  weeks,  because 
I  did  not  have  the  necessary  postage." 

Nye's  newspaper  office,  while  he  was  editor  of  the  Boomerang,  was  over  a 
livery  barn  at  the  corner  of  Garfield  and  Third  streets.  Over  the  entrance  was 
the  sign:  "TWIST  THE  TAIL  OF  THE  GRAY  ]\ILLE  AND  TAKE  THE 
ELEVATOR !" 

Nye  made  his  home  with  Judge  J.  H.  Hayford  when  he  first  came  to  Laramie, 
and  here  he  met  Miss  Fannie  Smith,  who  later  became  his  bride.  Several  chil- 
dren were  born  to  this  union  and  were  means  of  great  happiness  to  Nye,  who 
always  loved  children.  He  fostered  the  youth  of  Laramie  during  his  residence 
there,  gave  gifts  to  the  high  school  graduates,  and  to  the  graduates  of  Wyoming 
L'niversity  in  the  early  days  he  sent  a  gold  medal.  Nye's  first  opportunity  to 
make  a  name  for  himself  occurred  when  the  New  York  World  became  familiar 
with  his  w^ritings  and  offered  him  $150  per  week  to  work  for  that  paper.  He 
then  moved  to  New  York,  stayed  a  few  years,  then  went  upon  the  platform  for 
a  lecture  bureau,  speaking  in  the  various  cities  of  the  country.  He  and  James 
^Vhitcomb  Riley,  the  Hoosier  bard,  also  traveled  together  for  a  number  of  years. 
After  his  travels  were  over.  Nye  wrote  column  matter  for  the  American  Press 
Association,  and  his  witty  articles  became  familiar  in  the  households  throughout 
the  country.  Among  his  longer  written  works  may  be  mentioned  :  "Forty  Liars.'' 
1883;  "Remarks,"  1886;  "Fun,  Wit  and  Humor."  1889:  the  latter  in  conjunction 
with  James  \\'hitcomb  Riley:  "Comic  History  of  the  L'nited  States,"  1894; 
"Comic  History  of  England,"  1896;  and  "Baled  Hay,  Etc." 

"bill  p..\rlow" 

Another  Wyoming  journalist  and  writer  whose  reputation  extended  far  beyond 
the  borders  of  the  state  was  Merris  Clark  Barrow,  who  wrote  under  the  pseudo- 
nym of  "Bill  Barlow.'"  So  well  did  he  become  known  by  this  pseudonym  that 
many  of  his  nearest  acquaintances  were  ignorant  of  his  real  name. 

Merris  C.  Barrow  was  born  at  Canton,  Pa.,  October  4.  1857,  a  son  of  Rev. 
Robert   C.    and   Helen    (Harding)    Barrow.      In    1863    his   parents    removed   to 


458  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Nebraska,  where  he  learned  the  printer's  trade,  and  in  1876  he  leased  the  Tecumseh 
(Neb.)  Chieftain.  A  little  later  he  received  the  appointment  of  postal  clerk,  and 
in  1879  was  transferred  .to  Wyoming,  with  headquarters  at  Laramie.  In  that 
same  year  he  quit  the  postal  service  to  become  city  editor  of  the  Laramie  Daily 
Times.  When  "Bill"  Nye  started  the  Laramie  Boomerang  in  March,  1881, 
j\Ir.  Barrow  accepted  the  position  of  city  editor,  and  when  Mr.  Nye  retired  from 
the  paper  in  1883,  Mr.  Barrow  became  managing  editor.  In  September,  1884, 
he  went  to  Rawlins  to  take  the  editorial  management  of  the  Rawlins  Tribune, 
and  early  in  1886  he  removed  to  Douglas,  where  he  established  the  Budget,  the 
first  number  of  which  appeared  on  June  6,  1886,  three  months  before  the  rail- 
road was  completed  to  the  town. 

When  the  United  States  land  office  was  established  at  Douglas,  Mr.  Barrow 
was  appointed  its  first  receiver  by  President  Harrison.  He  was  removed  by 
President  Cleveland  in  1894,  but  in  June,  1897,  he  was  reappointed  by  President 
McKinley  and  continued  in  office  under  the  Roosevelt  administration.  Mr.  Bar- 
row was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Converse  County  to  the  constitutional  con- 
vention of  1889;  was  mayor  of  Douglas  for  two  terms;  was  chief  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  legislative  sessions  of  1894  and  1896;  was  a 
past  master  of  the  Douglas  Masonic  Lodge,  a  Knight  Templar,  and  a  member  of 
the  Shrine. 

Shortly  after  locating  at  Douglas  he  began  the  publication  of  a  little  monthly 
magazine  called  Sagebrush  Philosophy,  which  soon  had  a  circulation  that  extended 
to  all  parts  of  the  Union.  His  writings  scintillated  with  wit,  philosophy  and 
optimism,  and  his  vocabulary  was  both  extensive  and  unique.  Sagebrush  Phi- 
losophy was  built  up  on  his  personality  and  when  his  death  occurred  on  October 
9,  1910,  it  was  realized  that  no  one  could  continue  the  publication  of  the  magazine, 
so  its  last  number  was  issued  in  November  following  his  death. 

WYOMING  NEWSPAPERS  IN   igi8 

In  Wyoming  at  the  present  time  there  are  ninety-three  newspapers  and  period- 
icals published,  comprising  seven  dailies,  seven  semi-weeklies  and  four  monthlies. 
Twenty  of  these  newspapers  are  published  at  county  seat  towns.  The  following 
comprehensive  table  will  show  the  identity  of  each  paper  in  the  state  and  all 
pertinent  facts  concerning  same: 

Afton — Star  Valley  Independent :  established  1903 ;  independent  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  C.  F.  Settle. 

Arminto — The  Flockmaster ;  established  1915;  independent  weekly,  published 
by  J.  E,  Hanway. 

Baggs — Big  Horn  Rustler;  established  1889;  democratic  weekly,  published  by 
A.  W.  Coons.  Republican ;  established  1903 ;  republican  weekly.  i)ublished  by 
Lou  Blatsley. 

Big  Piney — The  Examiner;  established  191 1;  independent  weekly,  published 
by  G.  W.  Hopkins,  Jr. 

Buffalo — The  Bulletin;  established  1891  ;  republican  weekly,  published  by  F. 
E.  Lucas.  Mid-west  Farmer;  established  1914  ;  monthly.  The  \'oice ;  established 
1883 ;  democratic  weekly,  published  by  H.  M.  \\'hite. 


HISTORY  OF  WYO-MIXG  459 

Burns — Golden  Prairie  Herald ;  established  i<)oS ;  nonpartisan  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  L.  E.  Fenwick. 

Carpenter — The  News;  established  1913;  weekly,  published  by  S.  G.  Glower. 

Casper — Natrona  County  Tribune;  established  1891 ;  republican  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  J.  E.  Hanway.  The  Press;  established  1914;  progressive  daily,  pub- 
lished by  P.  M.  Cropper. 

Cheyenne — State  Leader;  established  1867;  democratic  daily,  published  by 
Meredith  Davis.  Wyoming  Labor  Journal:  established  1910;  monthly,  published 
by  James  Burkley.  Wyoming  Stockman-F"armer ;  established  1895  :  monthly,  pub- 
lished by  W.  C.  Deming.  Wyoming  Tribune:  established  1895;  republican  daily, 
published  by  W.  C.  Deming. 

Chugwater — The  Record;  established  1914;  independent  weekly,  published 
by  A.  R.  Bastian. 

Cody — North  ^\'yoming  Herald;  established  1907:  republican  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  Newton  &  Shaw.  Park  County  Enterprise:  established  1899:  demo- 
cratic semi-weekly,  published  by  \\'.  J.  Watkins  and  L.  M.  Prill. 

Cokeville — The  Register;  established  191 1  ;  weekly,  published  by  L.  E.  Shields. 

Colony — The  Coyote;  established  191 1  ;  weekly,  published  by  C.  W.  Shepard. 

Cowley — The  Progress;  established  1906;  republican  weekly,  published  by 
E.  Vaterlaus. 

Dwyer — The  Herald:  established  1916;  weekly. 

Douglas — Budget  and  Converse  County  Review:  established  188(1;  democratic 
weekly,  published  by  T.  F.  Doyle.  The  Enterprise;  established  1906;  republican 
weekly,  published  by  Douglas  Enterprise  Company. 

Elk  Mountain — The  Republican;  established  1916;  republican  weekly. 

Evanston — Wyoming  Press:  established  1896:  republican  weekly,  published 
by  J.  T.  Booth.  Wyoming  Times;  established  1908:  republican  weekly,  published 
by  George  Ewer,  Jr. 

Glenrock — The  Gazette:  established  191 — :  weekly,  published  by  C.  C.  Hixon. 

Garland — The  Courier;  established  1910:  independent  weekly,  published  by 
B.  C.  Peterson. 

Gillette — Campbell  County  Record;  established  1914;  republican  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  Joseph  Hare.  The  News  :  established  1904  :  democratic  weekly,  published 
by  Ricketts  &  Moore. 

Green  River — The  Star :  independent  weekly,  published  by  O.  O.  Davis.  The 
Sun;  established  1913;  weekly. 

Greybull — Wyoming  Standard:  established  1903:  weekly,  published  bv  T-  A. 
Dickey.' 

Guernsey — The  Uplift;  established  1910;  weekly.  Gazette;  established  1899; 
republican  weekly,  published  by  G.  O.  Houser. 

Hillsdale — The  Review:  established   1916:  weekly. 

Hudson — The  Miner:  established  1907;  republican  weekly,  published  by  L. 
Davidson. 

Hulett — Inter-Mountain  Globe ;  established  1907 :  republican  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  P.  W.  Yeoman.  Wyoming  Blade:  established  191 1  ;  democratic  weekly, 
published  by  P.  W.  Yeoman. 

Jackson — Jackson  Hole  Courier;  established  1909:  weekly,  published  by  Rich- 
ard \\'inger. 


460  HISTORY  OF  WYOAIIXG 

Jay  Em — The  News;  established  1916. 

Kemmerer — The  Republican:  established  1913:  republican  weekly,  puljlished 
by  L.  G.  Baker.  The  Camera;  established  189S;  republican  weekly,  published 
by  R.  R.  Rose. 

Kaycee — Independent;  established  1916;  published  by  F.  E.  Lucas. 

Keeline — Record;  established  1916. 

Lander — \\'ind  River  Mountaineer;  established  1881  ;  democratic  weekly, 
published  by  H.  J.  Wendt.  \\'yoming  State  Journal;  established  1887;  republican 
weekly,  published  by  A.  H.  ^Maxwell. 

Laramie — Boomerang;  established  1881  ;  democratic  daily,  published  by  Boom- 
erang Publishing  Company.  Republican;  established  1S90;  republican  daily,  pub- 
lished by  W.  E.  Chaplin.  Wyoming  State  Journal ;  established  1904 ;  monthly, 
published  by  Teachers'  Association,  ^^'yoming  Student;  established  1897:  pub- 
lished by  University  students. 

Lost  Springs — The  Times;  established  1914;  reiniblican  weekly,  published  bv 

B.  F.  &  H.  C.  Buffington. 

Lovell — The  Chronicle ;  established  1906 ;  independent  weekly,  published  by 
R.  Leedom. 

Lusk — Herald ;  established  1886 ;  democratic  weekly,  published  by  G.  C.  &  A. 
H.  Forsythe.  Standard;  established  1910:  republican  weekly,  published  by  J.  H. 
Slater. 

Lyman — Badger  \'alley  Enterprise;  established  1912  ;  independent  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  Melvin  Rollins. 

Manville — Niobrara  County  News;  established  191 1;  republican  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  L.  T.  Tebbs. 

Meeteetse — News;  established  1896;  independent  weekly,  published  by  R.  T. 
Baird. 

Moorcroft — Democrat;  established  1913;  democratic  weekly,  published  by 
Charles  H.  McKee. 

Newcastle — News-Journal;  established  1889;  republican  weekly,  published  by 
W.  O.  Carleton.  Pythian  Review  ;  established  1913;  monthly,  published  by  W.  O. 
Carleton.  Weston  County  Gazette;  established  191 1;  democratic  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  D.  G.  Gates. 

Pine  Bluffs — Post;  established  1908;  independent  weekly,  published  by  M. 
R.  Hemphill. 

Pinedale — The  Roundup:  established   1904;  republican  weekly,  published  by 

C.  F.  Patterson. 

Powell — Leader:  established  1910:  republican  weekly,  published  by  R.  C. 
Peterson.    Tribune  :  weekly,  A.  S.  Morse. 

Rawlins — Republican;  established  1879;  republican  weekly,  published  by  R. 
A.  Alcorn. 

Ri^erton — Chronicle  ;  established  191 1  ;  weekly,  published  by  W.  H.  J.  Bowery. 
Review  ;  established  1907  ;  democratic  weekly,  published  by  A.  F.  &  H.  C.  Duntsch. 

Rock  Springs — Advisor-News;  established  1912;  democratic  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  G.  D.  Morris.  The  Miner ;  established  1881  ;  republican  weekly,  published 
by  F.  B.  Crumbly.  The  Rocket;  established  1907;  independent  weekly,  pub- 
lished bv  Cora  B.  Wanamaker. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  461 

Saratoga — The  Sun;  established  1891  ;  republican  weekly,  published  by  R.  I. 
Martin. 

Sheridan — The  Enterprise ;  established  1887 ;  democratic  semi-weekly,  pub- 
lished by  Randolph  Leigh.  The  Post;  established  1887;  republican  semi-weekly, 
published  by  Post  Printing  Company. 

Shoshoni — Enterprise;  established  1913 ;  republican  weekly,  published  by 
^^".  A.  Lilly. 

Sundance — Crook  County  Monitor;  established  1895;  democratic  weekly,  pub- 
lished by  Charles  \Voodall. 

Thermopolis — Independent ;  established  1906 ;  independent  weekly,  published 
by  L.  I.  Xoble.  Record;  established  1901  ;  weekly,  published  by  L.  J.  &  A.  L. 
Duhig. 

Torrington — Goshen  County  Journal;  established  1907;  republican  weekly, 
published  by  James  Johnston.  Telegram;  established  1907;  republican  weekly, 
published  by  James  Johnston. 

L"pton — Xews-Letter;  established  1909;  republican  weekly,  published  by  F.  L. 
Young.  Weston  County  Gazette ;  established  191 1  ;  weekly,  published  by  G.  F. 
Gosline. 

\'an  Tassell — The  Pioneer;  established  1912;  democratic  weekly,  published  by 
G.  C.  &  A.  H.  Forsythe. 

Wheatland — The  Times;  established  1902;  democratic  weekly,  published  by 
E.  S.  Drury.  The  World;  established  1894;  republican  weekly,  published  by 
Frame  &  Richardson. 

Worland — The  Grit ;  established  1905  ;  republican  weekly,  published  by  W.  G. 
Johnston. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
BEXCH  AND  BAR  OF  WYOAIING 

ORir.IX    OF    CIVIL    LAW — PURPOSE    OF   THE    COURTS TENDENCY    TO    CRITICISE THE 

LAWYER    AS    A    CITIZEN TERRITORIAL    COURTS MENTION    OF    EARLY    JUDGES — 

UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION THE    SUPREME   COURT DISTRICT    COURTS LIST    OF 

JUDGES MUNICIPAL    COURTS UNITED    STATES    COURTS ^THE    WYOMING    BAR 

CHARACTER    SKETCHES    OF    EARLY    LAWYERS — STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION A    FEW 

NOTED  CASES — THE  RACE  HORSE  CASE. 

Civil  law  made  its  appearance  as  soon  as  men  began  to  realize  that  some  system 
of  rules  was  necessary  for  the  protection  of  person  and  property,  and  at  the  same 
time  not  conflict  with  the  common  interest.  The  legislator  and  the  lawyer  were 
therefore  among  the  earliest  agents  of  the  world's  civilization.  At  first  the  laws 
were  few  and  simple,  and  the  methods  of  the  primitive  courts  were  no  doubt  crude 
as  compared  with  the  tribunals  of  the  present.  But  as  civilization  progressed, 
as  the  occupations  and  interests  of  the  people  became  more- varied,  as  new  lands 
were  discovered  and  commerce  began  to  carry  the  arts  and  ideas  of  one  country 
to  another,  laws  grew  more  complex  and  were  arranged  into  codes.  A  fairly  good 
history  of  any  country  might  be  compiled  from  its  statutes  and  court  decrees  alone. 

The  law  is  a  jealous  profession.  It  demands  of  the  judge  on  the  bench  and 
the  attorney  at  the  bar  alike  a  careful,  conscientious  effort  to  secure  the  administra- 
tion of  justice — "speedy  and  efficient,  equitable  and  economical."  Within  recent 
years  courts  have  been  criticized  for  their  delays,  and  much  has  been  said  in 
the  columns  of  the  public  press  about  the  need  of  judicial  reform.  Doubtless  some 
of  the  criticisms  have  been  well  founded,  but,  unfortunately,  many  have  con- 
demned the  entire  judiciary  system  because  a  few  judges  have  failed  to  measure  up 
to  the  proper  standard,  and  the  entire  legal  profession  has  been  stigmatized  as 
one  of  trickery  because  occasionally  a  lawyer  has  adopted  the  tactics  of  the  shyster 
or  pettifogger.  In  exercising  the  right  of  free  speech  and  free  press,  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  a  large  number  of  the  greatest  men  in  our  national  history 
were  lawyers.  John  Marshall,  one  of  the  early  chief  justices  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  was  a  man  whose  memory  is  still  revered  by  the  American  people, 
and  his  legal  opinions  are  still  quoted  with  respect  and  confidence  by  the  mem- 
bers of  his  profession.  Thomas  Jefferson,  Robert  R.  Livingston  and  James 
Alonroe,  who  negotiated  the  Louisiana  Purchase  and  gave  to  their  country  an 
empire  in  extent,  were  lawyers.  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  William  M.  Everts,  Rufus  Choate  and 
a  host  of  other  eminent  Americans  wrote  their  names  permanently  upon  history's 
pages  through  their  knowledge  and  interpretation  of  the  laws,  and  all  were  men 
462 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  463 

of  unquestioned  loyalty  and  love  of  justice.  And  last,  but  not  least,  stands 
Abraham  Lincoln,  self-educated  and  self-reliant,  whose  consummate  tact  and 
statesmanship  saved  the  Union  from  disruption. 

"To  establish  justice"  was  written  into  the  Federal  Constitution  by  the 
founders  of  the  American  Republic  as  one  of  the  primary  and  paramount  pur- 
poses of  government.  These  men  also  showed  their  wisdom  in  separating  the 
functions  of  government  into  three  departments— the  legislative,  the  executive 
and  the  judicial — the  first  to  enact,  the  second  to  execute  and  the  third  to  interpret 
the  nation's  laws.  States  have  copied  this  system,  so  that  in  every  state  there  is  a 
Legislature  to  pass  laws,  a  supreme  and  subordinate  courts  to  interpret  them, 
and  a  governor  as  the  chief  executive  officer  to  see  that  they  are  fairly  and  im- 
partially enforced. 

TERRITORI.\L   COURTS 

For  many  years  the  only  legal  authority  exercised  over  the  territory  now 
comprising  the  State  of  Wyoming  was  that  exercised  by  the  United  States  courts. 
In  the  winter  of  1867-68  the  Dakota  Legislature  (Wyoming  then  being  a  part 
of  that  territory)  passed  an  act  providing  that  the  chief  justice  should  hold  a 
session  of  the  court  at  Cheyenne,  but  in  July  following  Congress  enacted  a  law 
authorizing  the  formation  of  a  temporary  government  for  the  Territory  of  Wyo- 
ming. 

On  May  19,  1869,  Gov.  John  A.  Campbell,  the  first  territorial  governor  of 
Wyoming,  issued  his  proclamation  defining  the  three  judicial  districts,  fixing 
the  time  and  place  of  holding  the  first  term  of  court  in  each  district,  and  desig- 
nating the  presiding  judge  therefor.  The  same  day  John  H.  Howe  qualified  as 
chief  justice  of  the  territory  and  W^  T.  Jones  and  John  W.  Kingman  as  associate 
justices.  Under  Governor  Campbell's  proclamation,  Laramie  County  comprised 
the  First  Judicial  District  and  Chief  Justice  Howe  was  directed  to  hold  the  first 
term  of  court  at  Cheyenne,  beginning  on  May  25,  1869.  The  Second  District  was 
composed  of  Albany  and  Carbon  counties  and  Associate  Justice  Jones  was 
assigned  to  this  district,  with  instructions  to  hold  a  term  of  court  at  Laramie  on 
June  13,  1869.  Carter  County  was  designated  as  the  Third  District,  with  John 
M.  Kingman  as  the  presiding  judge.  He  was  directed  to  hold  his  first  term  of 
court  at  South  Pass  City  on  June  22,  1869.  By  this  proclamation  the  legal  machin- 
ery of  Wyoming  Territory  was  set  in  motion. 

John  H.  Howe,  the  first  chief  justice  of  the  territory,  was  born  at  Riga, 
Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  but  before  he  had  attained  to  his  majority  he  went 
to  Kingsville,  Ohio,  where  he  received  a  liberal  education.  He  then  studied  law, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  practiced  in  the  Ohio  courts  for  several  years,  in  the 
meantime  taking  an  acitve  part  in  politics  as  a  whig.  In  1854  he  removed  to 
Kewanee,  111.,  and  a  year  or  two  later  was  elected  judge  of  the  Sixth  Judicial 
District.  In  i860  he  joined  the  republican  party  and  made  a  numiber  of  cam- 
paign speeches  in  support  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency.  In  1861 
he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Kewanee  and  practiced  his  profession  there  until 
appointed  chief  justice  for  Wyoming  on  April  6,  1869. 

Judge  Howe  was  an  able  lawyer,  but  he  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  irri- 


464  HISTORY  OF  WYOAIIXG 

table  and  peevish  at  times,  which  had  a  tendency  to  render  him  unpopular  with 
the  attorneys  who  practiced  in  his  court.  This  condition  was  doubtless  due  to  the 
state  of  his  health,  but  it  nevertheless  interfered  with  his  judicial  work.  The 
first  Territorial  Legislature  passed  an  act  giving  women  the  right  to  vote,  hold 
office  and  serve  on  juries,  which  was  approved  by  the  Federal  Government.  Judge 
Howe  upheld  this  law,  which  added  in  some  degree  to  his  unpopularity,  and  this, 
coupled  with  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Wyoming  people  over  having  outsiders 
administer  their  affairs,  led  to  his  resignation  after  he  had  been  on  the  bench  about 
two  and  a  half  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  W.  Fisher  in  October,  187 1, 
and  then  accepted  a  position  as  secretary  to  a  commission  appointed  to  adjust 
some  dispute  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico.  He  died  of  tuberculosis 
while  holding  that  office,  being  about  fifty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

William  T.  Jones,  associate  justice,  was  born  at  Corydon,  Ind.,  February 
20,  1842,  and  was  therefore  only  a  little  more  than  twenty-seven  years  old  when 
appointed  associate  justice  for  the  Territory  of  Wyoming.  He  was  educated  at 
the  Miami  University  (Ohio)  and  then  studied  law  at  Corydon,  Ind.  When  the 
Civil  war  commenced  in  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  Seventeenth  Indiana 
Infantry,  was  promoted  captain  of  his  company  and  later  major  of  the  regiment 
"for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  on  the  field."  Although  a  young  man.  Judge 
Jones  was  endowed  with  the  "judicial  mind."  He  was  always  calm  and  collected 
on  the  bench,  and  his  rulings  and  decisions  bore  the  stamp  of  absolute  impartiality. 
Unfortunately,  he  was  a  man  of  somewhat  intemperate  habits,  but  this  did  not 
hinder  him  from  winning  popularity  both  with  the  practicing  attorneys  and  the 
general  public.  Before  he  had  completed  his  term  as  associate  justice  he  was 
elected  delegate  to  Congress  and  was  succeeded  on  the  bench  by  Joseph  M.  Carey. 

The  writer  was  unable  to  learn  anything  of  the  antecedents  or  early  life  of 
John  M.  Kingman.  W.  W.  Corlett  said  of  him,  a  short  time  after  he  retired 
from  the  bench  in  Wyoming,  that  he  was  an  able  lawyer,  but  a  man  of  strong 
prejudices.  He  was  sometimes  charged  with  learning  all  he  could  about  a  case 
before  it  came  to  trial  and  forming  an  opinion  before  hearing  the  evidence.  He 
was  succeeded  in  1872  by  E.  A.  Thomas. 

Joseph  W.  Fisher,  who  succeeded  Judge  Howe  as  chief  justice  of  the  Terri- 
torial Supreme  Court,  was  born  in  Northumberland,  Penn.,  October  16,  1814. 
His  parents  died  when  he  was  only  a  few  years  of  age  and  he  lived  for  several 
years  with  an  uncle,  attending  the  common  school  during  the  winter  months  and 
working  on  a  farm  the  remainder  of  the  year.  When  he  was  about  fifteen  years 
old  he  decided  to  shift  for  himself.  From  that  time  until  he  was  twenty-one,  he 
was  variously  employed  as  a  farm  hand,  a  clerk  in  a  general  store,  and  finally  as 
the  proprietor  of  a  small  tailor  shop.  During  this  period  he  occupied  all  his  spare 
time  in  the* study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  his  native 
state  when  he  was  about  twenty-eight  years  of  age  and  soon  afterward  became 
interested  in  political  matters.  In  1848  he  was  elected  to  the  Pennsylvania  Legisla- 
ture. At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war  in  1861,  he  enlisted  as  captain  and  by 
successive  promotions  rose  to  be  a  brigadier-general.  In  1871  he  was  appointed 
chief  justice  of  Wyoming  Territory  by  President  Grant  and  remained  on  the 
bench  until  1879,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  James  B.  Sener.  Judge  Fisher 
remained  in  Wyoming  after  he  retired  from  the  bench  and  continued  in  active 
practice  until  1890.     He  died  at  Cheyenne  on  October  18,  1900. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG  465 

The  associate  justices  who  were  on  the  bench  with  Judge  Fisher  during  his 
tenure  of  office  were:  John  W.  Kingman,  Joseph  AI.  Carey,  E.  A.  Thomas,  Jacob 

B.  Blair  and  WilHam  Ware  Peck.  In  1877  the  Legishiture  sent  a  memorial  to 
President  Hayes,  setting  forth  that  Judge  Peck  was  extra\a,t;ani,  that  he  had 
continued  a  term  of  court  in  Uinta  County  for  sixty-five  consecuti\e  days,  etc.. 
and  asking  that  he  be  removed  and  "some  person  of  practical  legal  ability" 
appointed  in  his  stead.  The  petition  was  ignored  and  Judge  Peck  remained  as 
the  presiding  judge  of  the  Third  District  until  Governor  Hoyt  came  into  office, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  C.  Parks. 

James  B.  Sener  served  as  chief  justice  until  July  5.  1884.  The  associate  justices 
with  him  on  the  bench  were :  Jacob  B.  Blair,  William  Ware  Peck  and  Samuel 

C.  Parks.  On  July  5,  1884,  John  W.  Lacey  began  his  term  as  chief  justice.  The 
associate  justices  then  were  Jacob  B.  Blair  and  Samuel  T.  Corn. 

William  L.  Alaginnis  succeeded  Judge  Lacey  on  July  6,  1887,  and  served  as 
chief  justice  until  October  i,  1889.  Willis  \'an  Devanter  then  became  chief 
justice  and  held  the  office  until  the  admission  of  Wyoming  as  a  state  in  i8go.  Dur- 
ing the  period  from  July  6,  1887,  to  the  admission  of  the  state,  the  associate 
justices  were :  Samuel  T.  Corn,  AI.  C.  Saufley  and  Clarence  D.  Clark. 

The  United  States  attorneys  during  the  territorial  period,  in  the  order  of  their 
succession,  were  as  follows:  Joseph  IM.  Carey,  Edward  P.  Johnson,  J.  J.  Jenkins. 
Edward  P.  Johnson.  C.  H.  Layman,  M.  C.  I'.rown,  J.  A.  Riner.  Anthony  C. 
Cam])bell  and  Benjamin  F.  Fowler. 

rXDKR    THE    COXSTITUTIOX 

Article  \'  of  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  people  of  Wyoming  on  November 
5,  1889,  provides  that  "The  judicial  power  of  the  state  shall  be  vested  in  the 
senate,  sitting  as  a  court  of  impeachment,  in  a  Supreme  Court,  district  courts. 
justices  of  the  peace,  courts  of  arbitration  and  such  courts  as  the  Legislature  may, 
by  general  law,  establish  for  incorporated  cities  or  incorporated  towns." 

Section  4  of  the  same  article  provides  that  "The  Supreme  Court  of  the  state 
shall  consist  of  three  justices  who  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  electors  of  the 
state  at  a  general  state  election  at  the  times  and  places  at  which  state  officers 
.are  elected ;  and  their  term  of  office  shall  be  eight  years,  commencing  from  and 
after  the  first  Monday  in  January  next  succeeding  their  election;  and  the  justices 
elected  at  the  first  election  after  this  constitution  shall  go  into  effect  shall,  at 
their  first  meeting  provided  by  law,  so  classify  themselves  by  lot  that  one  of  them 
shall  go  out  of  office  at  the  end  of  four  years  and  one  at  the  end  of  six  years 
and  one  at  the  end  of  eight  years  from  the  commencement  of  their  term,  and  an 
entry  of  such  classification  shall  be  made  in  the  record  of  the  court  signed  by 
them,  and  a  duplicate  thereof  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state. 
The  justice  having  the  shortest  term  to  serve  and  not  holding  his  office  by  appoint- 
ment or  election  to  fill  a  vacancy,  shall  be  the  chief  justice  and  shall  preside  at  all 
terms  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and,  in  case  of  his  absence,  the  justice  having  in  like 
manner  the  next  shortest  term  to  serve  shall  preside  in  his  stead.  If  a  vacancy 
occur  in  the  office  of  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  governor  shall  appoint 
a  person  to  hold  the  office  until  the  election  and  qualification  of  a  person  to  fill 
the  unexpired  term  occasioned  by  such  vacancy,  which  election  shall  take  place 
at  the  next  succeeding  general  election." 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


THE    SUPREME    COURT 


Under  the  constitutional  provisions  above  quoted,  Willis  Van  Devanter,  Her- 
man V.  S.  Groesbeck  and  Asbury  B.  Conaway  were  elected  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  at  the  first  state  election,  September  ii,  1890.  Judge  \'an  Devanter  drew 
the  short  term,  by  virtue  of  which  he  became  the  chief  justice.  He  resigned  after 
a  short  service  and  was  succeeded  as  chief  justice  by  Judge  Groesbeck.  His 
resignation  caused  a  vacancy  on  the  bench,  which  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
of  Homer  Merrill,  to  serve  until  the  next  general  election.  In  1892  Gibson  Clark 
was  elected  for  the  remainder  of  the  unexpired  term. 

Judge  Willis  \'an  Devanter  was  about  thirty-one  years  of  age  when  he  was 
elected  to  the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court.  After  his  resignation  from  the  bench 
he  practiced  law  in  Wyoming  until  1910,  when  he  was  appointed  by  President 
Taft  to  the  position  of  associate  justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  which 
office  he  still  holds. 

Chief  Justices — Following  the  system  set  forth  in  the  state  constitution — i.  e., 
the  justice  whose  term  is  first  to  expire  serves  as  chief  justice — the  following  have 
served  in  that  capacity  since  the  State  Government  was  first  established,  with 
the  year  each  entered  upon  the  duties  of  chief  justice :  Willis  Van  Devanter,  1890 ; 
Herman  V.  S.  Groesbeck,  1890;  Asbury  B.  Conaway,  1897;  Charles  N.  Potter, 
1899;  Jesse  Knight,  1903;  Charles  N.  Potter,  1907;  Cyrus  Beard,  191 1  ;  Richard 
H.  Scott,  1913;  Charles  N.  Potter,  1915. 

Associate  Justices — Each  of  the  above  was  elected  as  an  associate  justice  and 
became  chief  justice  by  virtue  of  the  system  of  rotation  in  office.  Homer  Merrill, 
of  Rawlins,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Warren  as  associate  justice,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Judge  Van  Devanter,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Gibson  Clark  in  1892.  Samuel  T.  Com  was  elected  associate  justice  in  1896 
to  succeed  Judge  Groesbeck,  but  resigned  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  and 
never  became  chief  justice.  In  1918  the  Suprem.e  Court  consisted  of  Charles  N. 
Potter,  chief  justice ;  Cyrus  Beard  and  Charles  E.  Blydenburgh,  associate  justices. 
Judge  Blydenburgh  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Richard  H.  Scott,  who  died  late  in  the  year  19117. 

DISTRICT    COURTS 

Section  10.  Article  \*.  of  the  state  constitution  provides  that  "The  District 
Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  of  all  causes  both  at  law  and  in  equity 
and  in  all  criminal  cases,  of  all  matters  of  probate  and  insolvency,  and  of  such 
special  cases  and  proceedings  as  are  not  otherwise  provided  for.  The  District 
Court  shall  also  have  original  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  and  of  all  proceedings  in 
which  jurisdiction  shall  not  have  been  by  law  vested  exclusively  in  some  other 
court;  and  said  court  shall  have  the  power  of  naturalization  and  to  issue  papers 
therefor.  They  shall  have  such  appellate  jurisdiction  in  cases  arising  in  the 
justices'  and  other  inferior  courts  in  their  respective  counties  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  law." 

Section  19,  Article  ^'.  reads  as  follows:  "Until  otherwise  provided  by  law, 
the  state  shall  be  divided  into  three  judicial  districts,  in  each  of  which  there 
shall  be  elected  at  general  elections,  by  the  electors  thereof,  one  judge  of  the  Dis- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  467 

trict  Court  therein,  whose  term  shall  be  six  years  from  the  first  Monday  in  Janu- 
ary succeeding  his  election  and  until  his  successor  is  duly  qualified. 

"Section  20.  Until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  said  judicial  districts  shall  be 
constituted  as  follows : 

"District  number  one  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of  Laramie,  Converse  and 
Crook. 

"District  number  two  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of  Albany,  Johnson  and 
Sheridan. 

"District  number  three  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of  Carbon,  Sweetwater, 
Uinta  and  Fremont. 

The  constitution  also  conferred  on  the  Legislature  the  power  to  increase  the 
number  of  judicial  districts  from  time  to  time,  such  increase  not  to  cause  the 
removal  of  any  judge  from  his  office  during  the  terms  for  which  he  was  elected, 
and  provided  that  the  number  of  districts  and  district  judges  should  not  exceed 
four  until  the  taxable  valuation  of  the  property  of  the  estate  should  exceed 
$100,000,000. 

At  the  first  state  election,  held  on  the  nth  of  September.  iS<jo,  the  following 
district  judges  were  chosen  in  their  respective  districts :  First — Richard  H.  Scott, 
of  Sundance ;  Second — John  \V.  Blake,  of  Laramie ;  Third — Jesse  Knight,  of 
Evanston.  Judges  Scott  and  Knight  afterward  served  upon  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 

Richard  H.  Scott  was  born  in  Minnesota  in  1858;  graduated  at  the  L'nited 
States  Naval  Academy,  Annapolis,  Md.,  in  1880 ;  studied  law  and  located  in 
Sundance  in  1886.  He  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  in  1889; 
was  elected  judge  of  the  First  District  in  1890  and  sensed  as  district  judge  until 
1906,  when  he  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy  in  the  Supreme  Court  caused  by  the 
death  of  Judge  Knight,  and  was  elected  at  the  general  election  in  the  fall  of  that 
year.  In  1910  he  was  elected  for  a  full  term,  but  died  in  office  before  the  expira- 
tion of  that  term. 

Jesse  Knight  was  born  in  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1850.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  his  native  couiity  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  went  to  live 
with  an  uncle  at  St.  Peter,  Minn.  Two  years  later  he  went  to  Omaha,  Neb., 
where  he  found  employment  as  clerk  in  a  store.  In  1871  he  came  to  South  Pass 
City,  Wyo.,  as  an  employee  of  Sidney  Ticknor  and  the  next  year  he  was  appointed 
clerk  for  the  Third  Judicial  District.  While  serving  as  clerk  of  the  court  he 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1877.  He  began  practice  at  Evanston 
and  in  1888  was  elected  county  attorney.  In  1890  he  was  elected  judge  of  the 
Third  Judicial  District  and  ser\'ed  until  1897,  when  he  was  appointed  associate 
justice  to  take  the  place  of  Asbury  B.  Conaway,  whose  death  occurred  on  Decem- 
ber 8,  1897.  In  1898  he  was  elected  for  a  full  term  of  eight  years  and  remained 
on  the  bench  until  his  death  in  April,  1905. 

By  the  act  of  February  9,  1893,  the  Legislature  divided  Wyoming  into  four 
judicial  districts,  to  wit :  First — The  counties  of  Laramie  and  Converse ;  Sec- 
ond— The  counties  of  Albany  and  Natrona ;  Third — The  counties  of  Carbon, 
Uinta,  Sweetwater  and  Fremont :  Fourth — The  counties  of  Johnson,  Sheridan, 
Crook.  Weston  and  Bighorn  (when  organized). 

Lender  the  provisions  of  the  act.  Governor  Osborne  appointed  \\'illiam  S. 
Metz  of  Sheridan,  judge  of  the  new  Fourth  District.  This  was  not  satisfactory 


468  HISTORY  OF  WVO.AIIXG 

to  some  of  the  people  of  Johnson  County,  who  instituted  proceedings  to  have  the 
act  creating  the  district  declared  unconstitutional.  On  April  24.  1893,  the  Supreme 
Court  handed  down  an  opinion  upholding  the  act  and  the  appointment  of  Judge 
Metz.  who  served  until  the  election  of  1896,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Joseph 
L.  Stotts  of  Crook  County. 

Xo  further  changes  were  made  in  the  judicial  districts  of  the  state  until 
March  i,  1913.  when  Governor  Carey  approved  an  act  of  the  Legislature  provid- 
ing for  six  districts.  This  was  made  necessary  by  the  creation  of  several  new 
counties  by  the  preceding  Legislature.  The  Seventh  Judicial  District  was  created 
by  the  act  of  March  2.  1915.  Since  that  time  the  districts  have  been  as  follows: 
First — the  counties  of  Goshen,  Laramie.  Xiobrara  and  Platte;  Second — the  coun- 
ties of  Albany  and  Carbon ;  Third — the  counties  of  Lincoln,  Sweetwater  and 
I'inta  :  Fourth — the  counties  of  Johnson  and  Sheridan  ;  Fifth — the  counties  of  Big- 
horn. Hot  Springs.  Park  and  Washakie ;  Sixth — the  counties  of  Converse.  Fre- 
mont and  Xatrona  :  Seventh — the  counties  of  Campbell.  Crook  and  \^'eston. 

District  Judges — Following  is  a  list  of  the  judges  in  each  of  the  judicial  dis- 
tricts from  the  time  the  state  was  admitted  in  1890.  with  the  year  in  which  each 
was  elected  or  appointed  : 

First — Richard  H.  Scott.  iSgo;  Roderick  X.  Matson.  1906:  William  C.  Alent- 
zer.  T912  (still  in  office  at  the  licginning  of  the  year  1918). 

Second — John  W.  Blake.  iSi;i):  Jaim---  II.  Ilayford,  1895  (appointed  to  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Jud^v  I'.lakr  1  :  Iharles  W.  Bramel.  1896;  Charles 
E.  Carpenter.  1902;  \'olney  J.  Tidball.  1912  (still  in  office). 

Third— Jesse  Knight.  1890:  David  H.  Craig.  1898:  John  R.  Arnold.  1916  (still 
in  office). 

Fourth — \\'illiam  S.  Metz.  1893  (appointed  when  the  district  was  established )  : 
Joseph  L.  Stotts.  i89ri:  Carroll  H.  Parmelee.  19OJ.;  James  H.  Burgess.  1916. 

In  the  Fifth.  Sixth  and  Seventh  districts  the  judges  are  respectively  P.  W. 
Metz.  Charles  E.  Winter  and  E.  C.  Raymond,  each  of  whom  has  held  the  office 
since  the  district  was  established. 

MUXICIPAL    COURTS 

By  the  act  of  February  15.  1905.  the  establishment  of  a  Municipal  Court  in  each 
incorporated  city  or  town  of  the  state  ha\ing  two  or  more  justices'  precincts  was 
authorized.  The  judges  presiding  over  such  courts  are  known  as  police  justices 
and  are  appointed  bv  the  mayor,  with  the  consent  of  the  council.  The  term  of 
office  of  these  police  justices  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  other  appointed  officers 
in  the  same  city  or  town.  Previous  acts  relating  to  Alunicipal  courts  were  re- 
pealed by  the  act  of  1905.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1917  there  were  twenty-five 
towns  and  cities  in  the  state  that  had  AFunicipal  courts  in  accordance  with  the 
above  mentioned  act. 

UNITED    STATES    COURTS 

Section  if)  of  the  act  of  July  10.  1890.  admitting  Wyoming  into  the  Union. 
l)rovides:  "That  the  said  state,  when  admitted  as  aforesaid,  shall  constitute  a 
judicial  district,  the  name  thereof  to  be  the  same  as  the  state,  and  the  Circuit  and 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  469 

District  courts  therefor  shall  be  held  at  the  capital  of  the  state  for  the  time  being, 
and  the  said  district  shall,  for  judicial  purposes,  until  otherwise  provided,  be 
attached  to  the  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit.  There  shall  be  appointed  for  said  dis- 
trict one  district  judge,  one  United  States  attorney  and  one  United  States  marshal. 
*  *  *  There  shall  be  appointed  clerks  of  said  courts  in  the  said  district,  who 
shall  keep  tlieir  offices  at  the  capital  of  said  state.  The  regular  terms  of  court  shall 
be  held  in  said  district,  at  the  place  aforesaid,  on  the  tirst  Monday  in  April  and 
the  tirst  Alonday  in  November  of  each  year.  The  Circuit  and  District  courts 
for  said  district,  and  the  judges  thereof,  respectively,  shall  possess  the  same 
powers  and  jurisdiction,  and  perform  the  same  duties  required  to  be  performed 
by  the  other  Circuit  and  District  courts  and  judges  of  the  United  States,  and  shall 
be  governed  by  the  same  laws  and  regulations." 

John  A.  Riner  was  appointed  United  States  district  judge ;  Louis  Kirk,  clerk ; 
iJenjamiu  F.  Fowler,  United  States  attorney ;  and  John  P.  Rankin,  United  States 
marshal.  The  first  term  of  court  was  held  at  Cheyenne  on  Monday,  November  3, 
1890,  in  the  room  used  by  the  house  of  representatives  two  years  before.  The 
following  venire  was  presented  to  the  court,  from  which  the  "twelve  good  men 
and  true"  constituting  the  first  Federal  grand  jury  in  the  State  of  Wyoming  were 
selected:  E.  R.  Hurd,  foreman,  J.  D.  Nott,  E.  T.  BeUz,  Charles  Berger,  A.  H. 
Herd,  F.  Bainforth,  J.  J.  Underwood,  Cus  J.  Lehman,  Hubert  Crofts.  Patrick 
Sullivan,  George  Gearhard,  A.  Swanson,  (i.  (jailey,  David  Fitzgerald.  John  W. 
Gray  and  V.  Baker. 

At  this  term  the  following  attorneys  were  admitted  to  practice  in  the  United 
States  courts :  John  C.  Baird,  A.  C.  Campbell,  W.  P.  Carroll,  Edmund  J.  Churchill, 
Frank  H.  Clark,  Gibson  Clark,  John  M.  Davidson,  W'illis  \*an  Devanter.  Hugo 
Donzelmann,  Thomas  M.  Fisher,  Benjamin  F.  Fowler,  Frederic  S.  Hebard.  John 
W.  Lacey,  Edgar  W.  Mann,  E.  S.  N.  Morgan,  Charles  N.  Potter  and  W.  R.  Stoll. 

Judge  Riner  has  held  the  office  of  United  States  district  judge  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  court  in  i8go.  The  other  officers  of  the  court  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1917  were:  Charles  J.  Ohnhaus,  clerk;  Charles  L.  Rigdon,  United  States 
attorney;  Daniel  F.  Hudson,  United  States  marshal. 

THE    WYOMING   BAR 

Since  the  Territorial  Supreme  Court  of  Wyoming  was  organized  in  the  spring 
of  1869,  quite  a  number  of  the  lawyers  who  have  practiced  in  the  courts  of  the 
territory  and  state  have  made  reputations  that  extended  beyond  the  state  boun- 
daries. It  would  be  almost  imijossible — and  it  certainly  would  be  inexpedient — 
to  attempt  to  give  extended  mention  of  all  the  attorneys  who  have  left  their  im- 
press upon  the  legal  history  of  Wyoming,  but  a  chapter  upon  the  Bench  and  Bar 
would  be  incomplete  without  some  notice  of  representative  lawyers  who  helped 
to  establish  the  courts  and  worked  for  the  elevation  of  their  profession,  as  well  as 
'to  secure  the  administration  of  justice. 

Among  the  early  lawyers  of  Wyoming,  perhaps  James  R.  \Miitehead  is  en- 
titled to  be  mentioned  as  "the  trail  blazer  and  pioneer  lawyer,"  as  he  has  been  re- 
peatedly called.  He  came  to  Cheyenne  in  the  summer  of  1867.  two  years  before 
the  territory  was  organized,  and  opened  his  law  office  in  a  small  tent  on  the  banks 
of  Crow  Creek,  near  the  point  where  that  stream  is  now  crossed  by  West  Seven- 


470  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

teenth  Street.  He  built  the  first  business  structure  in  Cheyenne,  the  "Whitehead 
Block,"  on  Pioneer  Avenue,  not  far  from  Sixteenth  Street.  He  was  secretary 
of  the  meeting  held  at  the  city  hall  on  September  27,  1867,  to  consider  the  question 
of  a  territorial  organization,  and  was  a  member  of  the  council  in  the  first  Terri- 
torial Legislature  in  1869.  In  1875  he  was  selected  to  compile  and  arrange  for 
publication  the  laws  of  the  territory.  For  a  time  he  also  had  a  law  office  in  Hart- 
ville.  "Judge"  Whitehead,  as  he  was  often  called,  died  in  Denver  on  March  4, 
1918,  at  the  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  D.  V.  Barkalow,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years. 

W.  L.  Kuykendall,  a  brother-in-law  of  James  R.  Whitehead,  was  born  in  Clay 
County,  Missouri,  in  1835,  and  received  his  education  in  a  log  school  house  in 
Platte  County  of  the  same  state.  He  removed  to  Kansas  in  1854;  served  in  the 
Confederate  army  during  the  Civil  war;  came  to  Wyoming  (then  a  part  of  Dakota 
Territory)  in  1865,  and  it  is  said  he  took  the  first  homestead  in  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Wyoming,  near  Cheyenne  in  1867.  He  was  the  first  probate  judge 
of  Laramie  County;  commanded  the  expedition  to  the  Big  Horn  Basin  in  1870; 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Territorial  House  of  Representatives  in  the  Legisla- 
ture of  1871 ;  was  interested  in  the  settlement  of  the  Black  Hills  country  from  1875 
to  1880;  engaged  in  the  cattle  business  in  1882;  served  as  city  clerk  of  Cheyenne 
for  three  years ;  foreman  of  the  Pioneer  Hook  and  Ladder  Company ;  secretary  of 
the  democratic  state  central  committee  in  the  first  political  campaign  after  the  state 
was  admitted  in  1890,  and  was  the  author  of  "Frontier  Events  of  Early  Western 
History."    He  died  in  Denver  on  March  8,  1915. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  the  early  attorneys  was  William  W.  Corlett,  who 
was  born  at  Concord,  O.,  April  10,  1842.  He  was  attending  school  at  Cle\e- 
land  when  the  Civil  war  began  in  1861.  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Eighty-seventh 
Ohio  Infantry.  His  regiment  was  captured  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Va.,  and  he 
was  paroled.  After  being  exchanged  he  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-fifth  Ohio  Battery, 
which  was  sent  to  Arkansas  and  served  in  that  part  of  the  country  until  the  end 
of  the  war.  Mr,  Corlett  then  took  up  the  study  of  law  and  in  1866  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  immediately  after  he  graduated  at  the  Union  Law  College  of  Cleve- 
land, O,  On  August  20,  1867,  he  landed  in  Cheyenne  and  soon  aftenvard  formed  a 
partnership  with  James  R.  Whitehead  under  the  firm  name  of  Whitehead  &  Cor- 
lett. Later  he  was  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Corlett  &  Stevens,  and  still 
later  was  associate  with  the  firm  of  Riner  &  Lacey.  In  1869  he  was  defeated  by 
S.  F.  Nuckolls  for  delegate  in  Congress  at  the  first  territorial  election,  and  the 
next  year  was  appointed  postmaster  at  Cheyenne,  which  position  he  held  for  about 
three  years.  From  1870  to  1876  he  was  the  prosecuting  attorney  of  Laramie 
County  and  in  1876  %\as  elected  delegate  in  Congress.  He  was  one  of  the  active 
practicing  lawyers  of  Cheyenne  for  many  years ;  was  a  member  of  the  city  council 
at  different  times ;  served  on  the  school  board ;  was  chairman  of  the  commission 
to  revise  the  laws  of  Wyoming  in  1885,  and  wrote  an  account  of  the  early  days  of 
Cheyenne,  but  it  was  never  published.    He  died  at  Cheyenne  on  July  22,  1890. 

Edward  P.  Johnson,  who  succeeded  Joseph  M.  Carey  as  L^nited  States  attorney 
for  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  in  1871,  was  born  at  Greenbush,  O,,  August 
\2J,  1842.  During  the  Civil  war  he  served  in  the  Ninety-third  Ohio  Infantry, 
which  was  engaged  at  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Ky, ;  Stone's  River,  Tenn, ;  the 
military  operations  around  Chattanooga,  especially  at  Missionary  Ridge,  and  was 
with   .Sherman  on  the  Atlanta  campaign  of   1864.     After  the  war  ]\Ir.  Johnson 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  471 

entered  the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  where  he  graduated 
in  March,  1867,  and  after  a  short  residence  in  Denver  he  came  to  Cheyenne.  In 
1869-70  he  was  prosecuting  attorney  of  Laramie  County,  and  when  Joseph  M. 
Carey  was  appointed  associate  justice,  Air.  Johnson  was  appointed  United  States 
attorney.  This  office  he  held  for  about  seven  years,  after  which  he  was  again 
elected  prosecuting  attorney  for  Laramie  County.  In  1879  he  was  elected  to  the 
Upper  House  of  the  Territorial'Legislature,  but  died  on  October  3,  1879,  ^  short 
time  before  the  Legislature  was  convened.  Mr.  Johnson  was  a  lawyer  of  excel- 
lent ability  and  was  a  man  of  strong  personality.  Johnson  County  is  named  in 
his  honor. 

Stephen  W.  Downey,  one  of  the  early  lawyers  at  Laramie,  was  born  in  West- 
ernport,  Md.,  July  25,  1839.  He  received  an  academic  education,  after  which 
he  studied  law  and  in  1863  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  About  that  time  he  enlisted 
in  the  Union  army  and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  then  practiced  his 
profession  in  his  native  state  until  1869.  when  he  came  to  Wyoming.  In  1871 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Council  in  the  Territorial  Legislature;  was  elected 
to  the  same  office  in  1875  and  again  in  1877.  In  1878  he  was  elected  delegate  in 
Congress,  defeating  E.  L.  Pease. 

John  W.  Blake  was  born  at  Bridgeton,  Me.,  in  1846,  and  was  educated  at 
Dartmouth  College.  He  then  entered  the  service  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, and  in  1869  located  at  Chicago.  In  1875  he  became  a  resident  of  Laramie, 
Wyo.  He  served  two  terms  as  prosecuting  attorney  of  Albany  County  and  in 
both  branches  of  the  Territorial  Legislature.  In  1886  he  was  president  of  the 
Council.  Not  long  after  that  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Melville  C.  Brown, 
which  lasted  until  the  admission  of  the  state,  when  he  was  elected  the  first  judge 
of  the  Second  Judicial  District.  This  office  he  held  until  his  death  at  his  home 
in  Laramie  on  February  25,  1895.  One  who  knew  him  said:  "On  the  bench 
he  was  every  inch  a  judge ;  divested  of  the  toga  he  was  in  all  respects  a  man." 

W^illiam  R.  Steele  came  to  Wyoming  soon  after  the  territory  was  organized, 
from  New  York  City,  where  he  was  born  on  July  24,  1842.  He  had  received 
a  good  education  and  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  his  native  state,  and  during 
the  Civil  war  won  distinction  as  a  staf?  officer  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In 
1871  he  was  elected  to  the  legislative  Council  and  the  following  year  was  chosen 
delegate  in  Congress  to  succeed  William  T.  Jones.  He  was  reelected  delegate 
in  1874. 

Melville  C.  Brown,  who  was  president  of  the  Wyoming  constitutional  con- 
vention, was  bom  near  Augusta,  Me.,  in  1838.  Before  he  reached  his  majority 
he  went  to  California.  During  the  Civil  war  he  was  employed  as  a  mechanical 
engineer  in  the  mines  at  Boise,  Ida.,  and  in  1863  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Idaho  Legislature.  In  the  fall  of  1867  he  located  at  Cheyenne  and  began  the 
practice  of  law.  From  1874  to  1877  he  was  prosecuting  attorney  of  Laramie 
County.  He  then  removed  to  Laramie,  Albany  County,  and  practiced  there 
until  the  state  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  In  1878  he  was  appointed  United 
St-ates  attorney  for  the  territory,  which  office  he  held  for  about  three  years.  He 
was  a  delegate  to  the  republican  national  convention  of  1880;  was  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  constitutional  convention  in  1889  :  was  appointed  United  States  district 
judge  for  the  Southern  District  of  Alaska  in  1900:  practiced  law  in  Seattle, 
Wash.,  from  1905  to  1908,  and  then  returned  to  Laramie. 


472  HISTORY  OF  ^^"YO]^IIXG 

Homer  Merrill,  who  served  for  a  short  time  as  one  of  the  associate  judges 
of  the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court,  was  born  at  Rochester,  X.  Y.,  in  1846.  He 
studied  law  in  his  native  city  and  was  there  admitted  to  the  bar  soon  after  he 
was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  In  1872  he  came  to  Wyoming,  locating  first  at 
Laramie,  where  he  practiced  about  two  years,  when  he  removed  to  Rawlins.  He 
was  for  ten  years  the  prosecuting  attorney  of  Carbon  County,  and  in  1S80  was 
appointed  supervisor  of  the  United  States  census  for  the  territory.  When  Judge 
Willis  \'an  Devanter  resigned  from  the  Supreme  Bench  in  1890,  Mr.  Alerrill  was 
appointed  to  the  vacancy  and  served  until  the  next  general  election. 

Samuel  T.  Corn,  who  was  appointed  an  associate  justice  of  the  Territorial 
Supreme  Court  by  President  Cleveland  in  1886,  was  born  in  Jessamine  County, 
Kentucky,  in  October,  1840.  His  early  education  was  acquired  in  the  local 
schools,  and  in  i860  he  graduated  at  Princeton  College  (now  Princeton  Univer- 
sity) of  New  Jersey.  He  then  entered  a  law  office  at  Nicholasville,  Ky.,  and  in 
1863  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  After  practicing  a  short  time  at  Lancaster, 
Ky.,  he  went  to  Carlinville,  111.,  where  he  was  elected  state's  attorney  in  1872 
and  held  the  office  for  eight  years.  In  1886  he  was  appointed  an  associate  justice 
for  the  Territory  of  Wyoming.  After  about  three  years  on  the  bench,  he  retired 
and  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Evanston.  In  1896  he  was  elected  to  the  Wyo- 
ming Supreme  Court,  but  resigned  before  his  term  expired  and  removed  to  Utah, 
where  he  is  still  living. 

This  list  might  be  extended  indefinitely,  but  enough  has  been  said  to  show 
that  the  bar  of  Wyoming  compares  favorably  with  the  bar  of  other  states.  The 
names  of  such  lawyers  as  David  H.  Craig,  who  was  for  about  eight  years  judge 
in  the  Third  Judicial  District,  John  A.  Riner,  Charles  N.  Potter,  John  W.  Lacey, 
C.  P.  Arnold,  F.  H.  Harvey,  Hugo  Donzelmann,  C.  E.  Blydenburgh,  and  numerous 
others,  are  too  well  known  throughout  the  state  to  need  any  extended  mention 
in  this  history. 

STATE   B.\R  .\SSOCI.\TION 

While  Wyoming  was  still  a  territory,  a  number  of  lawyers  met  and  organized 
a  bar  association,  but  it  did  not  last  until  the  state  was  admitted.  After  the 
admission,  county  bar  associations  were  organized  in  most  of  the  counties,  but 
the  present  State  Bar  Association  was  not  formed  until  January  25,  191 5.  A 
meeting  had  been  held  in  the  Federal  Court  room  in  Cheyenne  on  the  4th  of  that 
month,  at  which  the  preliminary  steps  were  taken  for  the  organization  of  a  state 
association,  and  the  attorneys  of  the  state  were  invited  to  be  present  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  2Sth.  Every  county  seat  and  most  of  the  leading  cities  and  towns 
were  represented  and  the  association  started  off  with  about  one  hundred  charter 
members.  At  the  organization  meeting  John  A.  Riner,  United  States  district 
judge,  delivered  an  opening  address  of  welcome  to  the  visiting  lawyers,  and  C.  P. 
Arnold  made  an  address  upon  the  subject  of  "Professional  Pitfalls." 

The  first  officers  of  the  association  were:  C.  P.  Arnold,  president;  A.  C. 
Campbell,  first  vice  president;  T.  W.  LaFleiche,  second  vice  president;  M.  A. 
Kline,  secretary;  Ralph  Kimball,  treasurer. 

The  con.stitution  adopted  provides  for  the  election  of  officers  annuallv.  In 
1916  C.   E.  Blydenburgh   of   Rawlins   was  elected  president ;  F.   H.   Harvev  of 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  473 

Douglas,  first  vice  president ;  C.  A.  Zaring  of  Basin,  second  vice  president ;  Clyde 
M.  Watts  of  Cheyenne,  secretary ;  W.  C).  ^\'ilson  of  Casper,  treasurer. 

In  1917  the  officers  of  the  association  were  as  follows:  A.  C.  Campbell  of 
Casper,  president;  W.  E.  Mullen  of  Cheyenne,  first  vice  president;  P.  W.  Spauld- 
ing  of  Evanston,  second  vice  president ;  Clyde  M.  Watts  of  Cheyenne,  secretary ; 
A.  ^^'.  McCollough  of  Laramie,  treasurer. 

^\'.  E.  Mullen  of  Cheyenne  was  elected  president  for  1918:  Raljjh  Kimball  of 
Lander,  first  vice  president ;  Abraham  Crawford  of  E\anston.  second  vice  presi- 
dent; Clyde  M.  Watts  of  Cheyenne  was  reelected  secretary;  and  Ceorge  W.  Vnr- 
guson  of  Casper  was  chosen  treasurer. 

.\    FEW    XOTED    CASES 

Civil  cases  involving  thousands  of  dollars,  or  affecting  the  rights  of  an  entire 
coimty  or  state,  are  often  tried  with  but  few  spectators  in  the  courtroom,  but  a 
criminal  case,  especially  a  trial  for  murder,  rarely  fails  to  attract  a  large  number 
of  people.  During  the  early  history  of  Wyoming  such  cases  were  far  more 
frequent  than  they  are  at  the  present  time,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  a 
complete  account  of  all  that  have  been  tried  in  the  territorial  and  state  courts. 
There  are  a  few  cases,  however,  both  criminal  and  civil,  that  stand  out  with 
greater  prominence  in  the  legal  annals  of  the  state,  and  are  of  special  interest  on 
account  of  the  points  of  law  involved. 

In  May,  1890,  Henry  M.  Pierce  shot  and  killed  George  15.  Tait,  a  native  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  shooting  was  done  on  the  Shoshone  Indian  Reserva- 
tion. Tait  ha^d  the  reputation  of  being  a  dissolute  character  and  there  were 
few  that  mourned  his  death.  Immediately  after  the  deed  was  committed.  Pierce 
went  to  Lander  and  surrendered  to  Sheriff  Sparhawk.  telling  him  just  what  had 
happened.  A  preliminary  hearing  was  had  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  but 
Prosecuting  Attorney  Allen  refused  to  prosecute  the  case,  because  Judge  Samuel 
T.  Corn,  of  the  Territorial  Supreme  Court,  had  held  in  similar  cases  that  the  ter- 
ritory had  no  jurisdiction  over  crimes  committed  on  Indian  reservations. 

Pierce  was  therefore  taken  before  United  States  Commissioner  Moore  at  h'ort 
Washakie  and  was  held  in  the  custodv  of  the  United  States  authorities  until 
the  following  December.  He  then  employed  A.  C.  Campbell  as  his  attorney,  who 
applied  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which  was  granted  by  Judge  Riner  on  Decem- 
ber 6,  1890,  and  Pierce  was  released.  The  peculiar  feature  of  this  case  is  that 
under  a  state  law  of  Wyoming  the  offender  must  be  tried  at  the  term  of  court 
following  the  commission  of  the  off'ense.  One  term  of  court  had  intervened 
between  the  time  Pierce  was  taken  into  custody  and  the  time  when  he  was  released 
under  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which  pre\'ented  him  from  being  again  arrested. 
Hence  he  went  "scot  free." 

.\n  interesting  decision  was  rendered  by  the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court  on 
June  I,  1891.  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  France,  widow  of  James  France  of  Rawlins,  to 
recover  dower  in  real  estate  assigned  by  her  husband  before  his  death  to  John 
W.  Connor  and  William  R.  Brown  for  the  benefit  of  creditors.  The  suit  was 
brought  under  the  Edmunds-Tucker  act  of  Congress,  which  became  a  law  on 
March  3,  1887,  without  President  Cleveland's  signature.  The  Wyoming  decision 
was   rendered  by  Chief  Justice  Groesbeck,  who  held  that  Wvoming.   Montana. 


■ili  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Arizona,  Idaho  and  New  ^Mexico  all  had  community  property  laws  at  the  time 
the  Edmunds-Tucker  act  was  passed  that  gave  the  wife  or  widow  greater  rights 
than  those  of  dower,  and  that  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  failed  to  state  whether 
it  was  applicable  in  those  territories.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  law  was  intended 
to  apply  to  Utah  only. 

THE    R.\CE    HORSE    C.\SE 

On  October  3,  1895,  Sheriff  John  AVard  of  Uinta  County,  arrested  a  Bannock 
Indian  named  Race  Horse,  upon  a  warrant  issued  on  criminal  information 
charging  the  said  Race  Horse  with  "the  unlawful  and  wanton  killing  of  seven 
elk  in  said  county  on  the  first  day  of  July.  1895."  For  some  time  prior  to  this 
arrest  the  Indians  living  in  the  Jackson's  Hole  country  had  refused  to  obey  the 
game  laws  of  Wyoming,  claiming  that  the  treaty  of  Fort  Bridger  gave  them  the 
right  to  hunt  in  that  part  of  the  state  and  kill  all  the  game  they  pleased.  The 
treaty  provision  upon  which  they  based  this  claim  was  Article  I\'  of  the  treaty 
of  July  3,  1868,  which  reads: 

"The  Indians  (Bannock)  herein  named  agree,  when  the  agency  house  and 
other  buildings  shall  be  constructed  on  their  reservation,  they  will  make  said 
reservation  their  permanent  home  and  that  they  will  make  no  permanent  settle- 
ments elsewhere,  but  they  shall  have  the  right  to  hunt  on  the  unoccupied  lands 
of  the  United  States  so  long  as  game  may  be  found  thereon,  and  so  long  as 
peace  subsists  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  on  the  borders  of  the  hunting 
districts.'' 

Race  Horse  was  unable  to  give  bail  and  was  held  in  custody  by  the  Uinta 
County  authorities  until  October  7,  1895,  when  his  attorneys  filed  in  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  for  the  District  of  Wyoming  a  petition  for  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  based  upon  the  above  mentioned  article  of  the  treaty.  Attorney-General 
B.  F.  Fowler  volunteered  to  assist  the  prosecuting  attorney  of  Uinta  County 
and  the  case  was  argued  before  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  at  Cheyenne  on 
November  21,  1895.  The  court  held  that  the  "'provisions  of  the  state  statute 
were  inconsistent  with  the  treaty,  and  as  the  latter,  under  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States,  was  paramount,  the  statute  could  not  be  enforced  against  the 
Indians." 

Before  the  arrest  of  Race  Horse,  the  citizens  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Jack- 
son's Hole  had  repeatedly  protested  again-st  the  wanton  destruction  of  the  game 
and  the  United  States  sent  troops  into  the  northern  part  of  Uinta  (now  Lincoln) 
County  to  prevent  open  hostilities.  When  Race  Horse  was  released  by  the  court 
upon  habeas  corpus  proceedings,  the  dissatisfaction  in  the  western  part  of  the 
state  was  universal,  while  the  Indians  were  highly  elated  over  their  victory'. 

Judge  W'illis  "\"an  Devanter,  as  attorney  for  Sherilif  \\'ard,  took  an  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  That  tribunal,  on  May  25,  1896, 
rendered  an  opinion  reversing  the  decision  of  the  Circuit  Court.  The  Supreme 
Court  held  that  "the  provision  in  the  treaty  of  July  3,  1868,  with  the  Bannock 
tribe  of  Indians,  that  they  'shall  have  the  right  to  hunt  upon  the  unoccupied 
lands  of  the  United  States  so  long  as  game  may  be  found  thereon,  and  so  long 
as  peace  subsists  between  Indians  and  the  whites  «n  the  borders  of  the  hunting 
districts'  was  intended  to  confer  a  privilege  of  merely  limited  duration,  and  was 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  475 

repealed  by  the  subsequent  act  admitting  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  into  the 
Union,  with  the  express  declaration  that  it  should  have  all  the  powers  of  other 
states  and  making  no  reservation  in  favor  of  the  Indians." 

The  effect  of  this  decision  was  to  make  the  Indians  understand  that  they 
must  observe  the  game  laws  of  the  state,  and  no  further  trouble  occurred.  By 
an  act  approved  on  Februar)-  19,  1897,  the  Legislature  appropriated  $1,421.50, 
"out  of  the  unexpended  balance  of  the  appropriation  made  by  Congress  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  constitutional  convention,'"  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  appeal. 
Of  this  sum,  Willis  \'an  Devanter  received  $1,100  for  services  and  traveling 
expenses  to  Washington,  and  the  Stock  Growers  National  Bank  received  $321.50 
for  money  advanced  to  pay  the  costs  of  filing  the  appeal,  the  state  having  no 
funds  that  could  be  used  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
RELIGION  IX  WYOMING 

BEGINNINGS    OF    MISSIONARY    WORK    IN    WYOMING THE    CATHOLIC    CHURCH — THE 

EPISCOPAL     CHURCH — THE    CONGREGATIONAL     CHURCH — METHODIST     EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH — THE   BAPTIST   CHURCH — THE    PRESBYTERIAN. 

Religion  was  first  brought  within  the  present  botmdaries  of  Wyoming  Ijy 
missionaries.  Among  the  first  of  these  were  Jason  Lee  and  his  nephew.  Daniel, 
who  passed  through  the  state  en  route  to  Oregon.  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  and 
Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  were  others  who  came  through  this  country  in  the  very 
early  days.  Doctor  Whitman  wrote  in  his  journal  on  August  lO,  1835,  while 
passing  through  the  South  Pass :  "Though  there  are  some  elevations  and  depres- 
sions in  this  valley,  yet,  comparatively  speaking,  it  is  level.  There  would  be  no 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  constructing  a  railroad  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean."  While  in  the  Green  River  country  these  two  men  met  Jim  Bridger, 
who,  on  October  14,  1832,  in  a  battle  with  Blackfeet  Indians,  was  shot  in  the 
back  with  two  arrows.  On  August  12.  1835,  Doctor  Whitman  extracted  one  of 
these  arrows  from  Bridger's  back. 

Whitman  and  Parker  found  that  the  Indians  were  eager  to  learn  the  white 
man's  religion  and  this  induced  them  to  separate  and  endeavor  to  teach  the  word 
of  God  to  the  savages.  Parker,  the  older  of  the  two,  accompanied  Bridger  to 
Pierre's  Hole,  leaving  there  with  a  Nez  Perce  guide  for  the  wilderness.  Whitman 
went  back  East  for  new  recruits  and  returned  with  a  bride  over  the  Oregon  Trail 
the  next  summer.  With  him  came  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding.  Then  came  Father 
DeSmet,  a  Catholic  priest,  in  1840.  From  this  time  until  the  building  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  the  growth  of  religion  in  Wyoming  was  necessarily  slow, 
but  with  the  laying  of  the  steel  rails  across  the  plains,  churches  began  to  appear 
in  numbers  and  all  the  principal  denominations  were  represented  in  this  frontier 
country.  Wyoming  now  has  many  churches  and  denominations.  In  the  follow- 
ing paragraphs  the  history  of  the  principal  denominations  is  given,  while  in 
another  chapter  of  this  work  the  names  of  the  churches  in  each  town  are  given. 

THE   C.-XTHOLIC    CHURCH 

The  Diocese  of  Cheyenne  embraces  the  State  of  Wyoming,  including  100,906 
square  miles.  Ecclesiastically,  the  territory  within  the  present  limits  of  A\'yoming 
has  been  subject  to  sees  as  remote  from  each  other  as  the  political  authority  to 
which  its  component  parts  owed  allegiance.  For  within  its  boundaries  is  part 
of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  which  was  made  from  France  in  1803;  part  of  the 
Oregon  country,  which  was  acquired  by  the  Florida  treaty  with  Spain  in  1819; 
476 


ST.   MARY'S   C'ATHKURAL   AND   i;lSHOl'-S   KESllJEXeE,   CHEYEXX 


478  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

part  of  the  Texas  annexation  of  1845  ;  and  finally,  part  of  the  Mexican  cession 
of  1848.  However,  any  jurisdiction  that  the  French,  Spanish  or  Mexican  bishops 
may  have  had  over  these  districts  was  rather  de  jure  than  dc  facto,  since  prior  to 
the  building  of  Fort  Laramie  as  a  trading  post  in  1834  and  1835  there  were  no 
white  settlers  in  the  territory,  nor  had  any  missionary  work  been  done  among  the 
Indians. 

A\'ith  the  creation  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  in  1827,  Wyoming  came  under 
the  authority  of  that  see  until  1851,  when  it  was  included  in  the  Vicariate  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  to  which  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Miege,  D.  D.,  was  called  to  pre- 
side over  as  vicar  apostolic.  His  see  embraced  all  of  the  region  from  the  southern 
boundary  of  Kansas  to  the  British  possessions,  and  all  west  of  the  Missouri  River 
to  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  Vicariate  of  Nebraska,  which  included 
W^yoming,  was  carved  out  of  this  vast  region  January  6,  1857,  and  received  as 
its  ruler  Rt.  Rev.  James  O'Gorman,  D.  D.  (elected  January  18,  1859,  consecrated 
May  8,  1859),  who  took  up  his  residence  in  Omaha.  Upon  the  naming  of  this 
city  as  an  Episcopal  see  in  1885,  its  Ordinary,  Rt.  Rev.  James  O'Connor,  D.  D,, 
continued  to  guide  the  destinies  of  Wyoming  up  to  the  erection  of  the  Diocese 
of  Cheyenne,  August  9,  1887. 

Many  Catholic  names  will  be  noticed  among  the  traders  and  trappers  of  the 
early  years.  Thus,  Jacques  La  Ramie,  after  whom  the  Town  and  River  of  Lara- 
mie are  named,  who  died  in  that  section  in  1821.  And  during  the  decade  follow- 
ing 1823  we  have  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  a  Canadian  Irishman;  Etienne  Provost, 
a  Frenchman,  who  discovered  South  Pass ;  Lucien  Fontenelle,  and  Captain  Bon- 
neville of  the  United  States  army. 

Turning  to  the  pioneers  in  the  spiritual  order,  the  place  of  honor  is  assigned 
to  Rev.  Peter  J.  DeSmet,  S.  J.,  whose  name  will  ever  be  one  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  in  the  field  of  American  missionary  endeavor.  To  him  belongs  the 
distinction  of  having  celebrated  the  first  mass  within  the  limits  of  \\'yoming. 
Duly  commissioned,  he  set  out  at  the  end  of  April,  1840,  with  the  annual  caravan 
of  the  American  Fur  Company.  On  Sunday,  July  5,  1840,  they  reached  the 
Green  River  rendezvous,  where  Father  DeSmet  celebrated  mass  and  preached 
in  English  and  French  to  the  traders,  trappers  and  hunters,  and  through  inter- 
preters to  the  Snake  and  Flathead  Indians. 

With  the  building  of  the  first  railroad,  white  settlers  began  to  enter  the  terri- 
tory, so  that  it  became  necessary  to  provide  religious  ministrations  for  the  new- 
comers. Cheyenne  had  sprung  up  as  a  frontier  village  about  this  time,  and  thither 
was  sent  from  Omaha  the  Rev.  William  Kelly  as  the  first  resident  priest.  His 
missionary  field  extended  from  Sidney,  Neb.,  westward  to  Wahsatch  Canyon  in 
Utah,  running  north  as  far  as  Fort  Laramie.  With  the  exception  of  an  occa- 
sional Sunday's  mass  at  Laramie  City  and  Fort  Saunders,  mass  was  celebrated 
regularly  every  Sunday  at  Cheyenne  after  the  erection  of  the  church,  the  other 
days  of  the  week  being  devoted  to  missionary  work  along,  the  railroad.  In 
the  summer  of  1869  Bishop  O'Gorman,  accompanied  by  Father  Ryan  and  another 
priest,  visited  Cheyenne  and  Laramie  City  and  administered  the  sacrament  of 
confirmation  at  both  places. 

The  first  resident  priest  at  Laramie  was  Father  Cusson,  who  was  sent  there 
in  1873  (died  at  Nebraska  City,  November  2.  1898).  He  remained  in  charge 
until   1879,  when  he  was   succeeded  by  the  present  incumbent,  Rt.   Re\-.   Hu^h 


LATliULlL    aiLUlii.  LAilAAl 


480  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

Cummiskey.  Re\-.  M.  F.  Cassidy,  now  irremovable  rector  of  O'Xeil.  Xeb.,  was 
in  charge  of  Rawlins  from  1879  to  1886. 

As  early  as  September,  1875.  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Leavenworth  had 
opened  a  hospital  and  school  at  Laramie;  but  the  former  was  abandoned  in  1896, 
and  the  latter  in  IQOO.  The  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus  (of  Sharon  Hill) 
established  themselves  in  Cheyenne  in  1884,  opening  a  school  temporarily  in  the 
old  frame  church  which  had  been  built  by  Father  Kelly.  Their  present  beautiful 
academy,  occupying  a  sightly  block  immediately  east  of  the  state  capitol,  was 
opened  in  1886.  At  St.  Stephen's  Mission,  likewise,  the  Franciscan  Sisters  from 
Glen  Riddle,  Pa.,  early  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Jesuits  by  taking  charge  of 
a  school  for  Indian  girk. 

\\'hen,  on  August  9.  1887,  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  was  erected  into  a 
separate  diocese,  the  choice  of  a  bishop  fell  upon  Rev.  Maurice  F.  Burke,  a  priest 
of  the  archdiocese  of  Chicago,  ordained  May  22,  1875.  The  conditions  which 
the  young  prelate  found  on  reaching  \\'yoming  may  be  gleaned  from  the  fol- 
lowing statistics  (  1887)  :  Secular  priests,  5;  religious,  i  :  churches,  8;  hospitals, 
i:  academy,  i,  with  130  pupils;  parochial  schools,  2.  with  175  pupils;  baptisms, 
181;  marriages,  20;  families,  448;  Catholic  population  about  4,500:  Indian  mis- 
sion, about  300.  There  was  a  neat  brick  church  in  Cheyenne  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  3C0,  which  bore  the  title  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  which  now 
became  the  bishop's  cathedral,  under  the  name  of  St.  Mary. 

After  looking  over  his  vast  territory,  the  bishop  concluded  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  see  had  been  premature  and  set  out  for  Rome  to  have  it  sup- 
pressed. Owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  bishops  of  the  province,  then  St.  Louis, 
this  proposal  was  rejected,  but  several  years  later  Pope  Leo  XIII,  by  a  bull 
dated  June  19,  1893,  transferred  Bishop  Burke  to  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Owing  to  the  representations  that  had  been  made  by  Bishop  Burke,  the  diocese 
was  allowed  to  remain  vacant  for  several  years,  during  which  its  affairs  were 
managed  by  the  administrator,  \'ery  Rev.  Hugh  Cummiskey.  However,  at 
length  the  Very  Rev.  Thomas  M.  Lenihan,  M.  R.,  of  Fort  Dodge.  la.,  was 
appointed  as  the  second  bishop.  Father  Lenihan  was  ordained  a  priest  Xovember 
23,  1867,  at  Dubuque. 

At  the  time  of  his  appofntment.  Bishop  Lenihan  was  afflicted  with  very  poor 
health.  He  struggled  on  for  two  or  three  years,  but  as  there  was  no'  improve- 
ment, he  was  compelled  to  seek  a  lower  altitude  and  returned  to  Iowa,  from 
which  place,  though  in  shattered  health,  he  did  his  best  to  direct'  the  affairs  of 
his  diocese.     His  death  took  place  at   Dubuque,   December   15,    1901. 

Several  months  elapsed  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Lenihan  before  Cheyenne 
rece'ved  a  new  chief  pastor  in  the  person  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  J.  Keane.  D.  D., 
ordained  December  23,  1882.  He  was  named  Bishop  of  Cheyenne  June  10,  1902. 
but  his  consecration  did  not  occur  until  autumn.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  having 
the  diocese  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  the  individual  parishes,  incorporated  according 
to  the  provisions  of  the  state  law.  Bishop  Keane  did  many  things  to  promote 
the  cause  of  the  church  in  Wyoming,  not  the  least  of  which  was  his  work  in 
the  missionary  field,  providing  churches  for  the  communities  which  were  small. 

Another  object  of  Bishop  Keane's  pastoral  solicitude  was  to  provide  a  suitable 
cathedral  and  bishop's  residence.  The  buildings  in  use  for  this  purpose  had 
been   constructed   in   pioneer  days,   when   there   was   little   thought   of   Cheyenne 


ST.   i'AIKKK>-   (HURCH,  KEMMERER 


^^;^H■s  (  ai-hoek  (  hiki  h,  haw 


482  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ever  becoming  an  Episcopal  see,  and  the  congregation  had  long  outgrown  the 
modest  brick  church  that  had  been  erected  late  in  the  '70s.  A  beautiful  site  was 
secured  on  Capitol  Avenue,  not  far  from  the  state  capitol  and  adjoining  the 
public  library,  the  old  site  having  been  sold.  Bishop  Keane  had  decided  that  the 
cathedral  parish  should  build  the  new  church,  while  he  himself  would  secure 
funds  for  the  Episcopal  residence  from  the  diocese  at  large.  Suitable  plans  were 
secured  from  an  Omaha  architect,  so  that  both  of  these  improvements,  involving 
an  expenditure  of  more  than  $100,000,  were  begun  at  the  same  time.  On  July 
7,  1907,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  and  distinguished  gathering  of  people,  the 
cornerstone  was  laid  by  Bishop  Scannell  of  Omaha,  assisted  by  Bishop  Scanlan 
of  Salt  Lake,  the  sermon  being  preached  by  Bishop  Keane.  An  appropriate 
address  was  also  made  by  Governor  Brooks.  The  dedication  ceremony  took  place 
January  31,  1909,  amidst  a  gathering  of  ecclesiastics  such  as  had  never  before 
been  brought  together  in  Wyoming. 

The  cathedral  is  a  fine  example  of  the  English  Gothic  style  throughout,  the 
one  tower  being  on  the  southwest  corner.  It  is  built  of  Wyoming  white  sand- 
stone, is  135  feet  long  by  70  feet  wide  at  the  transept,  and  seats  750  persons. 
The  interior  finish  is  of  oak,  with  pews  of  the  same  material.  The  total  cost 
of  the  cathedral  was  $80,000  and  of  the  bishop's  residence  $23,000. 

The  fourth  bishop  of  Cheyenne  was  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick  A.  McGovern,  ordained 
August  18,  1895.  He  was  named  bishop  January  19,  1912,  and  his  consecration 
occurred  April  nth  of  the  same  year.  His  first  care  was  to  provide  for  the 
orderly  government  of  the  clergy  and  people  by  convoking  a  synod  in  which 
the  diocesan  officials  were  named  and  salutary  decrees,  conducive  to  the  upbuild- 
ing of  religion,  promulgated.  Feeling  that  the  vast  stretches  of  vacant  land  under 
his  jurisdiction  would  sooner  or  later  attract  many  settlers,  he  secured  a  sufficient 
number  of  ecclesiastical  students  to  minister  to  them.  Through  his  encourage- 
ment, and  with  the  aid  of  the  Catholic  Church  Extension  Society,  several  churches 
and  chapels  have  been  built  in  remote  places. 

STATISTICS,   I918 

Bishop,  i;  secular  priests,  18;  priests  of  religious  orders,  5;  total  priests,  23; 
eccleciastical  students,  10;  resident  pastors,  19;  assistants,  4;  total  churches,  45; 
academy,  i  ;  parochial  schools,  2;  Indian  schools,  2;  pupils  in  schools,  416;  mar- 
riages, 146;  baptisms,  infants,  620,  adults,  85,  total,  705;  deaths,  213;  Catholic 
population,  19,000. 

The  history  of  the  church  in  Cheyenne  in  its  early  years  is  practically  a 
history  of  the  diocese.  The  Rev.  William  Kelly  was  first  sent  by  Bishop  O'Gor- 
man  to  organize  the  Catholics  and  build  up  a  church.  Father  Kelly  set  to  work 
industriously  and  in  1868  was  able  to  dedicate  a  frame  church  at  Twenty-first 
and  O'Neil  streets,  on  the  northeast  corner,  on  four  lots  donated  by  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company.  Most  of  the  congregation  came  from  Camp  Carlin, 
a  government  supply  station  half  way  between  the  City  of  Cheyenne  and  Fort 
Russell.  Father  Kelly  remained  in  charge  until  October  9,  1869,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  Philip  Erlach.  who  served  until  April  16,  1871.  Then  Rev. 
William  Byrne  took  charge  and  remained  until  September,  1873.  Rev.  John 
McGoldrick  was  then  appointed  and  served  the  parish  until  October  18.   1877. 


\ 

^m 

,  '1 

'«.  ii'f 

i/lu*  . 

■jLl-/' 

'"kfK 

9hf^ 

ST.  MATTHEW'S   CATHEDKAL,  LARAiHE 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  LAKA^ 


484  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Considering  the  old  churcli  propcrt_v  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  the  growing 
congregation,  he  secured  two  lots  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Nineteenth  and 
Carey  Avenue  as  a  site  for  a  new  church.  Rev.  John  Jennette  next  guided  the 
destinies  of  the  parish  from  December,  1877,  to  August  4,  1878.  He  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  brick  church  on  the  property  purchased  by  Father  McGoldrick. 
The  Rev.  John  Hayes  succeeded  Father  Jennette  as  the  pastor  and  governed 
the  parish  until  November  18,  1882.  During  his  pastorate  the  church  was 
completed  and  dedicated.  Rev.  Francis  J.  Nugent  was  in  charge  from  November 
25,  1882,  to  June  20,  1886;  then  came  Rev.  John  T.  Smith,  from  July  9,  1886, 
to  November  23,  1887.  Rev.  M.  J.  Carmody  was  in  charge  from  May,  1891,  to 
March,  1892,  and  was  followed  by  Rev.  Edward  Fitzgerald  who  stayed  until 
November,  1893.  Rev  .Thomas  Conway  then  assumed  control  of  the  parish  and 
maintained  it  unt'l  November,  1897.  Rev.  P.  U.  Sasse  was  in  charge  then 
until  December,  1900,  succeeded  by  Rev.  George  J.  Bryant.  In  May,  1903,  Rev. 
Michael  A.  Kennedy  was  the  pastor,  but  held  the  pulpit  until  December  only. 
Rev.  James  A.  Duffy  was  in  charge  November,  1904,  to  April,  1913.  Bishop 
McGovern  took  personal  charge  until  May  i,  1915,  when  he  appointed  Rev.  James 
A.  Hartman. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

When  Bishop  Kemper  was  made  the  first  niiss'onary  bishop  of  the  American 
Church,  Wyoming  was  within  his  jurisdiction ;  but  he  never  reached  a  point  far- 
ther west  than  Centra!  Kansas.  In  1859,  Bishojj  Joseph  Cruikshank  Talbot  was 
chosen  bishop  of  the  Northwest,  and  Wyoming,  then  a  part  of  Xeljraska  and 
^Vashington  territories,  fell  to  his  care.  In  i860.  Bishop  Talbot  planned  a  7,000 
mile  trip  to  Utah  via  Fort  Laramie,  which  would  have  taken  h'm  through  Wyo- 
ming;  but  the  route  being  unsafe  in  1863  by  reason  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians, 
he  took  the  lower  route  through  Colorado  and  New  Mexico.  It  has  not  yet  been 
determined  whether  he  ever  entered  what  is  now  known  as  Wyoming. 

In  1865.  on  the  translation  of  Bishop  Talbot  to  Indiana,  the  House  of  Bishops, 
basing  its  action  on  a  bill  pending  in  Congress  created  the  missionary  district  of 
"Colorado  and  parts  adjacent,"  which  included  Colorado,  Montana,  Idaho  and 
Wyoming,  and  the  missionary  district  of  "Nebraska  and  parts  adjacent,"  with 
jurisdict'on  in  Nebraska  and  Dakota.  The  Rev.  George  Maxwell  Randall  of  Boston 
and  the  Rev.  Robert  Harper  Clarkson  of  Chicago  were  chosen  bishops  of  these  dis- 
tricts respectively.  This  was  called  "the  bloody  year  on  the  plains" ;  and  was  fur- 
ther marked  by  the  commencement  of  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad. 

In  1866,  Montana  and  Idaho  were  detached  from  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico 
was  added,  so  that  Bishop  Randall's  district  was  Colorado,  Wyoming  and  New 
Mexico.  This  was  the  year  of  the  so-called  "Fetterman  Massacre."  At  this  time 
there  were  no  towns  in  Wyoming,  the  only  settlements  being  the  army  posts,  and 
a  few  mining  camps  and  isolated  ranches  along  the  Sweetwater,  Popo  Agie,  and 
the  North  Platte  and  their  tributaries.  As  may  therefore  be  supposed,  there 
were  no  resident  clergy;  church  services  had,  however  been  held.  The  Hon. 
Henry  J.  Coke  who  crossed  Wyoming  in  1852,  was  accompanied  by  his  chaplain. 

From  1849  to  1862  the  Rev.  William  \'aux  was  army  chaplain  at  Fort 
Laramie,  and  was  the  first  regularly  stationed  clergyman  in  Wyoming.    Concern- 


EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  EVAX8T0N 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  EVANSTON 


486  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ing  him  Doctor  White  writes  in  his  Life  of  Bishop  Jackson  Kemper:  "When 
Kemper  resigned  the  oversight  of  Indiana,  one  of  his  attached  clergy  there,  wish- 
ing to  remain  under  his  jurisdiction,  and  having  received  an  appointment  to  the 
chaplaincy  of  Fort  Laramie,  was  transferred  thither  at  his  own  request.  The  post 
was  nearly  i,ooo  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  this  circumstance  led  the 
bishop  to  urge  the  definition  of  the  western  boundary  of  his  jurisdiction  which  some 
thought  extended  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific."  Chaplain  Vaux  stood  nobly  by  his 
post  during  the  massacres  at  Fort  Laramie. 

Another  church  chaplain,  who  served  in  Wyoming  in  the  early  days,  was  the 
Rev.  Edmond  B.  Tuttle.  who  was  chaplain  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell  from  January, 
1868,  to  June,  1869. 

Church  life  really  began  in  Wyoming  when  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  reached 
Cheyenne  on  November  13,  1867.  In  fact,  anticipating  the  railroad,  the  Rev. 
Charles  A.  Gilbert  of  Illinois,  spent  his  summer  vacation  in  Cheyenne,  and  thus 
became  the  first  minister  to  ser\'e  there.  So  successful  were  his  ministrations  that 
Messrs.  S.  B.  Reed,  Charles  D.  Sherman  and  J.  D.  Wooley,  corresponded  with 
Bishop  Clarkson,  and  so  impressed  him  with  the  importance  of  Cheyenne  that  on 
November  26th  the  Rev.  Joseph  W.  Cook,  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  West 
Whitelaw,  Chester  County,  Penn.,  was  sent  to  Cheyenne.  Leaving  Philadelphia 
on  New  Year's  night  he  reached  Cheyenne  on  January  14,  1868. 

Cheyenne,  Dakota,  being  within  the  region  originally  intended  by  the  House  of 
Bishops  to  be  included  in  Bishop  Randall's  jurisdiction,  under  the  name  of  Wyo- 
ming Territory  (though  for  some  time  the  bill  providing  for  this  did  not  pass 
Congress),  Bishop  Randall  claimed  it  as  part  of  his  jurisdiction.  Bishop  Clarkson 
had  proceeded  upon  the  supposition  that  so  long  as  the  territory  was  part  and 
parcel  of  Dakota,  it  belonged  to  his  jurisdiction.  Upon  requisition  being  made 
by  Bishop  Randall,  Bishop  Clarkson  withdrew,  leaving  Cheyenne  and  its  first 
missionary  under  the  jurisdicton  of  Bishop  Randall. 

The  first  confirmation  within  the  district  was  administered  on  July  14,  1868, 
in  St.  Mark's  Parish,  Cheyenne.  On  August  23rd,  Bishop  Randall  consecrated 
the  new  church,  thus  marking  the  first  consecration  of  a  church  building  in  Wyo- 
ming. 

This  church  was  erected  upon  the  plot  of  ground  where  the  poMoffice  now 
stands.  It  was  subsequently  removed  upon  a  flat  car  to  the  coal  mining  camp  of 
Carbon  where  it  was  in  constant  use  until  the  camp  was  abandoned.  The  church 
unfortunately  was  torn  down  along  with  the  other  better  bu'ldings  of  the  town, 
but  the  cross  over  the  west  end  of  the  building,  the  first  reared  over  any  struc- 
ture within  the  state,  now  hangs  upon  the  walls  of  the  vestry  room  of  the  new  St. 
Mark's,  Cheyenne,  which  was  named  for  St.  Mark's  Church,  Philadelphia. 

In  April,  1868,  Bishop  Randall  called  the  Rev.  John  Cornell  to  Laramie.  When 
Mr.  Cornell  arrived  in  Laramie  he  found,  so  he  writes,  six  horse  thieves  hanging  to 
the  timbers  of  a  frame  house  in  course  of  construction.  During  the  year  Mr. 
Cook  and  Mr.  Comell  planted  missions  in  all  the  towns  along  the  railroad.  Mr. 
Cornell  writes  that  he  also  went  across  country  as  far  as  South  Pass,  accompanied 
by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart,  whose  death  resulted  from  the  exposure.  Thus  it  may 
be  seen  the  church  was  not  slow  in  fulfilling  her  primary  obligation  to  Wyoming. 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Randall  in  1873,  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
Franklin   Spalding,   who   found  but    four  stations  and   two  missionaries   in   the 


From    the    Herbert    Coffeeii    OollecUon 

ST.   PETER'S   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH,   SHERIDAN 


488  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

district.  The  following  year,  New  Mexico  was  separated  from  the  jurisdiction 
which  was  now  known  as  the  jurisdiction  of  Colorado  and  Wyoming. 

In  1883,  the  House  of  Bishops  erected  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  into  a  sep- 
arate jur'sdiction.  Bishop  Spalding  was  placed  in  temporary  charge.  This  over- 
sight extended  to  1886.  At  this  time  there  were  five  clergymen  and  ten  stations 
in  the  district.  In  1886  there  were  18  confirmations,  89  baptisms,  272  communi- 
cants, 32  marriages,  26  burials.  406  Sunday  school  scholars  and  the  sum  of 
$8,900.72  was  raised  within  the  district. 

The  most  notable  achievement  of  Bishop  Spalding's  jurisdiction  over  Wyoming 
was  the  sending  of  the  Rev.  George  Rafter  to  Cheyenne  in  1882  and  the  Rev,  John 
Roberts  to  the  Wind  River  Reservation  in  1883,  the  latter  undertaking  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  Shoshone  Indians,  who  had  been  placed  under  our  care  by  General 
Grant.  Both  Mr.  Rafter  and  Mr.  Roberts  are  still  priests  of  the  district,  and  are 
the  nestors  of  their  respective  localities. 

In  1886,  the  General  Convention  created  the  missionary  jurisdict'on  of  Wyo- 
ming and  Idaho,  and  in  the  following  spring  the  Rev.  Ethelbert  Talbot  of  Macon, 
Mo.,  was  consecrated  bishop.  In  i8g6  Wyoming  and  Idaho  were  separated  into 
distinct  jurisdictions  and  Bishop  Talbot  was  given  charge  of  both  districts.  In 
i8q8  he  was  transferred  to  Central  Pennsylvania. 

Bishop  Ethelbert  Talbot's  episcopate  was  one  of  conspicuous  success.  When 
he  arrived  he  found  four  clergymen  and  ten  stations ;  when  he  resigned  his 
jurisdiction,  eleven  years  later,  he  left  sixteen  clergymen  and  twenty  stations 
with  729  communicants.  He  had  built  fourteen  churches,  among  which  was  the 
beautiful  cathedral  in  Laramie,  one  of  the  handsomest  church  buildings  in  the 
West.  It  was  completed  in  1917  by  the  erection  of  the  two  towers  and  the  great 
central  spire  which,  together  with  the  clock  and  chimes,  are  the  gift  of  Edward 
Ivinson,  of  Laramie,  in  memory  of  his  wife.  He  had  erected  St.  Matthew's  Hall, 
Laramie,  a  school  for  boys,  and  had  established  a  school  for  Shoshone  Indian 
girls  on  the  Wind  River  Reservation.  L^nfortunately,  St.  Matthew's  Hall  was 
afterwards  lost  to  the  church. 

In  1S98,  the  General  Convention  divided  Wyoming  into  three  parts.  The 
eastern  part  was  comb'ned  with  Western  Nebraska  under  the  title  "The  Mission- 
ary District  of  Laramie ;"  the  northwestern  part  was  combined  with  Idaho  under 
the  title  of  "The  District  of  Boise."  and  the  southwestern  portion  was  united 
with  Utah  under  the  title  of  "The  Missionary  District  of  Salt  Lake."  This 
arrangement  continued  for  ten  years  under  the  oversight  of  Bishop  Funsten, 
Bishop  Graves,  Bishop  Leonard  and  Bishop  Spalding. 

The  House  of  Bishops  at  the  General  Convention,  Richmond,  Va.,  October, 
1907,  in  consideration  of  the  recommendation  of  the  Conference  of  the  Seventh 
Missionary  Department,  held  in  Boise  on  May  3,  1907,  made  the  boundaries  of  the 
several  missionary  districts  co-terminus  with  the  boundaries  of  the  states.  Lender 
this  arrangement  the  missionary  district  of  Wyoming  was  constituted.  On 
October  10,  1907,  the  Rev.  Frederick  Focke  Reese,  D.  D.,  rector  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  Nashville.  Tenn.,  was  elected  to  be  Bishop  thereof,  but  declined  the 
election.  Wyoming  was  then  placed  under  the  provisional  charge  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  James  Bowen  Funsten,  D.  D.,  bishop  of  Idaho,  until  in  1909,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  House  of  Bishops  held  in  New  York,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Seymour  Thomas, 
rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Apostles,  Philadelphia,  was  elected,  and  on  May 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  489 

6,  1909,  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Wyoming.  For  the  first  time  in  its  checkered 
history,  Wyoming  had  a  bishop  altogether  its  own. 

Bishop  Thomas  found  on  his  arrival  10  clergy,  no  lay  workers,  29  church 
buildings,  13  rector'es,  2  halls  or  parish  houses,  altogether  valued  at  $240,680, 
1,338  communicants,  28  parishes  and  missions,  and  14  preaching  stations,  with 
practically  no  debt  and  no  endowment. 

Through  the  working  out  of  a  plan  whereby  a  goodly  number  of  men  of  the 
highest  class  from  the  eastern  seminaries  have  been  creating  the  vogue  of  the 
western  frontier  in  lieu  of  an  eastern  curacy  as  the  proper  work  of  a  ministerial 
interne,  Wyoming  has  during  the  past  nine  years  been  privileged  in  securing  the 
services  of  42  clergymen  of  high  character  and  unusual  abTity  who  have 
come  and  gone,  in  addition  to  the  27  clergymen  now  canonically  resident 
within  the  district.  To  this  total  of  69  men  in  order  should  be  added  42  technically 
trained  lay  workers,  18  laymen  and  24  lay  women,  who  have  contributed  their 
share  to  the  grand  total  of  results  accomplished,  which  places  the  church  in 
Wyom'ng  in  the  forefront  among  the  churches  of  the  state. 

The  Tenth  Annual  Convocational  Journal  reports  7  parishes,  43  organized 
missions,  and  37  unorganized  missions,  a  total  of  87,  with  2,846  communicants, 
an  average  of  31  communicants  to  a  station.  There  are  45  church  buildings,  24 
rectories,  13  parish  houses  or  halls  for  secular  gatherings,  2  Indian  schools,  2 
hospitals,  I  orphanage  and  i  bishop's  house.  The  total  value  of  the  church  prop- 
erty is  $726,404.  The  endowment  is  $32,000  (entailed)  for  St.  ^Michael's  Mission, 
$18,000  for  the  Bishop  Randall  Hospital,  and  $1,803  ^or  the  Episcopate  Fund, 
making  a  grand  total  of  church  property  and  endowment  amounting  to  $778,209. 

In  the  summer  of  1910  Bishop  Thomas,  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Robert 
M.  Beckett,  took  a  trip  of  i.ioo  miles  by  wagon  and  on  horseback  through  the 
Yellowstone  Park  and  down  into  Jackson's  Hole.  In  that  interesting  and 
beautiful  valley,  conditions  were  such  that  out  of  seven  maternity  cases  during 
the  summer,  three  women  had  died.  As  the  bishop  stood  at  the  death  bed  of  one 
of  these  women  he  registered  the  determination  that  these  conditions  should  be 
bettered. 

The  following  year  a  beautiful  stone  hospital,  the  Bishop  Randall  Hospital, 
was  erected  in  Lander  at  a  cost  of  about  forty  thousand  dollars.  On  November 
15,  1912,  it  was  officially  opened.  It  has  been  handsomely  appointed  in  every 
particular  and  now  is  the  best  equipped  hospital  in  the  state,  min'stering  to  both 
whites  and  Indians. 

Another  five-bed  hospital  has  been  erected  in  Jackson's  Hole,  and  from  the 
beginning  has  been  self  supporting. 

As  there  was  no  provision  in  the  state  for  the  care  of  destitute  and  dependent 
children,  the  bishop  converted  his  house  in  Laramie  into  a  home  for  children, 
turning  the  same  o\-er  to  Archdeacon  Dray  who  was  the  father  of  the  movement. 
The  archdeacon  so  popularized  tlie  plan  in  the  state  that  from  its  incept'on  it  has 
been  able  to  pay  its  debts.  Its  board  of  managers,  consisting  of  some  of  the 
ablest  women  of  Laramie,  represent  most  of  the  religious  denominations  of  the 
city.  From  twenty-eight  to  thirty-one  children  have  been  continuously  cared 
for,  but  the  building  's  utterly  inadequate  to  hold  the  number  of  applicants.  Larger 
quarters  are  imperative  if  the  children  in  need  of  such  an  institution  are  to  be 
accepted. 


490  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Last  year  Bishop  Thomas,  the  president  of  the  Cathedral  Home,  purchased 
from  the  ecclesiastical  authority  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  four  acres  of 
ground  well  adorned  with  trees,  two  squares  from  the  State  University  on  the 
main  thoroughfare  of  the  city.  On  this  plot  of  ground  was  situated  the  old  St. 
Joseph's  Hospital.  It  is  in  excellent  repair,  so  far  as  the  constructive  portions 
of  the  building  are  concerned,  but  many  additions  are  necessary  by  reason  of 
its  added  function.  The  cost  of  accomplishing  this,  the  largest  public  charitable 
venture  undertaken  out  of  private  contributions  from  within  the  state,  will  be 
$31,602.20  according  to  the  architect's  plans.  The  property  when  completed  will 
be  valued  at  $50,000. 

Of  purely  parochial  institut'ons  no  mention  will  be  made,  save  of  the  Parish 
House  in  Cheyenne  which  was  erected  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1911-12  at  a  cost 
of  some  forty  thousand  dollars.  During  this  year  of  the  war  the  Parish  House 
has  been  practically  a  diocesan  institution  in  the  service  it  has  rendered  the 
soldiers  at  Fort  Russell.  For  the  past  year  the  building  has  been  in  constant  use 
and  filled  with  soldiers. 

On  November  17,  1910,  was  held  the  first  annual  conference  of  the  clergy  in 
Wyoming,  summoned  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  give  the  clergy  a  week  of 
goodly  fellowship.  These  conferences  have  been  made  possible  through  the  gen- 
erosity of  Mrs.  Clinton  Ogilvie  of  New  York  in  memory  of  her  pastor,  the 
Rev.  Arthur  Brooks,  D.  D.  No  one  institution  has  done  more  to  build  up  the 
esprit  of  the  clergy  than  this  institution  which  is  familiarly  known  as  the  Ogilvie 
Conference. 

CHURCH  WORK  AMONG  THE  SHOSHONES 

In  1873  tli^  invasion  of  the  hostile  Sioux  and  Cheyennes  and  perhaps  the 
Arapahoes.  were  particularly  severe.  It  was  in  this  year  that  Bishop  Randall 
visited  the  Shoshone  Agency.  The  agent  despatched  an  ambulance  and  three 
men  to  old  Fort  Stambaugh  to  escort  the  bishop  in.  The  party  left  early  Sunday 
morning  for  the  agency.  Hostile  signal  fires  from  the  tops  of  the  Big  Horn 
and  Owl  Creek  ranges  and  from  other  points  nearer  the  trail  aroused  fears 
lest  the  b'shop's  party  be  attacked,  but  they  reached  the  agency  at  7  o'clock  in 
safety.  After  a  hasty  lunch,  the  entire  community  repaired  to  the  little  old 
log  chapel,  now  used  as  a  mortuary  chapel  at  the  Shoshone  burial  place,  and  the 
bishop  conducted  service  and  preached.  After  the  service  it  was  discovered  that 
the  hostiles  had  been  all  about  the  church  and  could  have  massacred  the  whole 
congregation  had  they  not  supposed,  as  a  Sioux  afterward  confessed,  that  the 
people  had  gathered  in  this  log  house  using  it  for  a  fort.  As  it  was,  the  hostiles 
cut  loose  the  horses  and  stock  and  disappeared  quietly.  The  following  day 
word  came  in  that  the  entire  1-ne  over  which  the  bishop  had  traveled  had  been 
raided.  The  Bishop  Randall  missionary  window  in  St.  Matthew's  Cathedral, 
Laramie,  memorializes  the  littJe  log  building  at  the  agency. 

James  I.  Patten,  Indian  teacher  and  lay  reader  from  1871  to  1874  accompanied 
Bishop  Randall  on  his  return  trip  two  days  later.  He  writes  of  it  as  follows : 
"After  a  day  or  two  sojourn  at  the  agency,  the  b'shop  made  known  his  wish  to 
return  home,  so  the  agent  prepared  an  open  rig,  the  only  kind  of  conveyance  he  had 
to  offer,  drawn  by  two  good  horses,  together  with  an  escort  of  three  men,  selected 


'BESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  CHEYENNE 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Catholic  Church.  St.  Mark's  Church. 

CHURCHES  OF  CASPER 


492  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

from  among  the  employees,  each  one  armed  with  repeating  rifles,  and  a  supply  of 
ammunition  and  when  the  party  was  about  ready  to  start,  Mrs.  Irwin,  the  agent's 
wife,  discovered  that  the  bishop  was  without  fire  arms,  therefore  she  soon  rustled 
him  a  gun,  saying,  'You  might  need  it.'  'Well,'  replied  the  bishop,  'I  suppose  it 
is  best  to  have  one  to  show,  but  I  never  fired  a  gun  in  my  life.' 

"We  left  the  agency  late  in  the  morning  and  arrived  in  Twin  Creek  about  2 
P.  M.,  where  the  horses  were  rested  awhile.  The  day  was  extremely  hot.  The 
Bishop  was  dressed  in  tight  fitting  broadcloth  suit,  with  a  high  silk  hat  and  the 
sun  beat  down  upon  him  like  heat  from  an  men.  I  saw  that  he  was  suffering 
greatly  from  this  exposure — he  was  then  1  think  about  eighty  years  of  age.  While 
rest'ng  at  Twin  Creek,  the  bishop  climbed  down  and  bathed  his  face  in  the  cool 
waters  of  the  mountain  streams  and  stretched  his  limbs.  Beside  the  road  was 
a  wide  flat  granite  rock  which,  by  erosion,  was  worn  smooth  as  maple  floor.  On 
this  rock  he  laid  himself  down  stretched  to  full  length,  thus  resting  about  twenty 
minutes,  by  which  time  we  were  ready  to  continue  our  journey.  We  reached 
Miners'  Delight,  where  the  people  met  in  a  vacant  building,  where  a  short  service 
was  held  and  the  bishop  talked  to  the  congregation  for  a  few  minutes  and  was 
introduced,  when  we  passed  on  to  South  Pass,  arriving  there  in  the  evening, 
where  another  service  was  held  and  the  next  morning  he  baptized  a  family  of  five 
children.  Here  at  this  time  we  separated,  never  again  in  this  life  to  meet  again  our 
beloved  bishop,  for  he  never  afterwards  visited  the  agency.  Arriving  at  his  home 
in  Denver  he  was  confined  to  his  room,  and  a  short  time  afterward  we  received 
the  sad  intelligence  of  his  death,  which  occurred  September  28,  1873. 

"My  mind  has  reverted  many  times  to  the  scene  of  the  bishop  taking  his 
rest  on  the  rock  on  the  banks  of  Twin  Creek  and  I  at  the  time  named  it  Bishop 
Randall's  Rock.  In  my  mind's  eye,  he  is  seen  today  as  he  then  lay,  as  plainly  as 
at  that  time." 

Bishop  Spalding  was  consecrated  to  succeed  Bishop  Randall  on  December 
31,  1873.  Ten  years  later  he  addressed  himself  to  the  Indian  problem  at  Wind 
River,  by  sending  the  Rev.  John  Roberts  as  missionary  to  the  Shoshones. 
Mr.  Robert's  trip  across  the  divide  from  Green  River  took  place  during  the  most 
severe  storm  known  for  years,  when  the  snow  was  three  feet  deep  and  the  ther- 
mometer 50°  below  zero.  Mr.  Roberts  himself  reported  to  Bishop  Spalding 
under  the  date  of  February  14th,  1883,  as  follows: 

"I  reached  the  Shoshone  Indian  Agency  safely  last  night,  after  a  trying  journey 
of  eight  days  from  Green  R'ver.  At  the  end  of  my  first  day's  ride  I  found  that 
ahead  two  coach  drivers  and  a  passenger  were  frozen  to  death  and  three  others 
badly  frost  bitten.  I  afterwards  saw  some  of  the  suft'erers  and  buried  one  of  the 
drivers  in  the  snow." 

Within  a  year  Mr.  Roberts  had  established  a  siuall  school  in  a  building  erected 
by  the  Government  for  that  purpose,  with  sixteen  boarders  and  eight  day  pupils. 
He  had  also  established  a  mission  in  Lander.  Later  Mr.  A.  C.  Jones,  now  a 
banker  in  Laramie  and  the  treasurer  of  the  Cathedral  Chapter,  was  in  charge 
of  the  Shoshone  scholars.  He  remained  however,  but  one  year.  The  Church  of 
the  Redeemer  was  completed  in  1885,  through  the  gift  of  $2,000  from  a  lady  of 
Philadelphia:  and  also  Trinity  Church,  Lander,  in  1886. 

During  this  year  Mr.  Roberts  became  superintendent  of  the  Government 
school    and    busied    himself    superintending    a    household    of    eighty-six    Indian 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  493 

children.  In  1896  Mr.  Roberts  was  still  at  his  wonderful  ministry  of  blessing,  but 
now  in  charge  of  a  contract  school  of  twenty  Shoshone  Indian  girls. 

In  1898  a  beautiful  log  church  erected  by  the  labors  of  our  Indian  catechist, 
joint  translator  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  Roberts  of  a  mission  Service  Book,  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  called  the  House  of  Prayer,  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Talbot 
on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day. 

In  1899  Chief  Washakie  and  the  Shoshones,  with  the  consent  of  the  Govern- 
ment, gave  160  acres  of  land  one  mile  west  of  the  agency,  to  be  used  as  a  church 
school  and  mission  farm.  $7,000  were  spent  in  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings. 
In  these  buildings,  known  as  the  Shoshone  Indian  Mission,  Mr.  Roberts  has 
carried  on  a  church  school  with  some  fifteen  or  si.xteen  girls  in  constant  attendance. 
From  this  mission  has  gone  forth  all  the  spiritual  life  of  the  reservation,  and 
among  the  Shoshones  our  good  Evangelist  Moo-yah-vo  has  passed  on  Mr.  Robert's 
message,  both  in  word  and  through  a  goodly  example. 

During  Mr.  Robert's  heroic  work  among  the  Indians,  he  also  found  time  to  build 
St.  Thomas'  Church,  Dubois;  Trinity  Church.  Lander;  St.  Matthew's  Church, 
Hudson ;  St.  James'  Church,  Ri\erton ;  and  St.  Paul's  Church,  Milford,  besides  the 
churches  on  the  reservation. 

ST.  mich.^el's  mission 

Nothing  was  done  for  the  Arapahoes  by  the  church  since  their  arrival,  except 
what  was  accomplished  by  the  personal  services  of  the  Rev.  John  Roberts  whose 
primary  duty  was  to  the  Shoshones,  and  by  the  efforts  of  the  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
Sherman  Coolidge  whose  labors  are  beyond  praise,  until  St.  Michael's  Mission 
was  founded  through  the  generous  endowment  of  Mrs.  Baird  Sumner  Cooper  in 
1910.  This  mission  has  been  located  about  six  miles  east  of  the  Government 
school,  the  plan  calling  for  a  new  departure  in  Indian  education  and  development. 

THE   CONGREG.\TION.\L    CHURCH 

The  first  permanent  Congregational  Church  work  was  begun  in  Wyoming 
Territory  soon  after  the  survey  for  the  L'nion  Pacific  Railroad  reached  the  base 
of  the  Laramie  Mountains  and  the  Town  of  Cheyenne  had  been  located  bv  the 
railroad  company. 

Rev.  R.  T.  Cross,  an  early  historian,  speaks  of  Cheyenne  in  1867  "as  a  per- 
manent camp  established  in  the  desert,  with  no  gardens,  no  trees,  and  no  weeds." 

This  camp  was  located  on  Crow  Creek  at  what  was  then  the  terminus  of  the 
railroad,  near  the  site  of  the  City  of  Cheyenne,  and  was  known  by  the  opprobrious 
title  of  "Hell  on  Wheels." 

The  Methodists  were  the  first  to  begin  christian  work  in  this  embryo  frontier 
town.  They  were  followed  shortly  afterward  by  the  Congregationalists  whose 
preliminary  work  was  conducted  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  J.  E.  Roy,  D.  D., 
of  Chicago,  who  was  the  missionary  superintendent  for  the  Northwest  at  that 
time. 

Col.  J.  D.  Davis,  a  color  bearer  in  the  Civil  war,  and  a  graduate  of  Chicago 
Sem'nary,  was  the  first  commissioned  minister  sent  to  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  Terri- 


494  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

tory.  He  reached  his  field  and  began  work  June  6,  1869,  and  organized  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Cheyenne  the  next  Sabbath  with  thirteen  members. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  three  weeks  later,  the  first  communion  service  of  the  new 
church  was  held,  the  Methodists  uniting  with  them.  In  the  evening  a  Union 
preaching  service  was  held  in  the  theater. 

The  erection  of  a  Congregational  Church  edifice,  the  first  in  the  territory, 
was  begun  in  September,  1869,  and  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  December  of 
the  same  year.  Until  then  the  regular  Sabbath  morning  services  were  held  in  the 
schoolhouse. 

The  same  fall  the  pastor  and  his  wife  built  a  parsonage  with  their  own  hands, 
receiving  only  two  days  work  from  others. 

When  denominational  fellowship  meetings  were  planned  it  was  found  that 
the  nearest  Congregational  Church  to  the  East  was  400  miles  from  Cheyenne ; 
to  the  South  100  miles;  to  the  West  1,200  miles;  while  if  a  person  wished  to  take 
the  northern  route  he  would  be  obliged  to  travel  23.900  miles  to  find  a  church  of 
his  faith  and  order  with  which  to  fellowship. 

As  soon  as  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  to  Rock  Springs  a  Union 
Sunday  School  was  organized,  which  later  became  Congregational.  Fortnightly 
Congregational  Sabbath  services  were  held  in  the  schoolhouse  on  B  Street  where 
the  Sunday  school  had  its  home,  and  where,  on  the  evening  of  September  16, 
1871,  the  Congregational  Church  of  Rock  Springs  was  organized  with  nineteen 
charter  members.  Early  records  show  that  for  some  unexplained  reason  the 
church  rented  a  saloon  for  a  time  at  $50  per  month,  in  which  it  held  its  services. 
It  has  now  commodious  church  and  parsonage  buildings.  Rev.  George  L.  Smith 
was  its  first  pastor. 

Following  closely  the  line  of  the  newly  built  railroad  went  a  young  man,  a 
student  of  Grinnell  College,  Iowa,  with  full  purpose  of  heart  to  organize  Sunday 
schools  in  the  newly  opening  Northwest.  As  he  neared  the  western  boundary 
of  Wyoming  he  came  to  a  new  town  nestling  under  "Castle  Rock,"  while  a 
great  stone  face,  like  the  face  of  a  guardian  angel,  carved  on  the  rock  by  the 
hand  of  nature,  was  gazing  down  upon  the  hamlet  from  the  mountain  crest.  A 
large  sign  board  had  been  planted  in  the  center  of  the  village  bearing  this  in- 
scription in  large  letters:  "One  hundred  and  five  miles  to  South  Pass;  Three 
hundred  miles  to  Salt  Lake;  Six  inches  from  Hell."  As  he  stood  reading  this 
remarkable  production  a  man  approached  and  inquired  his  business  which  he 
willingly  told.  He  was  immediately  informed  that  a  man  had  been  shot  and  they 
would  like  to  have  a  real  funeral.  To  this  the  young  man  agreed  and  the  next 
day  went  to  the  saloon  where  the  body  lay  wrapped  in  a  gray  blanket.  He  began 
his  service  but  was  frightened  and  did  not  know  what  to  say.  Then  a  child  cried 
and  a  man  swore,  and  the  young  man's  senses  came  back  to  him,  and  he  said, 
"Don't  swear  like  that.  I'd  give  five  dollars  to  hear  the  child  cry  again,  it  sounds 
like  my  sister's  child,  and  I'm  homesick."  Then  he  preached  the  sermon  and  the 
people  said  "the  kid  did  mighty  well"'  and  gave  him  some  money  which  he  used 
to  buy  singing  books  and  supplies  for  a  Sunday  school.  Later  on  a  man  from  the 
East  drifted  into  this  town  and  inquired  for  a  church.  The  man  of  whom  he 
inquired  told  him  that  they  had  no  church  but  that  they  had  a  schoolhouse  and 
that  he  and  his  pard  were  nmning  a  Sunday  school  for  the  kids. 

"My  pard  is  in  there,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  saloon.     "I'm  waiting  for  him 


BAPTIST  CHURai,  EVANSTON 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCII,  EVANSTON 


496  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

now."  In  a  few  moments  he  came  out  and  they  went  to  the  schoolhouse  and 
held  a  session  of  some  sort.  When  they  were  ready  to  close  the  school  one  of 
the  men  said  to  the  other,  "Is'nt  it  time  to  close  this  here  thing  up?  I'm  getting 
awful  dry.  '  A  little  girl  repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Sunday  school  came 
to  a  summary  end.  Out  of  this  beginning  the  Congregational  Church  of  Green 
River  came  into  existence.     For  many  years  it  was  the  only  church  in  the  town. 

The  young  missionary  who  did  this  pioneer  work  went  from  there  to  the  next 
camp,  where  he  held  a  service,  preached  another  funeral  sermon,  and  comforted 
a  heart  broken  mother  to  whom  after  many  years  a  picture  was  sent  with  these 
words:  "We  thought  you  would  like  to  have  a  picture  of  the  man  who  started 
Christian  work  at  Green  River  and  preached  Sarah's  funeral  sermon — Newell 
Dwight  Hillis. 

Doctor  Hillis  's  now  one  of  the  most  noted  and  talented  preachers  in  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  but  he  never  did  a  greater  work  than  that  at  Green  River,  Wyo.,  and  when 
he  preached  Sarah's  funeral  sermon. 

Big  Horn,  the  oldest  town  in  Northern  Wyoming  nestles  close  to  the  base  of 
the  mountains  from  which  it  derives  its  name.  On  the  arrival  of  the  first  permanent 
settlers  they  found  a  long  low  log  house  and  stable  with  accommodations  for  twehty 
men  and  horses,  built  upon  a  beautiful  but  secluded  plateau  close  to  the  heavily 
wooded  banks  of  Goose  Creek,  which  proved  to  be  the  northern  rendezvous  of  the 
notorious  James  Brothers,  bandits,  to  which  place  they  retreated  when  hard  pressed 
by  the  officers  of  the  law.  They  usually  came  and  went  in  bunches  of  three  or  four. 
This  retreat  was  kept  in  readiness  for  them  by  a  darky  by  the  name  of  John 
Lewis,  and  Big  Nosed  George,  the  latter  a  cruel  faced  fellow  who  was  finally 
caught  and  hung  by  the  settlers  at  Miles  City.  Mont.,  for  robbery  and  murder. 

The  first  postoffice  established  at  Big  Horn  was  in  1879,  and  the  first  sermon 
was  preached  in  the  saloon  in  the  fall  of  1881,  a  curtain  being  drawn  across  the 
front  of  the  bar  during  the  service.  As  soon  as  the  schoolhouse  which  the  people 
began  to  build  in  the  winter  of  1881  was  completed,  the  Sunday  school  which  had 
been  organized  and  held  in  the  log  house  of  W.  E.  Jackson,  was  moved  to  it. 
When  this  was  accomplished  a  friend  of  the  Sunday  school  went  to  the  saloons 
and  gambling  houses  and  said :  "Boys !  The  people  are  trying  to  start  a  Sunday 
school  over  in  the  schoolhouse  and  they  need  some  help.  You  used  to  go  to  Sunday 
school  when  you  were  kids.  For  the  sake  of  those  good  old  times  let's  go  over 
and  help  them  out.  And  then  one  of  the  saloon  keepers  spoke  up:  "See  here, 
fellows,  this  saloon  will  remain  locked  until  that  thing  is  over,  and  remember  that 
nothing  less  than  cart  wheels  (silver  dollars)  goes  into  the  hat."  It  was  from 
this  beginning  that  the  Congregational  Church  at  Big  Horn  came  into  existence. 
At  an  early  day  a  mining  camp  was  started  in  the  eastern  part  of  Converse  County 
and  went  by  the  various  appellations  of  "Running  Water,"  "Silver  Cliff,"  and 
"Lusk."  It  soon  became  the  center  of  a  rich  mining  and  stock  raising  district. 
Gold,  silver,  copper  and  coal  were  mined  and  a  smelter  erected.  Like  many 
another  mining  camp  it  soon  grew  into  a  veritable  city  of  tents.  The  sale  of  lots 
at  Lusk  began  in  1886  and  in  two  months  the  place  boasted  of  forty  business 
houses  and  a  large  population.  In  May  of  the  same  year  Rev.  Harmon  Bross 
held  a  street  service  from  a  wagon,  and  afterward  in  a  church  tent.  From  this 
beginning  grew  the  Congregational  Church  of  Lusk,  now  a  strong  and  prosperous 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG  497 

organization,  well  housed,  and  with  a  complete  equipment  for  all  lines  of  church 
work. 

The  Town  of  Douglas  was  started  in  September,  1886,  and  in  one  month  had  a 
population  of  1.500,  with  twenty-seven  saloons,  two  dance  halls,  and  all  that  went 
with  them  to  make  up  a  typical  "Jumping  off  Place."  Today  Douglas  is  one  of 
the  model  western  towns,  the  home  of  many  wealthy  stock  and  sheep  men.  It 
was  for  many  years  reputed  to  be  the  richest  town,  in  proportion  to  its  population, 
of  any  place  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  states. 

The  first  religious  services  in  Douglas  were  held  in  a  tent  by  Reverend 
Mr.  Rankin  of  Denver.  Later  on  a  Presbyterian  Church  was  established  which 
afterwards  sold  out  to  the  Congregationalists.  This  church  has  grown  strong  in 
membership  and  influence  and  is  now  occupying  its  third  church  edifice,  built  of 
pressed  brick  and  modern  in  all  its  appointments,  ranking  as  among  the  finest 
buildings  in  the  state. 

Buffalo,  an  inland  town,  has  for  many  years  been  the  center  of  a  growing 
cattle  industry.  In  early  days  it  was  the  center  of  the  "Cattle  War"  which  gave 
Wyoming  an  unenviable  reputation.  The  town  was  located  on  Clear  Creek,  near 
Fort  McKenzie,  whose  protection  she  appreciated  in  the  early  days  of  her  history. 
It  was  in  this  town  that  the  Congregationalists  planted  their  second  church.  The 
building  was  erected  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  in  the  center  of  the  place  and  could 
be  seen  for  miles  in  all  directions.  It  is  known  as  "The  Church  on  the  Hill,'  and 
for  years  the  settlers,  the  country  over,  have  been  wont  to  bring  their  dead  for 
christ'an  burial.  The  church  has  recently  been  greatly  enlarged  and  modernized 
in  all  its  appointments. 

Sheridan,  Wyoming's  northern  metropolis,  has  grown  in  size  and  influence 
with  great  rapidity.  It  is  a  strong  competitor  with  Cheyenne  and  Casper  for 
first  place  in  Wyoming's  towns. 

The  Congregational  Church  was  organized  early  in  the  life  of  this  town  and  has 
held  a  strong  place  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  citizens  from  the  beginning.  This 
church  has  now  the  finest  church  edifice  of  any  in  the  state.  It  is  equipped  for  all 
lines  of  church  and  social  activity. 

The  organization  of  Congregational  churches  at  Dayton,  Wheatland,  Lander 
and  the  newer  towns,  followed  unceasingly,  until  now  the  Congregationalists 
number  seventy-five  churches  and  missions  that  they  are  caring  for  within  the 
.State  of  Wyoming.  But  few  of  the  churches  organized  by  the  Congregationalists 
have  disbanded,  though  a  few  have  been  discontinued  on  account  of  the  removal 
of  the  membership  to  other  localities. 

With  extremely  few  exceptions,  the  Congregationalists  have  not  established 
their  work  on  fields,  or  in  towns  where  other  denominations  were  at  work,  but 
almost  invariably  they  have  been  the  first  on  the  ground,  and  in  the  work  of  laying 
Christian  foundations  in  Wyoming  they  stand  second  to  none. 

Prior  to  January  i,  1900,  Wyoming  was  yoked  with  several  other  states  for 
missionary  purposes,  and  during  that  time  was  under  the  leadership  of  eight  dif- 
ferent superintendents. 

On  January  i,  1900,  Wyom'ng  was  made  a  district  by  herself  and  Rev.  W.  B. 
D.  Gray  was  appointed  its  superintendent  of  missions,  with  headquarters  at 
Cheyenne,  and  for  more  than  eighteen  years  he  has  had  full  charge  of  the  Con- 
gregational work  in  the  state. 


498  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  retiring  from  that  work,  which  he  has  voluntarily  and  insistently  done,  he 
closes  thirty-seven  years  of  missionary  service,  th-.rty-five  years  of  which  has 
been  consecutively  spent  in  the  superintendency  of  the  work  in  the  Dakota's  and 
Wyoming. 

Were  it  possible  to  write  the  early  history  of  the  Congregational,  as  well  as 
other  churches  of  Wyoming,  it  would  have  as  thrilling  a  narrative  as  Ralph 
Connor's  "Black  Rock,"  or  Owen  Wister's  "Virginian."  Indeed  the  real  "Virgin- 
ian" lived  at  Lander  for  several  years,  an  honored  officer  in  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  his  wife,  a  skilled  musician,  the  leader  of  the  choir  and  an  active 
church  member. 

The  experiences  of  the  missionaries  in  those  early  days  were  as  thrilling  as 
can  well  be  thought  of — when  one  remembers  that  for  many  years  the  railroad 
facilities  were  meager,  and  very  much  of  the  travel  was  accomplished  by  stage, 
through  the  valleys  and  over  the  mounta'n  ranges,  in  a  coimtry  so  sparsely  settled 
in  those  early  days,  that  in  long  drawn  out  rides  one  was  fortunate  if  he  met  a 
couple  of  cowboys  on  horseback. 

In  those  days  the  traveler  carried  his  bed  with  him,  and  when  he  came  to  a  house 
if  the  family  were  not  at  home,  he  would  most  likely  find  the  door  key  hanging 
in  pla'n  sight  so  that  he  could  go  in,  cook  a  meal,  and  make  himself  comfortable, 
but  it  was,  and  is  the  unwritten  law  of  the  mountains  and  plains,  that  the  unknown 
visitor  must  wash  his  dishes  and  leave  the  place  as  neat  as  he  found  it. 

Life  lived  on  the  boundless  silent  plains — the  matchless  scenery  that  is  met — 
the  freedom  and  greatness  of  it  all — the  vast  things  to  be  accomplished — made 
great  men  and  women  of  the  pioneers. 

Were  there  not  mountains  to  be  tunneled — railroads  to  be  built — wildness 
to  be  overcome — irrigation  ditches  made  to  traverse  the  plains  and  carry  water 
like  rivers  to  enrich  and  fructify  the  land?  Was  there  not  vast  wealth  in  coal 
and  iron — gold  and  copper — oil  and  gas,  to  be  discovered  and  utilized? 

Too  much  adm'ration  cannot  be  accorded  to  the  pioneers  of  Wyoming,  grand 
people  all  of  them.  Splendid  men  and  women  who  left  their  eastern  homes — bring- 
ing with  them  their  culture  of  school  and  church,  to  carry  out  God's  great  plan, 
and  found  a  new  commonwealth  under  the  shadow,  and  in  the  fastnesses  of  the 
Wyoming  mountains,  giving  of  themselves  unstintingly,  to  lay  a  glorious  founda- 
tion in  school  and  church  and  community  life,  that  nations  yet  unborn  may  be 
benefited  thereby. 

W.  B.  D.  G. 

THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHITRCH 

Methodism  began  in  Wyoming  about  fifty  years  ago.  In  the  city  hall  at  Chey- 
enne on  Sunday  morning,  September  20,  1867,  Reverend  Baldwin  of  Burlington, 
Colorado  Territory,  delivered  the  first  sermon  in  the  Methodist  faith  in  Cheyenne. 
In  fact,  it  was  preceded  by  only  one  other  sermon — ^that  of  a  Baptist  clergyman. 
After  the  sermon  a  Methodist  society  was  organized  by  Dr.  D.  W.  Scott,  a  prac- 
ticing physician  of  Cheyenne.  He  was  authorized  to  act  as  local  preacher  by 
Rev.  W.  M.  Smith,  P.  E.,  of  the  Denver  district.  A  Methodist  Sabbath  School 
was  organized  October  6,  1867,  with  the  following  officers:  Dr.  D.  W.  Scott, 
superintendent ;  Frank  B.  Hurlbut,  secretary ;  J.  W.  Hutchinson,  librarian  and 


BAPTIST  CHI  Kl  H,  LAHAMIi: 


FIRST    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHITRCH    AXD   PARSONAGE,   LARAMIE 


500  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

treasurer.  The  first  quarterly  conference  was  held  June  9,  1868 — W.  M.  Smith, 
P.  E. ;  Doctor  Scott,  pastor;  W.  D.  Pease,  leader;  Theodore  Poole,  steward;  and 
G.  S.  Allen,  local  preacher. 

The  public  schoolhouse  was  obtained  within  which  to  hold  church  services 
and  Sunday  school.  Rev.  A.  Gather  succeeded  Doctor  Scott  as  pastor  of  the 
Cheyenne  church  in  August,  1868,  and  during  his  administration  two  lots  were 
secured  for  a  church  building  on  Eighteenth  Street.  At  a  quarterly  conference 
held  February  21,  1870,  Rev.  J.  Anderson,  then  the  pastor,  offered  to  carry  on 
the  church  construction  and  so  he  was  appointed  financial  agent  and  superintend- 
ent of  construction  by  the  trustees.  By  the  middle  of  July,  after  many  difficul- 
ties, the  church  building  was  almost  completed  and  provision  was  made  to  cover  the 
entire  indebtedness.  The  building  was  dedicated  September  23,  1870,  by  Bishop 
Ames.  At  this  time  the  society  had  a  membership  of  nineteen.  During  the 
winter  of  1874  the  roof  of  the  church  building  was  blown  off  during  a  heavy 
storm,  which  necessitated  an  expenditure  of  over  one  thousand  dollars  for  re- 
pairs. 

At  the  General  Conference  which  met  in  New  York  in  May,  1888,  Wyoming 
was  made  a  mission,  having  before  been  a  part  of  the  Colorado  Conference.  At 
the  next  annual  conference,  which  met  in  July,  1888,  Reverend  Rader  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  position  of  mission  superintendent  of  Wyoming. 

The  dedicatory  service  of  the  present  church  building  in  Cheyenne  was  held 
March  25,  1894.  This  handsome  church,  at  the  corner  of  Eighteenth  Street  and 
Central  Avenue  had  been  started  in  1890  and  had  been  finished  under  the  burden 
of  many  difficulties.  At  various  times  since  the  dedication  improvements  have 
been  made  upon  the  structure. 

The  Wyoming  State  Conference  was  organized  at  Newcastle,  Wyo.,  Septem- 
ber 7,  1914,  Bishop  Edwin  H.  Hughes,  presiding.  At  the  third  annual  session  of 
the  conference  in  September,  1917,  it  was  shown  that  in  Wyoming  there  were 
thirty-eight  churches,  twenty-eight  parsonages,  and  a  total  of  4,478  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  the  Cheyenne  District  of  the  Wyoming 
State  Conference  there  are  societies  at  Carpenter,  Cheyenne,  Chugwater,  Doug- 
las, Egbert,  Evanston,  Hanna,  Hudson  and  Riverton,  Kemmerer,  Lander,  Lara- 
mie, Manville,  Pine  Bluffs,  Rawlins,  Rock  Springs  and  Wheatland.  In  the 
Sheridan  District  there  are  churches  at  Basin,  Big  Horn,  Buffalo,  Cody,  Cody 
Circuit,  Casper,  Clearmont,  Hyattville  and  Tensleep,  Garland,  Newcastle,  Powell, 
Sheridan  (charge  and  circuit),  Sundance,  Rozet  charge,  Torrington,  Thermopo- 
lis,  Upton,  Worland. 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

The  first  Baptist  Church  in  Wyoming  was  started  at  Laramie  City  several 
years  before  the  establishment  of  a  society  at  Cheyenne. 

On  September  21,  1877,  a  number  of  Baptist  residents  of  Cheyenne  met  in  the 
Congregational  meeting  house  and  organized  the  First  Baptist  Church  and  So- 
ciety of  Cheyenne.  There  were  twenty-one  constituent  members  upon  the  first 
membership  roll.  Articles  of  incorporation  were  filed  with  the  secretary  of  the 
territory  and  with  the  clerk  of  Laramie  County  on  December  11,  1877.  The  sig- 
natures of  S.  A.  Sturgis,  I.  C.  Whipple,  F.  E.  Warren,  J.  M.  Thayer,  J.  T.  Hoi- 


BAPTIST  CHURCH,  CHEYENNE 


rHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  CHEYENNE 


502  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

liday  and  C.  S.  Wells  were  appended  to  the  articles,  as  the  first  six  trustees.  The 
members  comprising  the  organization  were:  Ithamar  C.  Whipple,  Mrs.  C.  S. 
Wells,  C.  S.  Wells,  J.  T.  HoUiday,  S.  A.  Sturgis,  Mrs.  Emma  J.  Sturgis,  J.  L. 
.  Cabe,  D.  C.  Lusk,  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Lusk,  C.  S.  Bradbury,  Elizabeth  Wallace,  Mrs. 
Sidney  Davis,  Mrs.  Florence  J.  Gardiner,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Crook,  Mrs.  W.  W. 
Crook,  Marietta  Williams,  Mrs.  Esther  M.  Durbin,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Douglas,  Asa  C. 
Dobbins  and  Edna  J.  Leibey. 

After  the  organization  meeting  the  society  rented  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  rooms 
for  the  weekly  meetings.  Rev.  D.  J.  Pierce,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Laramie  City,  presided  at  the  organization  of  the  Cheyenne  Society  and  be- 
came its  first  pastor,  preaching  here  once  a  month.  On  January  i,  1879, 
Rev.  William  M.  Young  became  the  pastor  and  the  courtroom  was  secured  for 
the  services. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  church  November  22,  1877,  I.  C.  Whipple,  C.  L.  Wells 
and  S.  A.  Sturgis  were  appointed  to  investigate  the  cost  of  lots  and  a  church 
building.  However,  the  church  did  not  build  until  1880.  On  September  24th  of 
that  year  a  contract  was  let  for  the  construction  of  a  church  on  the  corner  of 
Eighteenth  and  Ferguson  streets  (Carey  Avenue).  The  second  church  building 
was  located  on  the  corner  of  Warren  Avenue  and  Nineteenth  Street  and  was 
constructed  in  1894.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  in  July  and  the  building  dedi- 
cated in  December  of  the  same  year. 

The  Sunday  school  was  organized  Januar}-  12,  1879,  in  the  courthouse,  with 
Prof.  C.  L.  Wells,  superintendent. 

In  the  Southeastern  Association  churches  are  located  at  Casper,  Cheyenne, 
Durham,  Chugwater,  Dwyer,  Evanston,  Gillette,  Hulett,  Jackson,  LaGrange,  Lusk, 
Rural,  Laramie,  Rock  Springs,  Sheridan,  Pleasant  Valley,  Douglas  and  Ucross. 
In  the  Big  Horn  Basin  Association  churches  are  at  Basin,  Burlington,  Greybull, 
Colter,  Gebo,  Lower  Shell,  Lucerne,  Manderson,  Meeteetse,  Neiber,  Otto,  Powell, 
Shell,  Thermopolis,  Worland,  Kane,  Lovell,  Lander  and  Riverton.  Out  of  this 
number  regular  pastors  are  located  at  Manderson,  Hulett,  Casper,  Sheridan, 
Meeteetse,  Powell,  Lovell,  Evanston,  Durham,  Gillette,  Glenrock,  Douglas,  River- 
ton,  Jackson,  Cheyenne,  Shell,  Laramie.  Basin  and  Rock  Springs. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
THE  COUNTIES  OF  WYOMING 

THE  TWENTY-ONE  COUNTIES ALBANY BIGHORN CAMPBELL CARBON CONVERSE 

—CROOK FREMONT GOSHEN HOT     SPRINGS JOH  NSON LARAMIE LINCOLN 

NATRONA NIOBRARA  PARK  PLATTE SHERIDAN  SWEETWATER  — 

UINTA WASHAKIE WESTON HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  EACH DATE  OF  ORGANI- 
ZATION  BOUNDARIES — EARLY  SETTLERS — TOPOGRAPHY — RESOURCES TRANSPOR- 
TATION FACILITIES POPULATION  AND  WEALTH,  ETC. 

Wyoming  Territory  was  created  by  the  act  of  Congress,  approved  on  July  25, 
1868,  and  the  Territorial  Government  was  organized  the  following  April.  There 
were  then  two  counties — Carter  and  Laramie — which  had  been  established  by  the 
Dakota  Territorial  Legislature,  and  which  embraced  practically  all  of  the  present 
State  of  Wyoming  east  of  the  iioth  meridian  of  longitude.  Charles  D.  Bradley, 
representative  from  Laramie  County  in  the  Dakota  Legislature  in  1868,  procured 
the  passage  of  bills  creating  the  counties  of  Albany  and  Carbon,  but  before  these 
counties  could  be  organized  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  came  into  existence.  The 
first  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wyoming  erected  five  counties^Laramie,  Albany, 
Carbon,  Sweetwater  and  Uinta — each  of  which  extended  from  the  northern  to 
the  southern  boundary  of  the  territory.  By  subsequent  acts  of  the  Legislature, 
these  five  counties  have  each  been  divided  and  new  ones  formed,  until  now  (1918) 
there  are  twenty-one  counties  in  the  state,  viz. :  Albany,  Bighorn,  Campbell,  Car- 
bon, Converse,  Crook,  Fremont,  Goshen,  Hot  Springs,  Johnson,  Laramie,  Lin- 
coln, Natrona,  Niobrara,  Park,  Platte,  Sheridan,  Sweetwater,  Uinta,  Washakie 
and  Weston. 

ALBANY  COUNTY 

The  Albany  County  created  by  the  first  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wyoming 
was  quite  a  different  county  from  the  one  bearing  that  name  at  the  present 
time.     Section  i  of  the  original  organic  act  provided : 

"That  all  that  portion  of  Wyoming  Territory  embraced  within  the  following 
described  boundaries  shall  be  known  as  Albany  County :  Commencing  at  Bufort 
(Buford)  Station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad;  thence  due  north  to  the  forty- 
fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude;  thence  west  along  said  parallel  to  the  eastern 
line  of  Carbon  County;  thence  south  along  said  eastern  boundary  line  of  Carbon 
County  to  the  forty-first  parallel  of  north  latitude ;  thence  east  along  said  forty- 
first  parallel  of  north  latitude  to  a  point  due  south  of  Bufort  Station,  and  thence 
north  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

503 


504  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  county  as  thus  estabHshed  included  all  of  the  present  County  of  Albany,' 
the  greater  part  of  the  counties  of  Converse  and  Campbell,  the  east  end  of 
Sheridan  and  a  strip  about  twelve  miles  wide  across  the  eastern  part  of  Carbon, 
Natrona  and  Johnson.  The  act  of  1869  also  appointed  the  following  officers  for 
the  county,  to  serve  until  the  next  general  election :  H.  Wagner,  Joseph  Mackle 
and  S.  C.  Leach,  county  commissioners;  J.  W.  Conner,  sheriff;  L.  D.  Pease,  pro- 
bate judge;  R.  S.  Kinney,  county  clerk;  Charles  Hilliker,  assessor;  S.  W.  Downey, 

prosecuting  attorney ;  James  Vine,  county  surveyor ;  Dr.  Foose,  coroner ; 

George  Van  Dyke,  justice  of  the  peace;  John  Barton,  D.  Shanks,  William  Carr 
and  George  Young,  constables.  The  county  commissioners  were  given  power  to 
fill  vacancies  in  the  various  county  offices,  the  appointments  not  to  extend  beyond 
the  next  general  election. 

The  county  seat  was  located  at  Laramie  City,  "until  removed  therefrom  by 
law,"  and  it  was  further  provided  that  the  act  should  take  effect  on  the  second 
Monday  in  December,  1869. 

Changes  in  the  boundaries  and  dimensions  of  Albany  County,  through  the 
formation  of  new  counties,  have  reduced  its  original  size  froin  14,904  square 
miles  to  4,401  square  miles.  It  is  now  bounded  on  the  north  by  Converse  County; 
on  the  east  by  Platte  and  Laramie;  on  the  south  by  the  State  of  Colorado,  and 
on  the  west  by  the  County  of  Carbon.  Near  the  eastern  border,  extending  the 
full  length  of  the  county,  are  the  Laramie  Mountains,  and  in  the  southwest  corner 
is  the  Medicine  Bow  Range.  Between  these  mountains  is  the  upper  valley  of 
the  Laramie  River,  which  furnishes  some  of  the  finest  grazing  lands  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  state.  The  county  is  rich  in  mineral  deposits,  Iron  Moun- 
tain, so  named  because  of  the  richness  of  its  ores,  when  first  developed  yielded 
85  per  cent  pure  metal.  Rich  copper,  silver,  lead  and  gold  mines  have  been 
opened  in  various  parts  of  the  county.  These  mines  are  described  in  the  chapter 
on  Wyoming's  mineral  resources.  A  few  miles  south  of  Laramie  are  the  famous 
soda  lakes  containing  millions  of  tons  of  pure  sulphate  of  soda.  Oil  has  been 
found  at  Rock  River,  Big  Hollow  and  along  the  Laramie  River. 

One  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county  was  Nathaniel  K.  Boswell,  who  came 
to  Wyoming  in  1868  and  settled  at  Laramie  soon  after  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road was  completed  through  Albany  County.  Mr.  Boswell  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
county.  In  1883  he  established  the  soda  works  near  the  deposits  that  he  had 
discovered  some  years  earlier.  These  works  were  afterward  sold  to  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company.  Mr.  Boswell  was  sheriff  of  the  county  for  nine 
years  and  was  then  appointed  deputy  United  States  marshal.  He  was  active  in 
breaking  up  the  gang  of  road  agents  that  operated  in  Wyoming  in  the  latter 
'70s,  robbing  stage  coaches  and  express  trains,  and  in  1883  he  was  elected  chief 
of  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers  Association  to  organize  a  force  of  men  and 
watch  the  branding  erf  animals,  etc. 

Robert  Marsh,  an  Englishman,  came  to  Albany  County  in  1868  and  was  for 
seven  years  mayor  of  the  City  of  Laramie.  He  also  served  as  county  commis- 
sioner and  as  a  member  of  the  school  board.  Thomas  Alsop,  another  English- 
man, settled  in  Albany  County  in  1868.  That  fall  he  discovered  the  coal  banks 
at  Carbon  and  during  the  winter  took  out  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
worth  of  coal.     In  1875  he  was  elected  one  of  the  county  commissioners. 


POSTOFFICE,  LARAMIE 


ALBANY  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  LARAMIE 


506  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Mortimer  N.  Grant,  a  native  of  Lexington,  Mo.,  came  to  Wyoming  with  a 
surveying  party  in  1869  and  located  in  this  county.  He  afterward  served  as 
auditor  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming.  Robert  E.  Fitch  came  to  this  county 
from  New  York  at  an  early  date  in  the  county's  history.  He  served  as  superin- 
tendent of  schools  and  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  the  first  State  Legislature. 
Ora  Haley  was  born  in  the  State  of  Maine  and  settled  in  Albany  County  in  1868. 
He  was  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  in  1871  ;  was 
a  member  of  the  council  in  the  legislative  session  of  1881,  and  was  one  of  the 
county's  representatives  in  the  first  State  Legislature  in  1890. 

Other  early  settlers  were  John  H.  Douglas,  J.  E.  Yates,  Michael  H.  Murphy, 
James  H.  Hayford  and  Otto  Gramm.  Mr.  Hayford  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
Second  Judicial  District  in  1895  upon  the  death  of  Judge  John  W.  Blake.  Otto 
Gramm  served  as  city  and  county  treasurer,  as  a  member  of  the  school  board 
and  in  the  Legislature,  and  in  1890  was  elected  the  first  state  treasurer  of 
Wyoming. 

Although  Albany  is  considered  one  of  the  small  counties  of  the  state,  its 
area  as  given  in  Rand  &  McNally's  Atlas  is  4,401  square  miles,  or  2,816,640  acres. 
The  principal  towns  and  villages  in  the  county,  with  their  population  in  191 5, 
are  as  follows:  Bosler,  75;  Buford,  80;  Foxpark,  100;  Hermosa,  182;  Laramie 
(the  county  seat),  4,962;  Lookout,  100;  Rock  River,  195.  According  to 
the  state  census  of  19 15  the  population  of  Albany  County  was  8,194,  and  in 
1917  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $15,585,603.  These  figures  show  the 
county  to  be  the  seventh  in  the  state  in  both  population  and  wealth.  Although 
the  state  census  of  1915  shows  a  decrease  in  population  of  3,380  during  the  pre- 
ceding five  years,  the  valuation  of  property  in  1917  was  $291,204  greater  than 
that  of  the  year  before,  indicating  plainly  that  the  county  lost  nothing  in  wealth 
through  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  inhabitants.  No  doubt  much  of  that  de- 
crease is  more  apparent  than  real,  due  to  the  different  methods  employed  by  the 
United  States  and  the  State  of  Wyoming  in  taking  the  enumeration.  The  state 
census  was  taken  by  the  county  assessors,  who  received  no  additional  compensa- 
tion for  the  work  and  consequently  could  not  reasonably  be  expected  to  exercise 
the  care  necessary  to  insure  an  accurate  enumeration.  This  hypothesis  is  sup- 
ported by  the  fact  that  in  1914  the  state  cast  6,951  more  votes  than  in  1910. 

The  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  enters  the  county  near  the  south- 
east comer  and  runs  in  a  northwesterly  direction  through  Laramie,  Howell,  Bos- 
ler, Lookout,  Rock  River  and  Wilcox  into  Carbon  County,  and  the  Colorado, 
Wyoming  &  Eastern  rung  in  a  southwesterly  direction  from  Laramie  into  Colo- 
rado. These  roads  give  the  central  and  southern  portions  of  the  county  good 
transportation   facilities. 

Stoc|<  raising  is  the  principal  industry.  In  1910  the  county  reported  35.068 
head  of  cattle,  150.000  sheep  and  7,000  horses,  the  value  of  the  live  stock  being 
then  estimated  at  $1,882,476.  Next  in  importance  comes  mining.  From  the 
earliest  settlement  of  the  county,  even  before  the  county  was  formed,  gold  placer 
mining  was  carried  on  in  the  gulches  in  various  parts  of  the  county,  but  no 
record  of  the  value  of  the  precious  metal  has  been  preserved.  The  Rambler 
Mine  at  Holmes  has  produced  some  of  the  richest  copper  ores  in  the  West,  and 
has  also  produced  platinum,  palladium  and  osmium.  Coal  measures  have  been 
profitably  worked  near  Laramie.     Other  mineral  deposits  are  gypsum,  graphite, 


508  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

mica,  kaolin,  natural  soda  and  cement,  asbestos  and  a  fine  quality  of  building 
stone.  Many  of  these  deposits  are  practically  untouched  and  the  value  of  the 
mineral  wealth  concealed  in  the  mountains  and  gulches  of  Albany  can  only  be 
conjectured. 

BIGHORN    COUNTY 

The  territol"y  comprising  the  present  County  of  Bighorn  was  originally  in- 
cluded in  the  counties  of  Carbon  and  Sweetwater.  When  created  by  the  act  of 
March  12,  1890,  it  contained  a  much  larger  area  than  at  the  present  time.  The 
boundaries  as  defined  by  that  act  were  as  follows : 

"Commencing  at  a  point  where  the  northern  boundary  line  of  Wyoming  Ter- 
ritory intersects  the  thirty-third  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Washington; 
running  thence  south  along  said  meridian  to  its  intersection  with  the  crest  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  or  Continental  Divide,  separating  the  waters  of  the  Yellow- 
stone and  Snake  rivers ;  thence  in  a  southeasterly  direction  along  the  crest  of 
said  divide  to  its  intersection  with  the  eleventh  standard  parallel  north ;  thence 
east  along  said  standard  parallel  to  its  intersection  with  the  crest  of  the  moun- 
tain range  dividing  the  waters  of  Wind  River  on  the  south  from  the  waters  of 
Greybull  and  Wood  rivers  on  the  north;  thence  along  the  crest  of  said  divide 
between  the  waters  of  the  last  named  streams  and  the  crest  of  the  divide  be- 
tween the  waters  of  Wind  River  on  the  south  and  of  Grass  Creek  and  Owl  Creek 
on  the  north,  to  a  point  on  the  crest  of  the  said  last  named  divide  at  the  head 
of  the  south  fork  of  Owl  Creek ;  thence  down  said  Owl  Creek  along  the  north 
boundary  of  the  Wind  River  or  Shoshone  Reservation,  to  its  intersection  with 
the  channel  of  the  Big  Horn  River;  thence  southerly  along  the  channel  of  said 
last  named  river  to  its  intersection  with  the  boundary  line  between  the  counties 
of  Johnson  and  Fremont,  as  now  constituting  the  same,  being  the  Hne  of  43°  30' 
north  latitude;  thence  east  along  the  said  line  of  43°  30'  north  latitude  to  its 
intersection  with  the  range  line  between  townships  41  north  and  ranges  85  and 
86  west;  thence  north  on  said  range  line  through  townships  41  to  51,  inclusive, 
to  the  crest  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  the  same  being  the  divide  between  the 
waters  flowing  into  the  Big  Horn  River  on  the  west  and  the  waters  of  Powder 
River  and  Tongue  River  on  the  east;  thence  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  fol- 
lowing the  crest  of  said  last  named  divide,  to  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  being  the  northern  boundary  line  of  Wyoming  Territory;  thence  west 
along  said  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

As  thus  originally  created,  the  County  of  Bighorn  included  all  the  present 
county  of  that  name.  Park  and  Washakie  counties  and  most  of  the  county  of 
Hot  Springs.  It  was  reduced  to  its  present  dimensions  by  the  creation  of  the 
three  above  named  counties  in  191 1. 

Section  2  of  the  act  creating  the  county  provided  that  commissioners  for 
organizing  it  should  not  be  appointed  before  February  i,  1892,  and  that  when  a 
petition  for  organization  should  be  presented  to  the  governor,  "there  shall  also 
be  presented  to  him,  before  he  takes  action  thereon  in  appointing  such  commis- 
sioners, proof,  by  affidavit  or  otherwise,  showing  that  the  counties  of  Fremont 
and  Johnson,  respectively,  will  have  left  within  their  boundaries,  respectively, 
after  the  complete  organization  of  said  Bighorn   County  an   assessed   valuation 


,^f-fCn^      (L>^'^^^-^^2''tL^ 


510  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  property  amounting  to  the  sum  of  $1,600,000,  and  in  Bighorn  County  to  not 
less  than  $1,500,000." 

Described  in  language  unencumbered  by  legal  phraseology,  Bighorn  County 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  State  of  Montana;  on  the  east  by  Johnson  and 
Sheridan  counties;  on  the  south  by  Washakie  County;  and  on  the  west  by  the 
County  of  Park.  Its  area  is  6J768  square  miles,  or  4,330,520  acres,  occupying 
the  great  agricultural  region  known  as  the  "Big  Horn  Basin,"  and  it  is  one  of 
the  rapidly  developing  counties  of  Wyoming.  Fully  80  per  cent  of  the  land  in 
the  county  is  available  for  farming  or  grazing  and  the  numerous  streams  furnish 
excellent  water  for  live  stock  and  for  irrigation.  About  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  some  eight  hundred  Mormons  came  to  this  county  from  Utah 
and  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  state  authorities  to  irrigate  18,000  acres. 
This  contract  was  carried  out  and  two  years  later  there  were  20q,ooo  acres  under 
irrigation.  In  1910,  the  year  before  the  county  was  divided,  official  statistics 
showed  that  Bighorn  had  60,000  cattle,  350,000  sheep  and  15,500  horses,  the 
total  value  of  these  animals  being  over  three  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars.  In 
horse  raising  it  led  all  the  counties  of  the  state  in  that  year  and  it  was  one  of 
the  three  highest  in  cattle  raising. 

There  are  large  areas  of  oil  lands  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  some  of  which  have 
been  developed  with  profit,  especially  near  Byron,  in  the  northwestern  part,  Bo- 
nanza, on  the  No  Wood  River,  and  near  the  Town  of  Greybull.  In  the  last  named 
field  the  wells  yield  gas  as  well  as  oil.  This  gas  has  been  piped  to  Basin,  the 
county  seat,  where  it  is  used  for  fuel.  The  oil  found  in  the  county  is  of  superior 
quality  and  commands  the  top  price  in  the  market  on  account  of  the  large  per- 
centage  of   gasoline  it  contains. 

The  Denver  &  Billings  Line  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railway 
system  runs  north  and  south  through  the  central  portion,  following  the  course 
of  the  Big  Horn  River.  The  principal  stations  in  the  county  on  this  road  are 
Cowley,  Frannie,  Basin  (the  county  seat),  Greybull,  Lovell  and  Manderson.  Ai 
Frannie,  in  the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  the  county,  a  branch  leaves  this  line 
and  runs  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  Cody,  Park  County. 

In  iQio  the  population  of  Bighorn  County  was  13,795  ^"^  the  assessed  valu- 
ation of  property  was  $15,942,567.  By  the  organization  of  three  new  counties 
the  next  year  both  the  population  and  assessed  valuation  of  property  were  de- 
creased. According  to  the  state  census  of  1915  Bighorn  reported  a  popula- 
tion of  6,815,  and  in  1917  the  property  valuation  was  $9,135,482. 

The  Bighorn  County  Farmers'  Fair  Association,  organized  some  years  ago, 
was  reorganized  in  1916  and  in  1917  conducted  the  "biggest  and  best  fair  ever 
held  in  the  county,"  attxa<rting  visitors  from  the  adjoining  counties.  A  new 
courthouse  was  completed  early  in  1918,  at  a  cost  of  $65,000. 

CAMPBELL    COUNTY 

Campbell  County  occupies  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Bellefourche  and  Little 
Powder  rivers,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state.  It  is  one  of  the  new 
counties,  having  been  created  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  February 
13,  191 1.  In  the  organic  act  the  boundaries  are  thus  described:  "Commencing 
at  a  point  on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  where  the  range 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  511 

line  between  ranges  68  and  69  west  intersects  said  boundary ;  thence  west  along 
said  northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  to  a  point  where  it  intersects 
the  line  forming  the  east  boundary  line  of  Sheridan  County ;  thence  southerly 
along  the  said  east  boundary  of  Sheridan  County  and  along  the  east  boundary 
of  Johnson  County  to  a  point  formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  said  east  boun- 
dary of  Johnson  County  with  the  north  boundary  of  Converse  County ;  thence 
east  along  the  said  north  boundary  of  Converse  County  to  its  intersection  with 
the  range  line  between  ranges  68  and  69  west ;  thence  north  along  said  range  line 
and  its  variations  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

The  county  was  named  in  honor  of  John  A.  Campbell,  the  first  governor  of 
the  Territory  of  Wyoming  when  it  was  organized  in  1869.  It  has  an  area  of 
over  four  thousand  square  miles,  much  of  which  is  well  adapted  to  stock  raising 
which  is  the  principal  industry.  The  territory  comprising  the  county  was  first 
made  a  part  of  Laramie  County  when  the  latter  was  created  by  the  Legislature  of 
Dakota  Territory  in  1867.  A  portion  of  it  was  included  in  Albany  County  by  the 
first  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wyoming,  and  in  1875  it  was  embraced  in  Crook 
County,  where  it  remained  until  erected  into  the  County  of  Campbell. 

The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  passes  through  the  central  por- 
tion of  the  county  east  and  west,  with  stations  at  Gillette  (the  county  seat),  Cro- 
ton,  Echeta,  Felix,  Kier,  Oriva,  Sparta,  Minturn,  Rozet  and  Wessex.  South  of 
this  railroad  the  country  is  sparsely  settled.  The  population  of  Campbell  in  191 5 
was  2,316,  and  in  1917  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $6,363,463.  It  is 
the  twentieth  county  in  the  state  in  point  of  population,  and  nineteenth  in  wealth. 

CARBON    COUNTY 

The  first  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wyoming  passed  an  act,  to  take  efifect  on 
January  i,  1870,  Section  i  of  which  provided:  "That  all  that  portion  of  Wyo- 
ming Territory  described  as  follows,  be  and  is  hereby  organized  into  a  county 
by  the  name  of  Carbon,  to  wit:  Commencing  at  a  point  one-half  mile  east  of 
Como  Station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  and  running  thence  due  north  to 
the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude ;  thence  west  along  said  parallel  to  the 
line  of  107°  30'  west  longitude;  thence  south  along  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Carter  (Sweetwater)  County,  namely  the  line  of  107°  30'  west  longitude,  to  the 
forty-first  parallel  of  north  latitude;  thence  east  along  said  parallel  to  a  point 
due  south  of  the  point  of  beginning ;  thence  north  to  the  place  of  beginning."' 

As  thus  created,  the  county  contained  all  that  part  of  Carbon  west  of  the 
line  dividing  ranges  79  and  80  west,  except  that  portion  lying  west  of  the  line 
107°  30'  west  longitude;  the  western  three-fourths  of  Natrona  County;  the 
greater  part  of  Johnson  and  Sheridan ;  and  a  strip  about  eighteen  miles  wide 
across  the  east  side  of  Bighorn  and  Washakie  counties.  The  boundaries  were 
adjusted  by  subsecjuent  legislation  so  that  parts  of  Albany  and  Sweetwater  were 
added  to  Carbon.  On  the  north  Carbon  is  bounded  by  Natrona  County ;  on  the 
east  by  Albany  County ;  on  the  south  by  the  State  of  Colorado ;  and  on  the  west 
by   Sweetwater  County. 

The  act  creating  the  county  provided  for  its  organization  by  the  appointment 
of  the  following  officers:  A.  B.  Donnelly,  E.  V.  Upton  and  Robert  Foot,  commis- 
sioners; George  Doyle,  sheriff;  William  R.  Hunter,  probate  judge  and  ex-officio 


512  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

justice  of  the  peace;  Thomas  J.  Williams,  county  clerk  and  register  of  deeds; 
H.  C.  Hall,  superintendent  of  public  schools;  Robert  Foot,  justice  of  the  peace 
for  the  Fort  Halleck  Precinct,  and  a  Mr.  Hinton,  justice  of  the  peace  for  the 
Carbon  Precinct.  The  county  seat  was  located  at  Rawlins  Springs  "until  removed 
according  to  law." 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  Carbon  was  Perry  L.  Smith,  who  came  to  Raw- 
lins Springs  in  1868.  He  was  elected  county  commissioner  at  the  first  election 
after  the  county  was  organized  and  was  twice  reelected,  serving  three  consecu- 
tive temis;  was  elected  county  clerk  in  1874;  served  in  the  legislative  sessions  of 
1879  and  1881,  and  was  territorial  auditor  during  Governor  Hale's  administra- 
tion. 

James  Prance,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1868,  when  he 
was  about  thirty  years  of  age.  In  1869  he  took  charge  of  a  branch  store  opened 
by  H.  C.  Hall  &  Company  at  Rawlins,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death  he 
was  identified  with  the  history  of  Carbon  County.  From  1871  to  1885  he  was 
postmaster  at  Ravvflins  and  served  several  terms  as  county  commissioner.  In 
1882  he  engaged  in  the  banking  business,  with  which  he  was  connected  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 

John  C.  Dyer,  discoverer  of  the  mineral  paint  deposits  at  Rawlins,  was  born 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  1845.  He  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1867  and  followed  the 
Union  Pacific  to  Rawlins.  There  he  became  associated  with  George  Ferris,  who 
discovered  the  first  mine  in  the  "Ferris  District,"  and  was  active  in  developing 
the  mineral  deposits  in  all  parts  of  Carbon  County. 

Isaac  C.  Miller  was  born  in  Denmark  in  1844  and  came  to  America  soon 
after  reaching  his  majority.  In  1866  he  located  at  Omaha,  but  after  a  short 
time  removed  to  North  Platte.  He  came  to  Rawlins  in  1870  and  the  next  year 
engaged  in  nuning  at  Hahn's  Peak.  After  about  two  years  he  began  raising 
cattle,  in  which  line  he  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  the  county.  Mr. 
Aldler  was  sheriff  of  the  county  from  1880  to  1884  and  in  1890  he  was  the 
democratic  candidate  for  state  treasurer  at  the  first  election  after  Wyoming  was 
admitted  into  the  Union. 

According  to  Rand  &  McNally's  Atlas,  the  area  of  Carbon  County  is  8,029 
square  miles.  The  surface  is  broken  by  mountain  ranges,  between  which  are 
rolling  plains  and  fertile  valleys,  the  altitude  varying  from  5,000  to  12,000 
feet.  In  the  north  are  the  Ferris  and  Seminoe  Mountains,  northeast  of  which 
is  the  Shirley  Basin.  In  the  southeast  are  the  Medicine  Bow  Mountains,  and 
the  Sierra  Madre  range  is  in  the  southwestern  part.  Between  the  two  last  named 
ranges  flows  the  Platte  River  with  its  numerous  small  tributaries,  forming  one  of 
the  best  stock  raising  districts  of  the  state.  In  1910  there  were  52,600  cattle, 
380,000  sheep,  and  10,450  horses  in  the  county,  valued  at  over  three  million 
dollars. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  live  stock  interests  comes  the  mining  industry. 
The  name  "Carbon"  was  given  to  the  county  on  account  of  its  immense  coal  beds. 
Some  of  the  most  productive  coal  mines  in  the  state  are  operated  by  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company  near  the  Town  of  Hanna.  The  output  of  the  Carbon 
County  coal  mines  in  1910  was  nearly  six  hundred  thousand  tons  and  since  then 
it  has  been  greatly  increased.  The  county  also  has  rich  oil  fields,  copper,  gold 
and  iron  deposits.     In  the  Ferris.  Seminoe  and  Shirley  ranges,  in  the  northern 


514  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

part,  the  amount  of  iron  ore  has  been  estimated  as  high  as  two  hundred  and 
fifty  million  tons.  Near  Encampment,  in  the  southern  part,  the  Rudefeha  copper 
mine  was  discovered  by  a  sheep  herder  and  after  being  only  partially  developed 
was  sold  for  $1,000,000.  It  was  then  capitalized  by  an  eastern  company  for 
$10,000,000  and  the  smelting  works  were  erected.  Other  valuable  mines  in  the 
Encampment  District  are  the  Rambler,  Battle  and  Copperton. 

The  Saratoga  Hot  Springs,  with  a  temperature  of  135°  Fahrenheit,  are 
located  in  the  Platte  \'alley.  The  waters  of  these  springs  contain  sulphur, 
salines  and  calcareous  salts,  closely  resenAling  the  famous  European  springs 
at  Carlsbad,  Marienbad  and  Aix  la  Chapelle.  Their  curative  properties  in  certain 
diseases  have  been  demonstrated,  and  the  location  of  the  springs,  surrounded 
as  they  are  by  mountains,  in  a  valley  where  the  streams  abound  in  trout,  is 
an  ideal  place  for  a  health  resort. 

In  1915  the  population  of  Carbon  County,  as  given  by  the  state  census,  was 
8,412,  and  in  1917  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $16,622,257.  It  is 
the  sixth  county  in  the  state  in  population  and  wealth.  The  main  line  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  crosses  the  county  east  and  west  a  little  north  of  the 
center,  and  the  Saratoga  &  Encampment  Railroad  runs  from  Encampment  to 
Walcott,  where  it  forms  a  junction  with  the  Union  Pacific,  hence  the  transpor- 
tation facilities  of  Carbon  are  above  the  average  of  the  Wyoming  counties. 

CONVERSE    COUNTY 

Converse  is  one  of  three  counties  created  by  the  Legislature  of  1S88  in  the 
passage  of  an  act  entitled  "An  act  making  divers  appropriations  and  for  other 
purposes."  It  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Moonlight  and  on  March  9,  1888,  was 
passed  over  the  governor's  objections  and  signed  by  John  A.  Riner,  president 
of  the  council,  and  L.  D.  Pease,  speaker  of  the  house.  The  section  of  the  act 
relating  to  Converse  County  was  as  follows : 

"All  that  portion  of  this  territory  described  and  bounded  as  hereinafter  in 
this  section  set  forth,  shall,  when  organized  according  to  law,  constitute  and  be 
a  county  of  this  territory  by  and  under  the  name  of  Converse,  to  wit :  Commenc- 
ing on  the  eastern  boundary  line  of  this  territory,  where  the  same  is  intersected  by 
the  forty-third  degree  and  thirty  minutes  of  north  latitude,  and  running  thence 
south  along  the  said  eastern  boundary  line  of  the  territory  to  the  township  line 
between  townships  thirty  and  thirty-one  north ;  running  thence  west  along  said 
township  line  to  the  eastern  boundary  line  of  the  present  County  of  Albany ;  run- 
ning thence  south  along  said  eastern  boundary  line  (of  Albany  County)  to  its 
intersection  with  the  seventh  standard  parallel  north ;  running  thence  west  to  the 
western  boundary  line  of  the  present  County  of  Albany;  running  thence  north 
along  the  said  western  boundary  line  of  the  present  County  of  Albany  to  the 
forty-third  degree  and  thirty  minutes  of  north  latitude;  and  running  thence  east 
along  the  said  forty-third  degree  and  thirty  minutes  of  north  latitude  to  the 
place  of  beginning." 

The  act  also  provided  that  the  county  should  be  a  part  of  the  first  judicial 
district,  should  constitute  the  ninth  council  district,  the  eleventh  representative 
district,  and  should  be  attached  to  Albany  and  Laramie  counties  to  form  the 
twelfth  representative  district. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  515 

As  established  by  the  above  act,  the  County  of  Converse  embraced  all  the 
present  county  of  that  name  and  the  County  of  Niobrara.  It  was  named  for  A. 
R.  Converse,  who  was  born  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  in  1842  and  came  to 
Cheyenne  in  the  fall  of  1867.  There  he  established  the  first  house  furnishing 
store  in  the  city.  Two  years  later  Francis  E.  Warren  became  a  partner  in  this 
business.  The  partnership  lasted  until  1878,  when  Mr.  Converse  retired  from 
the  firm  to  devote  his  attention  to  his  cattle  business,  having  opened  a  ranch  on 
the  Chugwater  in  1875.  He  organized  the  National  Cattle  Company,  of  which 
he  was  the  executive  head  until  1884,  when  he  disposed  of  his  interest  and 
organized  the  Converse  Cattle  Company,  with  a  range  on  Lance  Creek,  in  what 
is  now  Niobrara  County.  The  capital  of  this  company  was  $i,ooo,o<X).  Mr. 
Converse  was  treasurer  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  under  Governor  Thayer's 
administration.  He  died  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  in  New  York  City  on  June  9, 
1885. 

Converse  County  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  counties  of  Johnson, 
Campbell  and  Weston  ;  on  the  east  by  the  County  of  Niobrara  ;  on  the  south  by  the 
counties  of  Platte  and  Albany;  and  on  the  west  by  the  County  of  Natrona.  Platte 
County  also  forms  a  portion  of  the  eastern  boundary  of  that  part  of  Converse  sit- 
uated directly  north  of  Albany  County.  The  county  has  an  area  of  6,740  square 
miles,  or  4,313,600  acres,  much  of  which  is  irrigated  and  some  of  the  finest 
farms  in  the  state  are  in  this  county. 

Topographically,  the  county  is  made  up  of  the  spurs  and  foot  hills  of  the 
adjacent  mountain  ranges  and  of  rolling  plains  interspersed  with  numerous 
streams.  The  North  Platte  River  crosses  the  western  boundary  a  little  south 
of  the  center  and  flows  in  a  southeasterly  direction  until  it  leaves  the  county  near 
the  southeast  corner.  This  river  furnishes  most  of  the  water  used  for  irrigation. 
The  La  Prele  dam,  near  Douglas,  the  county  seat,  waters  about  thirty  thousand 
acres.  The  natural  bridge,  one  of  the  scenic  wonders  of  Wyoming,  spans  the 
La  Prele  Creek  a  short  distance  below  the  dam.  Near  Douglas,  the  county  seat, 
there  is  a  large  oil  field,  in  which  both  oil  and  natural  gas  have  been  found  and 
the  latter  has  been  used  for  both  fuel  and  lighting  purposes.  There  are  also  rich 
coal  de]X)sits  near  the  city.  The  finest  coal  west  of  the  Missouri  River  is  found 
in  the  Shawnee  Basin,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  this  county. 

The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  rail- 
roads follow  the  course  of  the  Platte  River  through  Converse  County,  the  former 
on  the  north  bank  and  the  latter  on  the  south  bank  west  of  old  Fort  Fetterman. 
The  principal  railroad  stations  are:  Douglas,  Careyhurst,  Fetterman,  Glenrock, 
Glencross,  Lockett  and  Shawnee.  The  population  in  1910  was  6,294,  which  in- 
cluded also  the  present  County  of  Niobrara,  which  was  set  oflF  from  Converse  in 
191 1.  In  191 5  Converse  reported  a  population  of  3,626  for  the  state  census.  The 
assessed  valuation  of  property  in  1917  was  $9,927,722.  Fifteen  counties  in  the 
state  reported  a  larger  population  in  191 5,  but  only  nine  showed  a  larger  prop- 
erty valuation  in  1917. 

CROOK    COUNTY 

This  county,  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  George  Crook,  was  created  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  approved  by  Governor  Thayer  on  December  10,  1875.  Section  i 
of  the  act  fixed  the  boundaries  of  the  county  as  follows :    "Commencing  at  the 


516  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

northeast  corner  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming;  thence  south  along  the  boundary 
line  between  said  territory  and  the  Territory  of  Dakota  to  the  forty-third  degree 
and  thirty  minutes  of  north  latitude;  thence  west  along  said  latitude  to  the  ic)6th 
meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Greenwich;  thence  north  with  said  meridian  to 
the  southern  boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Montana;  thence  east  along  said 
boundary  to  the  place  of  beginning;  Provided,  That  if  by  reason  of  any  treaty 
with  the  Sioux  tribe  of  Indians  and  any  act  of  Congress  any  part  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Dakota  shall  be  included  within  the  limits  of  this  territory,  the  same 
shall  form  and  constitute  a  part  of  the  aforesaid  county." 

Crook  County,  as  thus  established,  was  taken  from  the  counties  of  Laramie 
and  Albany  and  embraced  the  present  counties  of  Crook,  Campbell  and  Weston. 
It  was  reduced  to  its  present  dimensions  in  191 1  and  is  now  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  State  of  Montana ;  on  the  east  by  the  State  of  South  Dakota ;  on 
the  south  by  Weston  County;  and  on  the  west  by  Campbell  County.  Its  area 
is  a  little  less  than  three  thousand  square  miles  and  a  mean  altitude  of  about  four 
thousand  feet,  being  in  the  lowest  part  of  the  state.  It  is  therefore  particularly 
adapted  to  agriculture,  especially  as  it  has  an  average  annual  precipitation  of 
twenty-four  inches.  Y^ears  ago,  when  farming  in  many  parts  of  Wyoming  was 
unthought  of  without  irrigation,  the  farmers  of  Crook  County  were  gathering 
abundant  crops,  watered  only  by  the  natural  rainfall.  Wheat,  oats,  rye,  corn, 
garden  vegetables  and  small  fruits  can  all  be  raised  with  profit  in  this  county. 

Stock  raising  is  another  leading  occupation.  In  1910  the  county  reported 
76,175  head  of  cattle,  202,216  sheep,  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  counties  in  the 
state  in  the  number  of  horses,  the  value  of  live  stock  in  that  year  running 
well  over  three  million  dollars. 

Coal  measures  underlie  about  one-half  of  the  county.  The  best  developed 
mining  district  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Aladdin,  which  town  is  the  terminus  of  the 
Wyoming  &  Missouri  River  Railroad.  In  addition  to  the  coal  deposits,  gold,  sil- 
ver, tin,  copper,  lead  and  manganese  have  all  been  found  in  different  sections,  some 
of  them  in  quantities  that  could  profitably  be  worked  but  for  the  lack  of  transpor- 
tation facilities.  Besides  the  railroad  above  mentioned,  the  only  other  railroad  in 
the  county  is  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  which  crosses  the  southwest 
corner.  Kara  and  Moorcroft  are  the  stations  on  the  latter.  Sundance,  the  county 
seat,  is  located  southeast  of  the  center  of  the  county,  at  the  base  of  Sundance 
Mountain  and  near  the  source  of  Sundance  Creek. 

One  of  the  natural  curiosities  of  the  United  States  is  seen  in  Crook  County. 
It  is  a  basaltic  formation  rising  to  a  height  of  1.300  feet  above  the  surrounding 
country  and  is  called  the  "Devil's  Tower."  This  marvelous  freak  of  nature  is 
situated  on  the  Bellefourche  River,  a  little  west  of  the  center  of  the  county,  on 
a  reservation  set  apart  by  the  National  Government. 

In  1915  the  state  census  reported  a  population  of  5.1 1"  in  Crook  County, 
and  in  1917  the  property  was  valued  for  tax  puqxises  at  $17,337,235.  These 
figures  show  the  county  to  be  thirteenth  in  population  and  fourteenth  in  wealth 
of  the  Wyoming  counties. 

FREMOXT    COUXTV 

Fremont  is  the  largest  county  in  Wyoming,  having  an  area  of  almost  eleven 
thousand  square  miles.     On  ;\Iarch  5,  1884.  Governor  Hale  approved  an  act  of 


fr 


iL'XTV  coTTRTHui  .--i;.  '-l  m.)a: 


518  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  Territorial  Legislature  creating  Fremont  County  with  tlie  following  boun- 
daries: "Commencing  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Sweetwater  County;  running 
thence  south  on  the  western  boundary  line  of  said  county  to  the  boundary  line 
between  townships  26  and  27  north ;  thence  east  on  said  township  1  ne  to  a  point 
107°  30'  west  from  Greenwich,  being  the  western  boundary  of  Carbon  County; 
thence  north  along  the  said  line  of  107°  30'  of  longitude  to  its  intersection  with 
the  line  of  43°  30'  north  latitude,  being  the  southern  boundary  of  Johnson 
County ;  thence  west  along  said  line  of  43°  30'  north  latitude  to  the  Big  Horn 
River;  thence  down  said  Big  Horn  River  to  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  being  the  boundary  line  between  Montana  and  Wyoming;  thence  west 
along  said  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

If  the  reader  will  now  take  a  map  of  Wyoming  and  trace  the  original  boun- 
daries of  Fremont  County  as  above  described,  he  will  discover  that  the  county 
at  first  included  all  the  present  counties  of  Fremont  and  Park  and  that  of  Big- 
horn and  Hot  Springs  counties  lying  west  of  the  Big  Horn  River.  The  county 
was  named  for  Lieut.  John  C.  Fremont,  who  first  visited  this  section  of  Wyoming 
in  1842  and  ascended  the  mountain  that  bears  his  name,  located  in  the  western 
part  of  Fremont  County.  He  afterward  rose  to  be  a  general  in  the  Union  army  at 
the  time  of  the  Civil  war. 

The  act  creating  the  county  provided  that  it  should  remain  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Sweetwater  County  until  organized,  and  that  all  Indian  lands  within 
its  borders  should  become  a  part  of  the  county  when  the  title  to  said  lands 
should  be  extinguished.  A  further  provision  was  that  the  county  should  be 
organized  whenever  300  or  more  resident  taxpayers  petitioned  the  governor, 
who  should  appoint  three  commissioners  to  organize  the  county.  The  com- 
missioners appointed  to  conduct  organization  were :  H.  G.  Xickerson.  B.  F.  Low 
and  Horace  E.  Blinn,  all  residents  of  the  county. 

At  the  first  county  election  Robert  H.  Hall,  A.  J.  McDonald  and  Horace  E. 
Blinn  were  chosen  commissioners;  James  J.  Atkins,  sheriff;  and  James  A. 
McAvoy,  clerk.  Robert  H.  Hall  was  born  at  Sacketts  Harbor,  N.  Y.,  in 
1852,  and  came  to  Wyoming  about  the  time  he  reached  his  majority.  In  1877 
he  located  iii  Lander,  where  he  engaged  in  the  cattle  business.  Of  the  other 
early  commissioners  little  can  be  learned. 

James  J.  Atkins,  the  first  sheriff,  was  born  in  Wisconsin  in  1853.  He  came 
to  Dakota  Territon,^  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  A  little  later  he 
located  at  Lander  and  became  interested  in  stock  raising. 

James  A.  McAvoy,  the  first  clerk,  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1842  and  came  to 
Cheyenne,  Wyo.,  in  1868.  The  next  year  he  went  to  South  Pass,  where  for 
some  time  he  was  engaged  in  mining.  In  1873  he  settled  on  Willow  Creek, 
within  the  lines  of  the  Wind  River  reservation.  He  and  Samuel  Fairfield  later 
opened  the  road  from  the  timbered  lands  on  the  Popo  Agie  River  to  Lander. 

John  Luman,  who  was  the  first  cattle  raiser  in  the  county,  was  a  native  of 
Virginia.  He  came  to  Fort  Bridger  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  and  was 
there  employed  for  some  time  by  the  post  sutler.  He  then  settled  in  what  is  now 
Fremont  County,  where  he  held  several  local  offices. 

Another  early  settler  was  John  D.  Woodruff',  who  was  born  in  Broome 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  1847.  When  only  about  nineteen  years  of  age  he  joined  a 
company  of  emigrants  bound  for  the  West  and  a  few  months  later  was  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  519 

mining  district  near  the  South  Pass.  Young  Woodruff  became  well  acquainted 
with  the  country  and  acted  as  guide  to  Generals  Crook  and  Sheridan  when  the 
site  of  Fort  Custer  was  selected.  He  was  several  times  called  to  act  as  guide 
in  the  Indian  campaigns  that  followed  the  Civil  war. 

Maj.  Noyes  Baldwin,  one  of  the  best  known  of  Fremont  County's  pioneers, 
was  born  in  Woodbridge,  Conn.,  in  1826.  He  served  in  a  Connecticut  regiment 
during  the  war  of  1861-65,  where  he  received  his  title  of  "Major,"  and  soon 
after  the  close  of  the  war  came  to  the  Wind  River  Valley.  He  was  the  leader 
of  the  party  that  discovered  gold  at  the  South  Pass,  the  others  being  Henry 
Ridell,  Frank  Marshall,  Harry  Hubbell  and  Richard  Grace,  and  perhaps  two  or 
three  others.  These  men  founded  South  Pass  City  in  October,  1867,  the  oldest 
town  in  Fremont  County.  Major  Baldwin  was  engaged  in  trading  with  the  Indi- 
ans in  the  Wind  River  Valley  for  several  years  and  was  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers in  the  City  of  Lander. 

One  of  the  first  public  buildings  erected  in  the  county  after  its  organization 
was  a  jail.  By  the  act  of  February  15,  1886,  the  county  commissioners  were 
authorized  to  sell  this  building  and  use  tJie  proceeds  in  the  construction  of  a  new 
courthouse  and  jail,  the  balance  of  the  cost  of  the  building  to  be  raised  by  an 
issue  of  bonds  not  exceeding  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Topographically,  Fremont  County  occupies  the  "crest  of  the  continent."  The 
Wind  Ri\er  Range,  which  forms  part  of  the  great  Continental  Divide,  passes 
through  the  western  part  from  northwest  to  southeast;  in  the  southeasten  part 
are  the  Granite  and  Green  mountains  and  the  Antelope  Hills ;  and  along  the 
northeastern  border  are  the  Owl  Creek  Mountains.  Fremont  Peak,  the  highest 
mountain  of  the  Wind  River  Range,  has  an  elevation  of  13.570  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  Along  this  range  numerous  streams  find  their  source.  Those  on  the 
east  side  flow  into  the  Wind  River,  their  waters  ultimately  reaching  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  while  those  of  the  western  slope  flow  into  the  Green  River  and  find  their 
way  to  the  Pacific.  The  waters  of  a  number  of  these  streams  have  been  taken 
for  irrigation,  with  the  result  that  some  of  the  finest  irrigated  farms  in  the  state 
are  to  be  found  in  Fremont  County. 

The  county  is  rich  in  mineral  resources.  During  the  first  five  years  after  the 
discovery  of  gold  at  the  South  Pass,  about  seven  million  dollars'  worth  of  the 
precious  metal  was  taken  from  the  mines,  and  a  considerable  amount  has  been  taken 
out  since  that  time.  A  few  years  ago  improved  mining  methods  were  introduced 
in  the  gold  fields  of  this  section  and  ores  yielding  a  value  of  only  ten  dollars  per 
ton  have  been  developed. 

About  twenty  miles  south  of  Lander  there  is  a  large  deposit  of  high  grade  iron 
ore,  which  will  certainly  be  utilized  at  some  period  in  the  future,  when  the  pro- 
duct of  the  mines  can  be  transported  to  the  markets.  Other  valuable  mineral 
deposits  contain  sulphur,  alum,  high  grade  clays,  cement  and  fine  building  stone. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  oil  wells  in  Wyoming  were  sunk  in 
Fremont  County  and  called  the  attention  of  the  outside  world  to  the  vast 
possibilities  of  the  Wyoming  oil  fields.  The  county  also  has  a  large  area  of 
valuable  coal-bearing  lands,  but  the  development  of  the  deposits  began  only 
recently.  In  1910  the  largest  coal  camp,  located  at  Hudson,  a  few  miles  below 
Lander  on  the  Popo  Agie  River,  shipped  104,140  tons.     Since  then  the  shipments 


520  HISTORY  OF  WYO-MIXG 

have  been  greatly  increased,  the  coal  going  to  po'nts  along  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad  as  far  east  as  Omaha. 

Notwithstanding  the  mining  interests  are  of  importance,  farming  and  stock 
raising  are  the  leading  occupations.  In  1910  the  county  reported  32,460  head  of 
cattle,  378,000  sheep,  and  10,000  horses,  the  total  value  of  the  live  stock  in  that 
year  being  given  as  $7,864,000.  As  new  lands  are  constantly  being  brought  under 
irrigation,  the  agricultural  development  is  going  forward  at  a  rapid  pace. 

The  greatest  drawback  to  the  progress  of  Fremont  County  is  the  lack  of 
transportation  facilities.  The  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  which  runs  from  Lander 
down  the  Popo  Agie  \'alley,  and  the  Chicago,  Burl'ngton  &  Quincy,  which  traverses 
the  northeastern  part  of  the  county,  are  the  only  railroads.  \\'hen  one  stops  to 
consider  that  it  is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  across  Fremont  County ; 
that  the  county  is  about  nine  times  as  large  as  the  entire  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  that  it  has  only  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of  railroad  in  all, 
the  need  of  transportation  lines  may  be  readily  seen. 

In  1915  the  population  of  Fremont  County  was  9,633,  and  in  1917  the  assessed 
valuation  of  property  was  $12,985,999.  Of  the  twenty-one  counties  of  Wyoming, 
Fremont  stands  fifth  in  populat'on  and  eighth  in  the  valuation  of  property.  The 
principal  towns  and  villages  in  the  cpunty,  with  their  population  in  191 5,  are  as 
follows:-  Lander  (the  county  seat),  1,726;  Atlantic  City,  218;  Dubo's,  142; 
Hudson,  428;  Pinedale,  83:  Riverton,  803:  Shoshoni,  278;  South  Pass  City,  83. 

GOSHEN   COUNTY 

Goshen  is  one  of  the  new  counties  created  by  the  Legislature  of  191 1.  the  act 
creating  it  ha\ing  been  approved  by  Governor  Carey  on  the  nth  of  February  of 
that  year.  Section  i  provided:  "That  all  that  portion  of  the  State  of  Wyoming, 
bounded  as  hereinafter  in  this  section  set  forth,  is  hereby  erected,  created  and 
made  a  county  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  by  the  name  of  Goshen :  Commencing 
at  a  point  on  the  boundary  line  between  the  State  of  Wyoming  and  the  State  of 
Nebraska,  where  the  township  line  between  townships  30  and  31  north  intersects 
said  boundary  line,  and  running  thence  south  along  said  boundary  line  between 
the  State  of  Wyoming  and  the  State  of  Nebraska  to  the  township  line  between 
townships  18  and  19  north;  thence  west  on  said  township  line  to  the  section  line 
between  sections  33  and  34.  in  township  19  north,  range  65  west  of  the  si.xth 
principal  meridian ;  thence  north  along  the  middle  section  line  of  range  65  to  its 
intersection  with  the  north  boundary  line  of  Laramie  County;  thence  east  along 
said  county  boundary  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

The  act  further  provided  that  when  the  county  was  organized  it  should  be  a 
part  of  the  first  judicial  district,  and  that  it  should  be  attached  to  Laramie  County, 
from  which  it  was  taken,  for  Legislative  purposes.  Goshen  County  is  about 
thirty  miles  wide  and  a  little  over  seventy  miles  long.  It  contains  nearly  twenty- 
two  hundred  square  miles  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Niobrara  County;  on  the 
east  by  the  State  of  Nebraska ;  on  the  south  by  Laramie  County,  and  on  the  west 
by  the  counties  of  Laramie  and  Platte.  The  North  Platte  River  enters  the  county 
from  the  west,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  northwest  corner,  and  flows  in  a 
southeasterly  direction  until  it  crosses  the  state  line  into  Nebraska.  Along  this 
stream  there  are  about  fifty  thousand  acres  of  irrigated  lands,  and  in  the  county 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  521 

there  are  some  thirty-five  thousand  acres  upon  which  dry  farming  is  carried  on 
successfully.  The  state  owns  an  experimental  farm  near  Torrington,  the  county 
seat  of  Goshen,  where  tests  are  made  of  pasture  grasses  and  grains  and  methods 
of  feeding  live  stock  are  demonstrated.    This  farm  was  established  in  191 5. 

The  United  States  Reclamation  Service  has  established  in  Goshen  County  one 
of  the  greatest  irrigation  enterprises  in  the  West,  the  Government  dam  at  Whalen 
being  the  initial  point  of  the  Interstate  canal  on  the  north  side  of  the  Platte  River 
and  the  Laramie  Canal  on  the  south  side.  Both  these  canals  run  into  Nebraska, 
water'ng  in  Goshen  County  alone  100,000  acres  of  land  and  a  much  larger  area  in 
Nebraska.  The  combined  length  of  the  two  canals  is  250  miles  and  the  cost  was 
about  ten  million  dollars.  The  cost  of  the  Whalen  dam  was  over  one  million 
dollars.  The  Fort  Laramie  Canal  was  nearly  completed  during  the  season  of 
IQ18  and  water  is  supplied  by  this  canal  to  the  Goshen  Hole  settlers.  The  Inter- 
state Canal  was  completed  in  1915. 

.\lthough  one  of  the  smaller  counties  of  AX'yoming.  Goshen  takes  high  rank- 
in  the  production  of  live  stock.  In  191 7  there  were  40.563  head  of  cattle  assessed 
for  taxation,  over  twelve  thousand  hogs,  some  sheep  and  horses,  the  total  value 
of  domestic  animals  in  the  county  amounting  to  over  two  million  dollars,  or  about 
one-third  of  the  total  assessment. 

Along  the  north  bank  of  the  Platte  River  runs  the  Lincoln  &  Billings  di\ision 
of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railway  system,  and  the  most  densely 
populated  part  of  the  county  's  along  the  line  of  the  railroad.  Torrington.  the 
county  seat,  is  situated  on  this  railroad  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county.  Other 
important  railway  stations  are  Lingle,  Fort  Laramie,  \'aughn  and  Whalen.  Fort 
Laramie  is  situated  on  the  old  Fort  Laramie  military  reservation  in  the  western 
part,  where  many  of  the  stirring  scenes  of  \A'yoming's  early  days  were  enacted. 

In  1915  Goshen  County  reported  a  population  of  5,035,  and  in  1917  the 
assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $6,062,773,  ^^  increase  of  $757,977  over  that 
of  the  preceding  year.  \\'hile  thirteen  counties  of  the  state  reported  larger 
population,  and  nineteen  showed  a  larger  valuation  of  property  in  1917,  only  five 
showed  a  greater  percentage  of  increase  in  the  taxable  property.  In  1916  the 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  reported  fiftv-fi\e  schoolhouses  and  eighty-nine 
teachers  in  Goshen  County,  and  the  commissioners  have  recently  completed  a 
$40,000  courthouse,  which  was  paid  for  entirely  by  contribut'ons  from  the  citizens. 

HOT   SPRINGS   COUNTY 

The  County  of  Hot  Springs,  the  smallest  of  the  State  of  W^yoming,  is  situated 
northwest  of  the  center  of  the  state  in  the  valley  of  the  Big  Horn  River.  It 
was  created  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  by  Governor  Carey  on  Febru- 
ary 9,  1911,  with  the  most  irregular  boundaries  of  any  county  in  the  state,  over 
a  page  of  the  statutes  being  necessary  to  record  the  legal  and  technical  description 
of  the  boundary  lines.  Generally  speaking,  it  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Park 
and  AA'ashakie  counties:  on  the  east  by  Washakie;  on  the  south  and  southwest 
by  Fremont ;  and  on  the  west  by  Park.  The  county  takes  its  name  from  the  Big 
Horn  Hot  Springs,  located  on  a  state  reservation  a  little  east  of  the  center  of  the 
county,  and  the  territory  of  which  it  is  composed  was  taken  from  the  counties  of 
Fremont,  Bighorn  and  Park. 


522  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

The  springs  from  which  the  county  derives  its  name  were  long  known  to  the 
Indians  as  possessing  curative  properties  in  certain  diseases,  and  they  are  believed 
by  physicians  who  have  examined  and  tested  the  waters  to  be  the  greatest 
medicinal  springs  in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world,  in  cases  of  rheumatism, 
kidney  trouble,  blood  diseases  and  eruptions  of  the  skin.  The  largest  spring  flows 
over  eighteen  million  gallons  of  water  daily,  with  a  temperature  of  135°  Fahren- 
heit. Jim  Bridger  was  probably  the  first  white  man  to  bathe  in  the  waters  of 
these  now  noted  springs.  The  old  Bridger  Trail  from  Fort  Fetterman  to  the 
Alontana  gold  fields  crossed  the  Big  Horn  River  at  the  mouth  of  Owl  Creek,  five 
or  six  miles  below  the  springs  and  the  trans,  for  which  Bridger  was  the  guide, 
used  to  leave  the  trail  at  the  ford  and  spend  a  few  days  at  the  hot  springs,  while 
their  horses  recruited  on  the  luxuriant  grass  of  the  surrounding  glades.  Subse- 
quently cowboys  built  some  rude  bath  houses  and  sometimes  wintered  there.  But 
it  was  not  until  the  completion  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ou'ncy  Railroad  that 
the  springs  began  to  be  widely  known. 

Years  before  Hot  Springs  County  was  organized,  cattle  men  drove  their  herds 
into  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  and  the  industry  still  flourishes  in  the  county.  During  the 
year  1917  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  carloads  of  cattle  were  sh'pped  from 
the  stations  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad  to  the  markets  at 
Omaha  and  Chicago.  Sheep  also  are  raised  in  large  numbers,  so  that  it  may  be 
said  that  the  live  stock  business  is  the  leading  one  of  the  county. 

Rich  coal  fields  have  been  opened  at  Gebo,  near  the  northern  boundary,  at 
Crosby,  a  short  distance  southeast  of  Gebo,  the  Ray  Alines  twelve  miles  northeast 
of  Thermopolis,  the  Hoyt  iMines,  sixteen  miles  northwest  of  Thermopolis,  and 
there  are  large  coal  deposits  on  Owl  Creek  and  Cottonwood  Creek  that  have 
not  been  touched.  The  Gebo  Mines  shipped  300,000  tons  during  the  year  191 7. 
Short  spurs  of  railroad  have  been  built  from  the  main  line  to  the  mines  at  Gebo 
and  Crosby. 

This  county  was  the  scene  of  remarkable  oil  discoveries  in  1917,  and  so  rapid 
was  the  development  that  a  pipe  line  was  constructed  and  a  local  syndicate  entered 
into  a  contract  to  deliver  500,000  barrels  of  oil  from  the  Warm  Springs  Dome  near 
Thermopolis  to  the  Midwest  Refining  Company.  Early  in  1918  scores  of  wells 
were  being  sunk  in  dififerent  oil  domes  of  the  county,  which  was  then  recognized 
as  being  one  of  the  great  oil  producing  sections  of  the  state. 

The  population  of  Hot  Springs  County  in  191 5  is  given  in  the  state  census 
reports  as  3,191,  and  in  1917  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $6,591,102, 
an  increase  over  the  assessment  of  the  preceding  year  of  $1,751,461.  This  was 
the  largest  proportionate  increase  reported  by  any  county  in  Wyoming,  being 
almost  37  per  cent.  Thermopolis,  the  county  seat,  is  the  only  incorporated  town 
in  the  county.  Along  the  l"ne  of  the  railroad  are  located  Alinnesela,  Lucerne  and 
Kirby,  all  thriving  villages,  and  the  mining  towns  of  Gebo  and  Crosby  are  both 
lively  places. 

JOHNSON   COUNTY 

On  December  8,  1875,  Gov.  John  M.  Thayer  approved  an  act  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature  creating  a  new  county  from  the  northern  part  of  Albany  and  Carbon 
counties,  to  wit: 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  523 

"All  that  part  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  bounded  and  described  as  follows, 
shall  be  erected  into  a  county  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  Pease,  as  hereinafter 
prov'ded:  Commencing  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Crook  County;  thence  south 
along  the  western  boundary  line  of  said  county  to  the  southwest  corner  thereof; 
thence  west  along  the  line  of  43°  30'  north  latitude  to  the  Big  Horn  River;  thence 
down  the  latter  stream  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Montana; 
thence  east  along  said  boundary  line  to  the  place  of  beginning:  Provided,  That  all 
the  country  embraced  within  the  limits  of  boundaries  of  said  county,  shall,  for 
judic'al  and  all  other  purposes,  remain  and  constitute,  as  now.  part  of  the  counties 
from  which  the  same  is  proposed  to  be  taken,  respectively,  until  organized  as  here- 
inafter provided." 

The  original  boundaries  of  the  county  included  the  present  counties  of  John- 
son and  Sheridan,  and  that  portion  of  the  counties  of  Bighorn.  Hot  Springs  and 
Washakie  ly'ng  east  of  the  Big  Horn  River.  At  the  time  the  county  was  created 
by  the  Legislature  there  were  not  more  than  a  score  of  white  people  living  within 
its  limits.  During  the  winter  of  1875-76,  the  Sioux  Indians  were  constantly  com- 
mitting depredations  upon  the  frontier  settlements.  The  campaigns  of  Generals 
Crook.  Terry.  Custer  and  G'bbon  in  1876  improved  the  conditions  and  in  the 
spring  of  1877  the  Indians  were  made  to  retire  to  their  reservation.  Then  the 
actual  settlement  of  the  county  was  begun. 

To  Elias  N.  Snider  is  given  the  credit  of  being  the  first  permanent  settler  in 
Johnson  County.  He  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1842  and  in  1877  became  the  post  trader 
at  Fort  McKinney.  near  the  present  City  of  Buffalo.  About  two  years  later  he 
acquired  a  tract  of  land  and  engaged  -'n  farming  and  cattle  raising. 

Maj.  B.  J.  Hart  came  soon  after  Mr.  Snider  and  took  a  claim  where  Buffalo 
now  stands.  He  was  elected  the  first  probate  judge  when  the  county  was  organized 
and  later  was  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  Legislature. 

Stephen  T.  Farwell  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace  before  the  organization 
of  the  county.  He  aided  in  organizing  the  county  in  1881  and  in  1884  he  was 
elected  probate  judge  to  succeed  Major  Hart.  When  Wyoming  was  admitted 
into  the  L'nion  -n  1890,  Mr.  Farwell  was  elected  the  first  superintendent  of  public 
instruction. 

Frank  M.  Canton,  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  early  settlers,  was  born  in 
Mrginia  in  1854.  When  about  fourteen  years  of  age  he  went  with  his  parents 
to  Colorado.  A  few  years  later  he  entered  the  employ  of  William  Jamison,  of 
Montana,  as  a  cowboy,  and  -n  1877  he  came  to  Wyoming,  first  locating  in  Cheyenne, 
but  soon  after  in  Pease  (now  Johnson)  County.  As  a  detective  for  the  Wyoming 
Stockgrowers  Association  he  arrested  a  number  of  horse  and  cattle  thieves,  some 
of  them  "bad  men."  and  in  1882  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  Johnson  County. 

The  first  white  woman  to  settle  in  the  county  was  Mrs.  Alice  D.  Foster,  who 
came  to  W'yoming  with  her  husband  in  1878.  settling  on  a  claim  where  Fort 
Phil'p  Kearny  formerly  stood,  near  the  northern  boundary  of  the  county.  Mrs. 
Foster  died  at  Phoenix.  Ariz.,  in  April.  1918.  She  was  a  sister  of  Hiram  Davidson, 
of  Cheyenne 

The  act  c»eating  the  county  provided  that  it  should  not  be  organized  until  five 
hundred  or  more  qualified  voters,  residing  therein,  should  petit-'on  the  governor 
to  appoint  commissioners  for  that  purpose.  By  the  Act  of  December  13,  1879.  the 
name  of  the  county  was  changed  from  Pease  to  Johnson,  in  honor  of  Edward  P. 


524  HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG 

Johnson,  United  States  attorney  for  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  for  several  years, 
whose  death  occurred  in  October  before  the  change  of  name  of  the  county.  In 
March,  1881,  Governor  Hoyt  appointed  commissioners  and  the  county  was  organ- 
ized accord'ng  to  law. 

On  March  5,  1884,  the  governor  of  the  territory  approved  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature authorizing  the  county  commissioners  of  Johnson  to  purchase  or  receive  by 
donation  a  site  in  Buflfalo  for  a  courthouse  and  jail,  and  to  issue  bonds  in  any 
amount  not  exceeding  thirty  thousand  dollars,  bear'ng  not  more  than  8  per  cent 
interest,  for  the  erection  of  the  building,  at  the  same  time  levy  a  tax  of  two  mills 
on  the  dollar  for  the  purpose  of  pay'ng  the  principal  and  interest.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act  the  courthouse  was  erected. 

Johnson  County  is  s'tuated  northeast  of  the  center  of  the  state.  It  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  Sheridan  County :  on  the  east  by  Campbell;  on  the  south  by  Con- 
verse and  Natrona ;  and  on  the  west  by  Bighorn  and  Washakie.  According 
to  Rand  &  McNally's  Atlas,  the  area  is  4,175  square  miles.  It  is  watered  by  the 
Powder  River  and  its  tributaries,  which  have  been  used  to  some  extent  for  irriga- 
tion purposes.  Coal  of  a  fine  qualty  is  mined  in  large  quantities  about  a  mile  from 
Bufifalo,  and  there  are  deposits  of  oil.  gold,  silver  and  quicksilver  within  the 
county,  but  the  principal  industry  is  stock  raising,  many  cattle,  sheep  and  horses 
and  some  hogs  being  exported  every  year. 

The  Wyoming  Ra'lroad  is  the  only  one  in  the  county.  It  runs  from  ButTalo 
to  Clearmont,  Sheridan  County,  where  it  connects  with  the  Chicago.  Burlington  & 
Quincy.  Buffalo  is  the  county  seat  and  principal  town.  Other  towns  and  villages 
of  importance  are  Barnum,  Kaycee,  Kearney,  Mayoworth,  Trabing  and  Watt.  In 
1915  the  population  was  3,238,  and  in  1917  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was 
$7,272,918.  an  -ncrease  of  over  10  per  cent  above  the  assessment  of  1916.  Johnson 
stands  eighteenth  of  the  counties  of  the  state  in  population  and  fifteenth  in  wealth. 

LAR.\MIE   COUNTY 

Laramie  County  occupies  the  southeast  corner  of  the  state.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  counties  of  Platte  and  Goshen ;  on  the  east  by  the  State  of  Ne- 
braska ;  on  the  south  by  the  State  of  Colorado  ;  and  on  the  west  by  Albany  County. 
It  is  sixty-four  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west,  and  its  greatest  width  from 
north  to  south  is  about  forty-five  m'les,  giving  it  an  area  of  a  little  less  tlian  three 
thousand  square  miles.  This  county  was  first  created  by  the  Dakota  Legislature, 
the  governor  of  that  territory  approving  the  act  on  January  9.  1867.  When  thus 
established,  Laramie  County  included  all  the  present  state  of  Wyoming,  except 
the  triangle  west  of  the  Continental  Divide  and  north  of  the  northern  boundary 
of  Sweetwater  County. 

On  Friday,  September  27,  1867.  the  settlers  in  the  county  met  at  the  c'ty  hall 
in  Cheyenne  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  the  county  organization.  H.  M.  Hook 
was  called  upon  to  preside  and  James  R.  Whitehead  was  chosen  secretary.  A 
resolution  was  adopted  that  the  boundaries  of  Laramie  County  "be  the  same  as 
those  established  by  an  act  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Dakota  Territory, 
approved  January  9,    1867." 

W.  L.  Kuykendall,  L.  L.  Bedell  and  Thomas  J.  Street  were  appointed  a  com- 
nr'ttee  to  divide  the  county   into   three  election  precincts,  and  an   election  was 


526  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ordered  to  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  October  for  county  officers,  two 
representatives  to  the  Dakota  Legislature,  a  delegate  to  Congress,  and  to  locate 
the  county  seat.  At  the  election  on  October  8,  1867,  J.  S.  Casement  received 
a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  for  delegate ;  J.  R.  Whitehead  and  Charles  D. 
Bradley  were  elected  representatives ;  C.  L.  Howell  and  M.  H.  Hissman  and  W.  L. 
Hopkins,  county  commissioners;  W.  L.  Kuykendall.  probate  judge;  Thomas  J. 
Street,  district  attorney;  D.  J.  Sweeney,  sheriff;  J.  H.  Creighton,  register  of 
deeds:  L.  L.  Bedell,  treasurer;  James  Irwin,  coroner;  J.  H.  G'ldersleeve,  superin- 
tendent of  schools;  F".  Landberg,  surveyor.  Nineteen  hundred  votes  were  cast 
and  Cheyenne  was  declared  the  county  seat  by  a  substantial  majority. 

In  the  fall  of  1867  the  miners  about  the  South  Pass  and  the  settlers  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Fort  Bridger  organized  a  county,  to  which  they  gave  the  name 
of  Carter.  The  boundaries  of  this  county  were  not  definitely  fixed,  and  even 
if  they  had  been  ever  so  carefully  described,  the  organizers  of  the  county  could 
not  have  enforced  their  declaration,  as  they  were  acting  without  the  authority 
of  law.  However,  the  Dakota  Legislature  recognized  the  county  by  an  act 
approved  on  December  2-,  1867.  Messrs.  Bradley  and  Whitehead,  the  repre- 
sentatives from  Laramie  County,  succeeded  in  securing  the  passage  of  a  supple- 
mentary act  (approved  on  January  3,  1868)  fixing  the  western  boundary  oi 
Laram'e  County  at  the  one  hundred  and  seventh  meridian  of  longitude  west  from 
Greenwich. 

The  supplementary  act  also  named  new  county  officers,  to  wit :     Benjamin 

Ellinger,  P.  McDonald  and Beals,  county  commissioners;  J.  L.  Laird, 

sheriff;  William  L.  ]\Iorris,  recorder;  W.  L.  Kuykendall,  probate  judge;  J.  H. 
Gildersleeve,  superintendent  of  schools;  S.  H.  Winsor,  surveyor;  John- 
son, coroner ;  A.  B.  Moore  and  A.  W.  Brown,  justices  of  the  peace ;  F.  Masterson, 
constable.  These  officials  remained  in  office  unt'l  after  the  territorial  government 
of  Wyoming  went  into  effect. 

Laramie  County,  as  established  by  this  act,  extended  from  the  one  hundred 
and  fourth  to  the  one  hundred  and  seventh  meridians  of  longitude  west  from 
Greenwich,  and  from  the  forty-first  to  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 
It  included  the  present  counties  of  Laramie,  Albany,  Goshen,  Platte,  Converse, 
Niobrara,  Weston,  Campbell  and  Crook,  the  eastern  two-thirds  of  Sher-dan, 
Natrona  and  Carbon,  and  nearly  all  of  Johnson. 

The  first  Legislature  of  Wyoming  Territory  was  convened  on  October  12, 
1869.  During  the  session  Governor  Campbell  approved  acts  creating  five  coun- 
ties, one  of  which  was  Laramie.  The  western  boundary  was  then  fixed  where 
it  is  at  the  present  time,  but  it  extended  from  the  northern  to  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  state.  The  act  took  effect  on  December  13,  1869.  Section  i 
reads  as  follows:  "That  until  the  first  general  elect'on,  to  be  held  in  this  terri- 
tory on  the  second  Tuesday  in  September,  A.  D.  1870, 'and  until  their  successors 
are  elected  and  qualified,  the  following  named  persons  are  hereby  declared  to 
be  the  county  officers  of  Laramie  as  hereinafter  stated,  viz. :  County  commis- 
sioners, L.  Murrin,  H.  J.  Rogers  and  George  D.  Foglesong;  sheriff',  T.  J.  Carr; 
judge  of  probate,  William  L.  Kuydendall ;  county  clerk  and  ex-officio  register 
of  deeds,  John  T.  Chaffin  :  coroner,  C.  C.  Furley.  M.  D. ;  surveyor,  S.  H.  Winsor; 
county  attorney.  H,  Garbanati :  county  superintendent  of  schools.  Rev.  H.  P.  Peck; 
justices  of  the  peace — Pine  Bluffs,  D.  C.  Tracy;  Cheyenne,  William  Baker;  Fort 


OKIGIXAL  HOMESTEAD  OF  F.  S.  KING 
Later  summer  headquarters  of  F.  S.  King  Brothers  Company.  14  miles  northeast  of  Lars 
on  headwaters  of  the  Main  Chug. 


528  HISTORY  OF  WVO.MIXG 

Laramie,   Frank  Gates ;  constables — Pine   Bluffs.   William   Rowland ;   Cheyenne, 
A.  J.  Alead;  Fort  Laramie,  Gibson  Clark." 

In  the  chapter  on  Cheyenne  mention  is  made  of  quite  a  number  of  the  early 
settlers  in  Laramie  County,  but  there  were  a  few  others  deserving  of  notice. 
A.  H.  Swan  settled  in  the  county  'n  1872.  Two  years  later  he  was  joined  by 
his  brother,  Thomas  Swan,  and  the  two  bought  the  herd  of  cattle  belonging  to 
H.  B.  Kelley  and  established  a  ranch  on  the  Chugwater.  In  time  they  became 
the  largest  cattle  owners  north  of  Texas.  They  organized  the  Swan  Brothers 
Cattle  Company,  which  at  one  time  owned  over  two  hundred  thousand  head  of 
cattle  and  forty  ranches.  George  T.  Morgan,  an  Englishman,  visited  Wyoming 
in  1876  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  cattlemen  in  the  Hereford  stock.  Two 
years  later  he  came  aga'n,  bringing  with  him  a  herd  of  Hereford  cattle,  and  he 
was  etnployed  by  the  Swan  brothers  as  manager  of  the  "Wyoniing  Hereford 
Association,'  which  at  one  time  controlled  a  range  of  40,000  acres.- 

Hiram  S.  Manville,  another  large  cattle  man,  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in 
1829  and  came  to  Wyoining  when  he  was  about  fifty  years  old.  In  1881  he 
became  associated  with  A.  R.  Converse  in  organizing  the  Converse  Cattle  Com- 
pany, with  a  capital  stock  of  $500.000 :  A.  R.  Converse,  president :  W.  C.  Irv'ne, 
vice  president;  James  S.  Peck,  secretary  and  treasurer;  H.  S.  Manville,  general 
manager. 

Others  who  located  in  Laramie  County  while  Wyoming  was  still  a  territory 
were:  Harry  Oelrichs,  Thomas  W.  Peters,  T.  B.  Hord,  John  Chase,  A.  C. 
Campbell,  A.  T.  Babbitt  and  H.  E.  Teschemacher.  A.  T.  Babbitt  organized  the 
Standard  Cattle  Company.  Mr.  Teschemacher  served  in  both  houses  of  the 
Territor'al  Legislature  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  in 
i88q.  He  and  his  brother  Arthur  were  the  owners  of  six  large  ranches  in  East- 
ern Wyoming. 

The  first  term  of  court  ever  held  in  Laramie  County  began  on  Monday.  March 
2,  1868,  Chief  Justice  Asa  Bartlett  of  the  Dakota  Supreme  Court  presiding.  This 
was  the  first  term  of  court  held  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Wyoming. 

By  the  act  of  December  16.  1871.  the  county  commissioners  were  authorized 
to  purchase  or  rece've  by  donation  a  site  for  a  courthouse  and  jail  in  Cheyenne, 
and  to  issue  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $35,000,  "'or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be 
necessary,"  to  erect  the  building,  the  bonds  to  draw  interest  at  not  more  than 
10  per  cent  per  annum.  The  courthouse  and  jail  were  completed  the  following 
year,  at  a  cost  of  $47,000.  A  little  later  the  county  hospital  was  built,  at  a  cost 
of  $21,000. 

■  Laramie  has  the  best  transportation  facilities  of  anv  countv  in  the  state.  The 
Union  Pacific,  the  Chicago.  Burlington  &  Quincy,  and  the  Colorado  &■  Southern 
all  center  at  Cheyenne,  which  city  is  the  most  important  ra'lroad  center  in  the 
state.     Altogether  there  are  181  miles  of  railway  in  the  county. 

In  IQ15  the  population  of  Laramie  County  was  14.631,  as  shown  by  the  state 
census  of  that  year.  The  L'nited  States  census  of  1910  gave  the  county  26,127. 
The  decrease  is  due  to  the  creation  of  Goshen  and  Platte  counties  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  191 1.  The  valuation  of  property  -n  1917  was  $25,190,855.  While 
much  of  Laramie  County's  imperial  greatness  has  departed  with  the  organization 
of  new  counties  from  its  original  territory,  it  is  still  the  w-ealth"est  county  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  529 

state  and  stands  second  in  population,  being  exceeded  in  the  latter  respect  only 
by  the  County  of  Sheridan. 

LINCOLN    COUNTY 

On  February  20.  191 1,  Governor  Joseph  M.  Carey  approved  an  act  of  the 
Wyoming  Legislature  contaning  the  following  provision:  "All  that  portion  of 
the  State  of  Wyoming  described  and  bounded  as  hereinafter  in  this  section  set 
forth  is  hereby  created  and  formed  a  county  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  by  the 
name  of  Lincoln  County.    Said  Lincoln  County  shall  be  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit : 

"Commencing  at  the  point  where  the  present  boundary  line  between  the  coun- 
ties of  Sweetwater  and  Uinta  crosses  the  township  line  between  townships  18 
and  19  north ;  running  thence  west  along  said  township  line  to  its  intersect'on 
with  the  west  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Wyom'ng;  thence  north  along  said 
west  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  to  its  intersection  with  the  south 
boundary  line  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park;  thence  east  along  the  south 
boundary  line  of  said  Yellowstone  National  Park  to  the  intersection  of  sa'd 
boundary  line  with  the  present  boundary  line  between  the  counties  of  Bighorn 
(Park)  and  Uinta:  thefice  south  along  the  present  east  boundary  line  of  Uinta 
County  to  the  point  where  said  boundary  I'ne  intersects  the  line  between  town- 
ships 18  and  19,  the  place  of  beginning.'' 

Lincoln  is  one  of  the  large  counties  of  the  state.  Its  length  from  north  to 
south  is  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  and  its  width  is  fifty  miles,  g'ving 
it  an  area  of  about  nine  thousand  square  miles.  The  surface  is  greatly  diversified. 
In  the  northern  part  is  Jackson's  Hole,  or  the  "Big  Game  Country."  Jackson 
Lake,  a  beaut'ful  body  of  water,  is  drained  by  the  Snake  River,  which  flows  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  into  Idaho.  The  great  bend  of  the  Green  River  passes 
through  the  southeastern  part,  and  in  the  southwest  the  county  is  watered  by  the 
Bear  River  and  its  tributaries. 

West  of  the  Snake  River  are  the  Teton  Alountains.  which  are  among  the 
highest  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  system.  South  of  the  Tetons  along  the  western 
boundary  of  the  county  lie  the  Snake  River  and  Salt  River  ranges,  and  south  of 
Jackson's  Hole  is  the  Gros  Ventre  range.  There  are  also  a  number  of  isolated 
peaks,  such  as  Mount  Moran,  Virginia  Peak,  Bald  Mountain,  Mount  Leidy, 
Hoback  Peak.  etc.  Between  the  mountain  ranges  are  beautiful,  fertile  valleys, 
where  stock  raising  is  carried  on  successfully.  In  1916  the  county  stood  first 
in  the  number  of  cattle  and  fourth  -n  the  number  of  sheep.  More  than  eight 
hundred  carloads  of  sheep  and  three  millions  pounds  of  wool  were  shipped 
from  the  county  during  the  year. 

Trappers,  fur  traders  and  passing  emigrants  were  the  first  white  people  in 
what  is  now  Lincoln  County.  Fort  Bonneville,  an  account  of  which  is  given 
in  an  early  chapter  of  this  work,  was  built  in  1832  near  the  junction  of  Horse 
Creek  and  the  Green  River.  The  site  of  this  old  fort  was  marked  by  the  Oregon 
Trail  Commission  on  August  9.  1916.  Placer  gold  was  found  on  the  south  fork 
of  the  Snake  River  at  an  early  date  and  was  worked  by  adventurous  prospectors. 
One  of  these.  Jack  Davis  by  name,  held  onto  his  claim  in  the  Grand  Canyon 
until  his  death  in  1915.  The  actual  settlement  of  the  county  did  not  beg'n, 
however,  until  a  few  vears  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  \\'ar. 


530  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  1868  Beckwith,  Quinn  &  Company  took  up  a  tract  of  15,000  acres  in  the 
Bear  River  \'alley,  about  fifty  miles  north  of  Evanston,  and  engaged  in  stock 
raising  on  a  large  scale.  The  first  agricultural  settler  was  Justin  Pomeroy,  who 
located  a  claim  on  the  Fontenelle  Creek  in  September,  1874.  In  that  same  year 
John  Bourne,  with  his  wife  and  four  children,  drove  over  from  Cache  \*alley, 
Utah,  and  settled  where  the  Town  of  Cokeville  now  stands.  Mr.  Bourne  made 
a  living  for  himself  and  family  by  trapping  and  selling  furs.  Soon  after  h's 
arrival  Sylvanus  Collett  and  his  family  settled  in  the  vicinity.  Bourne  and 
Collett  had  long  been  acqua'nted,  having  crossed  the  plains  with  the  early  Mormon 
emigrants.     A  Mormon  colony  settled  in  the  Salt  River  Valley  in  1877. 

Star  A'alley,  west  of  the  Salt  River  range,  was  settled  in  the  '70s.  Emil 
Stumpf  and  William  White  established  salt  works  near  the  present  Town  of 
Auburn,  and  hauled  their  salt  over  the  old  Lander  Trail,  which  crossed  the  valley, 
to  the  min'ng  camps  in  Idaho  and  Montana.  Ox  teams  were  used  and  the  salt 
was  sold  at  from  forty  to  sixty  cents  per  pound.  Other  early  settlers  in  the 
valley  were  George  and  William  Heap,  Jay  J.  and  Albert  Rolph.  John  Hill,  Moses 
Thatcher,  David  Robinson,  Jacob  Grocer,  James  and  Samuel  Sibbetts,  Charles 
Smith  and  James  Francis.  Most  of  these  pioneers  belonged  to  the  Mormon 
colony  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

In  the  latter  '70s  D.  B.  Budd,  A.  W.  Sm'th,  Cyrus  Fish,  D.  B.  Rathbun  and 
a  few  others  located  on  the  Green  River,  about  where  the  Town  of  Big  Piney 
is  now  situated.  The  first  permanent  settlers  in  the  Jackson's  Hole  country 
were  John  Holland  and  John  Games,  who  took  claims  there  in  1883.  This  part 
of  the  county  has  been  widely  advertised  through  the  work  of  Stephen  N.  Leek, 
whose  pictures  of  wild  animals  and  articles  on  "B-'g  Game''  have  been  published 
all  over  the  country.     Mr.  Leek  came  to  Lincoln  County  in  1888. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  importance  of  Lincoln  County's  stock 
raising  industry.  But  the  live  stock  interests  are  not  the  only  business  attrac- 
tions. Coal  m"ning  is  carried  on  extensively,  mines  being  operated  at  numerous 
places  in  the  southern  part,  near  the  railroad,  and  many  of  the  known  deposits 
are  yet  untouched.  Copper  mines  have  recently  been  opened  near  Cokeville 
and  Afton,  iron  ore,  graphite  and  manganese  are  known  to  exist  in  large  quan- 
tities, and  the  county  has  immense  phosphate  beds,  which  at  some  time  in  the 
future  are  certain  to  be  developed.  Phosphate  is  now  shipped  in  small  quantities 
from  Sage  and  Cokeville,  and  oil  has  been  discovered  in  several  places. 

The  people  living  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county  find  transportation 
facilities  in  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad,  which  leaves  the  L^nion  Pacific  at 
Granger  in  the  western  part  of  Sweetwater  and  runs  in  a  northwesterly  direction 
into  Idaho.  Those  livmg  in  the  northern  part  are  less  fortunate,  as  they  have 
to  journey  into  Idaho  to  reach  the  division  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad 
that  has  its  southern  terminus  at  ^'ictor.  Better  railroad  accommodations  are 
the  great  need  of  the  county,  and  the  immense  value  of  the  undeveloped  natural 
resources  is  an  invitation  to  capitalists  to  supply  this  need. 

Lincoln  County  was  named  in  honor  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  sixteenth  Pres- 
ident of  the  L^nited  States.  In  1915  its  population  was  13.381,  and  in  1917  the 
assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $16,856,331.  It  is  the  third  county  in  the 
state  in  population  and  fifth  in  property  valuation.  Of  the  sixty-eight  incor- 
porated towns  in  Wyoming,  according  to  the  census  of  1915.  nine  were  reported 


■|f^fflff^p™M^^_ 

^5: 

1 

^^H    fe^^SH^O 

'^^m 

XATKOXA  COUNTY  COURTHOISE.  t ASPEK 


POSTOFFICE,  CASPER 


532  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

from  Lincoln  County.  These  towns,  with  their  population,  were  as  follows: 
Kemnierer  ( the  county  seat ).  1,481  ;  Afton,  673  :  Big  Piney,  141  ;  Cokeville,  305 ; 
Diamondville,   1,018;  Jackson,  204:   Marbleton,  67;  Opal,  65:  Sublet,  524. 


Three  counties  were  created  by  the  Terr'torial  Legislature  of  1888  by  an  act 
entitled :  "An  act  making  divers  appropriations  and  for  other  purposes."  This 
act  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Moonlight,  but  was  passed  over  the  veto.  One  of 
three  counties  is  Natrona,  the  boundaries  of  which  were  defined  as  follows : 

"Commencing  at  a  point  on  the  seventh  standard  parallel  north,  at  its  inter- 
section with  the  western  boundary  line  of  the  present  County  of  Albany ;  thence 
west  along  said  standard  parallel  to  its  intersection  with  the  western  boundary 
line  of  the  present  County  of  Carbon ;  thence  north  along  said  last  described 
boundary  line  to  the  southern  boundary  Ine  of  the  present  County  of  Johnson : 
thence  east  along  said  boundary  line  of  Johnson  County  to  the  northwestern 
corner  of  the  present  County  of  Albany;  thence  south  along  the  western  boundary 
line  of  said  County  of  Albany  to  the  place  of  beginning;  being  all  that  portion 
of  the  present  County  of  Carbon.  Territory  of  Wyoming,  lying  north  of  the 
seventh  standard  parallel  north." 

The  county  is  almost  square,  be  ng  about  seventy-two  miles  on  each  side,  and 
according  to  Rand,  McNally's  Atlas,  it  has  an  area  of  5,353  square  miles.  The 
southern  end  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountain  range  touches  the  northwest  corner. 
Farther  south  is  the  Rattlesnake  range.  The  Granite  Mountains  lie  across  the 
boundary  between  Natrona  and  Fremont  counties.  In  the  southeastern  part  are 
the  Casper.  Haystack  and  Clear  Creek  ranges,  and  in  the  southwest  corner 
between  the  Sweetwater  River  and  the  southern  boundary,  is  an  elevation  called 
Fort  Ridge.  The  remainder  of  the  county  consists  of  plateau  lands  and  rolling 
plains,  watered  by  the  Platte,  Sweetwater  and  Powder  rivers  and  their  tributaries. 
Natrona  is  therefore  well  adapted  to  stock  raising,  the  plateaus,  mountains  and 
narrow  valleys  affording  both  w'nter  and  summer  range,  while  the  irrigated  lands 
in  the  broader  valleys  olifer  splendid  opportunities  for  farms  and  stock  ranches 
where  forage  crops  can  be  raised  in  abundance.  The  county  has  a  high  rank  as 
a  producer  of  both  sheep  and  cattle.    In  19 10  the  value  of  live  stock  was  $3,400,000. 

Some  of  the  most  profitable  oil  fields  in  the  state  have  been  developed  in 
th's  county,  over  two  million  barrels  being  reported  in  191 5.  Other  mineral 
resources  are  natural  soda,  which  gives  the  county  coal,  copper,  asbestos  and  gold 
and  silver  in  small  quantities.  Among  the  natural  wonders  are  the  Alcova  Hot 
Springs,  on  the  Platte  River,  about  ten  miles  from  the  southern  boundary.  The 
waters  of  these  springs  are  said  to  possess  great  medicinal  virtue  in  the  treatment 
of  rheumat'sm  and  kindred  diseases. 

Two  lines  of  railroad — the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  and  the  Chicago.  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy — cross  the  county  east  and  west  through  the  central  portion, 
following  the  Platte  River  from  the  eastern  border  to  Casper,  the  county  seat. 
where  they  diverge  slightly  to  the  northwest  and  follow  that  course  into  Fremont 
County.  The  principal  towns  are  situated  along  these  I'nes  of  railway,  the  most 
important  being  Casper.  Bucknum.  Cadoma,  Natrona,  Talona.  Waltman  and 
Wolton. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  533 

In  1915  the  population  of  Natrona  County  was  5,398,  and  in  1917  the  property 
was  assessed  at  $19,074,557,  placing  it  the  eleventh  county  in  the  state  in  popula- 
tion and  fourth  in  wealth.  Only  one  county  (Hot  Springs)  showed  a  greater 
proportionate  increase  in  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  over  the  assessment 
of  1916. 

NIOBRARA    COUNTY 

This  county,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  r'ver  flowing  through  the  southern 
portion  of  it.  was  called  into  existence  by  an  act  of  the  Wyoming  Legislature, 
approved  on  February  14,  191 1,  provid'ng  that:  "All  that  portion  of  the  State 
of  Wyoming  described  and  bounded  as  hereinafter  in  this  section  set  forth,  is 
hereby  created  and  formed  a  county  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  by  the  name  of 
Niobrara  County:  Beginning  at  a  point  where  the  north  line  of  Converse  County 
as  heretofore  constituted  intersects  the  dividing  line  between  sections  2j  and 
28  in  township  41  north,  range  67  west  of  the  sixth  principal  meridian ;  running 
thence  south  on  section  lines  to  the  south  boundary  line  of  Converse  County  as 
it  now  exists ;  thence  east  along  said  south  boundary  to  the  east  line  of  the 
State  of  Wyoming ;  thence  north  along  the  boundary  line  between  the  State  of 
Wyoming  and  the  states  of  Nebraska  and  South  Dakota  to  the  southeast  corner 
of  Weston  County,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  boundary  line  as  heretofore  existing 
between  the  counties  of  Weston  and  Converse ;  thence  west  along  the  boundary 
line  as  heretofore  existing  between  the  counties  of  ^^'eston  and  Converse  to  the 
place  of  beginning.'" 

Niobrara,  as  thus  created,  's  about  forty-two  miles  wide  and  sixty-two  miles 
long.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Weston  County;  on  the  east  by  the  states 
of  Nebraska  and  South  Dakota;  on  the  south  by  Goshen  and  Platte  counties 
and  on  the  west  by  Converse  County,  from  which  it  was  taken.  The  surface  's 
a  rolling  plain,  sloping  toward  the  east.  The  northern  part  is  watered  bv  the 
Cheyenne  River  and  its  affluents,  one  of  which  is  composed  of  three  streams, 
\\z. :  Crazy  Woman  Creek,  Old  Woman  Creek  and  Young  Woman  Creek.  In 
the  southern  part  is  the  Niobrara,  from  which  the  county  derives  'ts  name. 

The  territory  of  which  Niobrara  Countv  is  composed  originally  belonged  to 
the  Sioux,  Northern  .\rapaho  and  Cheyenne  Indians.  Their  title  was  extinguished 
by  agreement  with  representatives  of  the  United  States  on  September  26,  1876. 
About  that  time  the  rush  to  the  gold  fields  of  the  Black  Hills  was  at  its  height 
and  a  stage  I'ne  was  opened  from  Cheyenne  to  the  mines,  passing  through  what 
is  now  Niobrara  County.  Alany  of  the  Indians  were  dissatisfied  with  the  relin- 
quishment of  their  lands  to  the  paleface  race  and  began  committing  depredations 
upon  the  stage  line.  One  of  these  early  tragedies  occurred  in  what  -s  now  Nio- 
brara County.  Jake  Harker  was  engaged  in  carrying  the  mail  from  the  stage 
station  on  Hat  Creek  to  Camp  Robinson.  On  one  trip  he  failed  to  return  with 
the  mail  and  a  searching  party  was  sent  out  to  ascertain  what  had  become  of 
him.  H"s  dead  body  was  found  and  the  fact  that  his  scalp  was  missing  told  the 
story  of  another  Indian  depredation.  The  mail  sack  was  also  found  cut  open 
and  the  letters  scattered  around  Barker's  body. 

That  happened  only  a  little  over  forty  years  ago.  Men  are  still  living  in 
Wyoming  who  can  recall  the  stirring  events  of  those  early  days  and  relate  the 


534  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

changes  that  they  have  witnessed.  Niobrara  County  is  now  the  home  of  hun- 
dreds of  dry  farmers,  who  ra'se  abundant  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  potatoes  and 
small  fruits.  Stock  raising  is  the  most  important  industry.  According  to  the 
state  auditor's  report  for  1916,  there  were  then  in  the  county  30.000  head  of 
cattle,  51,452  sheep  and  8,803  horses,  the  total  value  of  live  stock  being  nearly 
two  millions  of  dollars. 

The  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  runs  through  the  southern  part  of  the 
county  along  the  N'obrara  River,  with  stations  at  Lusk  (the  county  seat).  \"an 
Tassel,  Manville,  Jireh  and  Keeline.  Large  numbers  of  sheep  and  cattle  are 
shipped  from  those  places  every  year.  Niobrara  has  a  good  public  school  system 
and  at  Jireh  is  a  college  that  offers  opportunities  to  the  young  people  to  acquire 
a  higher  education  than  that  afforded  by  the  common  schools.  Oil  was  discovered 
in  the  county  in  1917  and  the  fields  are  being  rapidly  developed. 

In  191 5  the  population  was  3.488,  and  in  1917  the  property  was  assessed  for 
tax  purposes  at  $6,463,414.  The  increase  in  the  valuation  over  the  assessment 
of  1916  was  a  little  over  twenty  per  cent,  only  two  counties  in  the  state  showing 
a  greater  ratio  of  increase  than  Niobrara,  which  in  1918  stood  seventeenth  in 
populat'on  and  eighteenth  in  wealth,  when  compared  with  the  other  counties  of 
Wyoming. 

PARK    COUNTY 

The  history  of  Park  County  as  a  separate  subdivision  of  Wyoming  begins  on 
Februarv  15,  1909.  when  Governor  Brooks  approved  an  act  of  the  Legislature 
creating  the  county  with  the  following  boundaries: 

"Beginning  at  a  point  where  the  north  boundary  I'ne  of  the  state  intersects 
the  thirty-third  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Washington:  running  thence 
south  along  said  meridian  to  its  intersect'on  with  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains or  Continental  Divide,  separating  the  waters  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Snake 
rivers ;  thence  in  a  southeasterly  direction  along  the  crest  of  said  d'vide  to  its 
intersection  with  the  eleventh  standard  parallel  north;  thence  east  along  the 
sa-'d  standard  parallel  to  its  intersection  with  the  crest  of  the  mountain  range 
separating  the  waters  of  Wind  River  on  the  south  from  the  waters  of  Greybull  and 
Wood  rivers  on  the  north ;  thence  along  the  crest  of  said  divide  between  the 
waters  of  the  last  named  streams  and  the  crest  of  the  divide  between  the  waters 
of  Wind  River  on  the  south  and  the  waters  of  Grass  Creek  and  Owl  Creek  on 
the  north,  to  a  point  on  the  crest  of  the  said  last  named  divide  at  the  head  of 
the  south  fork  of  Owl  Creek;  thence  down  said  Owl  Creek  along  the  north 
boundary  of  the  Wind  River  or  Shoshone  Indian  Reservation  to  its  intersection 
with  the  south  boundary  of  townsh'p  44  north,  range  103  west;  thence  east  along 
said  township  boundary  to  its  intersection  with  the  thirty-second  meridian  of 
longitude  west  from  Washington ;  thence  north  on  said  thirty-second  meridian  of 
longitude  west  from  Washington  to  its  -ntersection  with  the  township  line  between 
townships  45  and  46  north ;  thence  east  along  said  township  line  to  its  intersection 
with  the  range  Tne  between  ranges  100  and  loi  west;  thence  north  along  said 
range  line  to  its  intersection  with  the  township  line  between  townships  46  and  47 
north ;  thence  east  along  said  township  line  to  its  intersection  with  the  range  line 
between  ranges  99  and  100  west ;  thence  north  along  said  range  line  to  its  inter- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  535 

section  with  the  township  Une  between  townships  47  and  48  north;  thence  east 
along  sa-d  township  hne  to  its  intersection  with  the  range  hne  between  ranges 
97  and  98  west;  thence  north  along  the  range  hne  between  ranges  97  and  98  and 
its  otTsets  to  its  intersection  with  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  being 
the  north  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Wyoming;  thence  west  along  said  forty- 
fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

When  Hot  Springs  County  was  created  on  February  9,  191 1,  a  port'on  of 
Park  was  taken  to  fonu  the  new  county.  As  at  present  constituted,  Park  County 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  State  of  Montana ;  on  the  west  by  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park  and  Lincoln  County ;  on  the  south  by  the  counties  of  Fremont  and 
Hot  Springs ;  and  on  the  east  by  Bighorn  and  Washakie  counties.  The  county 
received  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  adjoins  the  Yellowstone  National  Park. 
Its  area  :s  about  five  thousand  four  hundred  square  miles,  much  of  which  is 
mountainous,  but  well  adapted  to  grazing.  Consequently,  stock  raising  is  the 
leading  industry.  The  state  auditor's  report  issued  in  1916  gives  the  number  of 
cattle  in  Park  County  as  22,485;  sheep,  112,647;  horses,  7,084;  and  the  assessed 
valuation  of  these  animals  as  $1,427,461. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  agricultural  land  in  the  county  is  under  irrigation 
and  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  there  has  been  an  almost  marvelous 
increase  in  the  number  of  new  settlers.  The  county  is  drained  by  the  Greybull, 
Shoshone  and  Clark's  Fork,  all  of  which  flow  in  a  northeasterly  direction  and  are 
fed  by  numerous  smaller  streams. 

Coal  is  found  generally  throughout  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  a  large  part  of  wh'ch 
lies  within  the  limits  of  Park  County,  in  veins  varying  from  six  to  thirty  feet 
in  thickness.  ^lany  of  the  farmers  obta'n  their  fuel  from  the  outcropping  of 
these  coal  veins  near  their  land,  the  only  cost  being  the  digging  and  hauling. 
There  is  no  doubt  coal  enough  in  Park  County  to  supply  the  State  of  Wyoming 
for  generations  to  come.  Oil  has  been  found  near  Cody  and  at  some  other  places, 
and  is  pronounced  by  geologists  to  be  of  a  very  superior  quality.  In  the  Kerwin 
and  Sunlight  districts,  gold,  copper  and  silver  ores  are  found,  some  of  which 
have  been  developed,  and  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Shoshone  River  there  are 
large  deposits  of  sulphur.  Other  minerals,  such  as  mica,  gypsum,  building  stone 
and  asphalt,  are  known  to  exist  in  large  quant'ties  and  some  day,  when  better 
transportation  facilities  are  provided,  all  this  mineral  wealth  will  be  given  to 
the  world.  At  the  present  time  (1918)  there  are  but  forty-eight  miles  of  railroad 
in  the  county — the  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  that  leaves  the 
main  line  at  Frannie  and  has  its  western  terminus  at  Cody. 

Park  County  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  191 1  by  the  election  of  the  fol- 
lowing county  officers :  W.  H.  Fouse,  A.  J.  Martin  and  W.  A.  Kepford.  county 
commissioners;  Fred  C.  Barnett,  county  clerk;  Henry  Dahlem,  sheriff;  G.  A. 
Holm,  treasurer ;  W.  L.  Walls,  county  attorney ;  George  Hurlbut,  surveyor ;  Jessie 
H'tchcock,  superintendent  of  schools.  The  same  year  a  courthouse  was  com- 
pleted, at  a  cost  of  $45,000. 

In  191 5  the  population  was  5,473,  an  increase  of  564  during  the  preceding 
five  years,  and  in  1917  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  was  $8,330,187,  an 
increase  of  $1,148,784  over  the  assessment  of  1916.  In  population  Park  is  the 
tenth  countv  of  the  state,  and  in  wealth  the  thirteenth. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


PLATTE    COUNTY 


This  county,  originally  a  part  of  Laramie,  is  situated  in  the  southeastern  part 
of  the  state  and  takes  its  name  from  the  North  Platte  River,  which  flows  through 
the  northern  portion.  It  was  created  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  by 
Governor  Carey  on  February  9,  191 1.  The  boundaries  as  fixed  by  that  act  are 
as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  a  point  in  the  western  boundary  line  of  Laram'e  County,  at 
its  intersection  with  the  boundary  line  between  Laramie  County  and  Converse 
County;  thence  south  along  said  county  line  to  its  intersect'on  with  the  township 
line  between  townships  19  and  20  north  ;  thence  east  along  said  township  line 
to  its  intersection  with  the  section  line  between  sect'ons  ^2  ^"d  34  in  township 
20  north,  range  65  west  of  the  sixth  pr'ncipal  meridian ;  thence  north  along  the 
middle  section  line  of  range  65  to  its  intersection  with  the  north  boundary  line 
of  Laramie  County;  thence  west  along  said  county  boundary  line  to  the  place  of 
beginning.' 

The  boundaries  as  established  by  the  act  erecting  the  county  are  the  same 
as  at  the  present  time,  hence  Platte  County  is  a  rectangle  thirty-three  miles  wide 
by  sixty-s'x  miles  long,  with  an  area  of  2,178  square  miles,  most  of  which  is 
capable  of  cultivation.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Converse  and  Niobrara 
counties ;  on  the  east  by  Goshen  County ;  on  the  south  by  Laramie  County ;  and 
on  the  west  by  the  counties  of'Albany  and  Converse. 

The  first  settlements  were  made  while  Platte  was  still  a  part  of  Laramie 
County.  Among  the  early  settlers  were :  Alexander  Swan,  who  has  already 
been  mentioned  in  connection  with  Laram'e  County;  T-  M.  Whitney,  George 
Mitchell,  John  and  Thomas  Hunton,  Isaac  Bettleyoun,  Herbert  Whitney,  Alex- 
ander Bowie.  Posey  Ryan,  F.  N.  Shiek  and  Harry  Yount,  the  noted  scout  and 
bear  hunter,  all  of  whom  located  in  the  county  in  the  early  '70s.  In  the  \\'heat- 
land  irrigated  district  some  of  the  first  farmers  were:  H.  E.  Wheeler,  L'.  S.  Har- 
rison, Oscar  and  John  Nelson,  Charles  \\'-lson,  S.  \'.  Moody  and  C.  A.  Morrison. 

Although  created  in  February,  191 1,  Platte  was  not  fully  organized  until  the 
fall  of  1912.  In  November  of  that  year  the  following  county  officers  were  elected : 
George  D.  McDougall,  county  clerk;  Owen  Carroll,  sheriff;  Guy  S.  Agnew,  treas- 
urer; C.  A.  Paige,  prosecuting  attorney:  Joseph  A.  Elliott,  surveyor;  D.  B.  Rig- 
don,  coroner;  Millard  F.  Coleman,  W.  H.  Ralston  and  Lee  Moore,  county  com- 
missioners; Mary  Maloney,  superintendent  of  schools.  Early  in  191S  Platte 
County  completed  one  of  the  best  appointed  courthouses  in  the  state,  the  cost 
of  the  building  and  furniture  amounting  to  $85,000. 

The  famous  Sunrise  iron  mines  located  in  this  county  are  descriljed  in  the 
chapter  on  Mineral  Resources.  The  Hartville  district,  -n  which  these  mines 
are  situated,  has  other  valuable  mineral  deposits,  including  some  very  rich  veins  of 
copper. 

Stock  raising  is  the  principal  -ndustry.  .According  to  the  state  auditor's 
report  for  1916,  there  were  in  the  county  29,337  cattle,  37.468  sheep,  7,260  horses 
and  2,749  hogs.  The  value  of  these  animals  was  given  as  $1,450,651.  The  waters 
of  the  Sibylee  and  Laramie  rivers  have  been  utilized  for  irrigat'on,  with  the 
result  that  there  are  many  fine  and  productive  farms  in  the  county.    In  19 15  there 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  537 

were  272,439  acres  of  improved  land,  valued  at  $3,558,420,  only  six  counties  in 
the  state  reporting  a  greater  valuation  of  farm'ng  lands. 

Platte  County  is  well  provided  with  railroads.  The  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Ouincy  follows  the  Platte  River  across  the  northern  part,  and  the  Colorado 
&  Southern  traverses  the  county  north  and  south,  connecting  with  the  Burlington 
at  Wendover.  A  short  line  of  railroad  called  the  Colorado  &  Wyom'ng  connects 
the  mining  districts  about  fronton  and  Sunrise  with  the  main  lines  of  railway. 

In  1915  the  population  of  the  county  was  5,277,  and  in  1917  the  assessed 
valuation  of  the  property  was  $10,816,282.  These  figures  place  Platte  twelfth 
in  populaton  and  ninth  in  wealth  of  the  twenty-one  counties  of  the  state. 

SHER1D.\N    COUNTY 

Lying  along  the  northern  border  of  the  state,  immediately  east  of  the  Big 
Horn  Mountains,  is  Sheridan  County,  so  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Philip  H. 
Sheridan,  the  dashing  cavalry  commander  in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil 
war  and  in  the  campaigns  against  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest.  It  -'s  one  of 
three  counties  created  by  the  Legislature  of  1888  in  a  bill  passed  over  Governor 
Moonlight's  veto,  the  other  two  being  Converse  and  Natrona.  Its  original  bound- 
ar'es  as  described  in  the  act  were  as  follows : 

"Commencing  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Crook  (now  Campbell)  County  in 
said  Territory  of  Wyoming;  thence  running  south  along  the  western  boundary 
of  said  Crook  (Campbell)  County  to  a  point  three  miles  north  of  the  thirteenth 
standard  parallel ;  thence  west  along  a  line  three  miles  north  of  and  parallel  to 
said  thirteenth  standard  parallel  to  'ts  intersection  with  the  center  of  the  channel 
of  the  Big  Horn  River;  thence  northerly  down  the  center  of  the  channel  of  the 
said  river  to  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming ;  thence 
easterly  along  said  boundary  line  to  the  place  of  beginning,  being  all  that  por- 
t'on  of  the  present  County  of  Johnson,  Territory  of  Wyoming,  lying  north  of 
a  line  three  miles  north  of,  and  parallel  to,  the  said  thirteenth  standard  parallel 
north." 

When  Bighorn  County  was  created  by  the  act  of  March  12,  1890,  that 
portion  of  Sheridan  County  lying  west  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  was  added 
to  the  new  county,  reducing  Sheridan  to  its  present  dimens'ons.  From  east  to 
west  the  average  length  of  the  county  is  about  eighty-five  miles,  and  from  north 
to  south  it  is  thirty  miles  in  width,  giv'ng  it  an  area  of  2,575  square  miles.  The 
county  is  well  watered  by  the  Little  Big  Horn,  the  Tongue  and  Powder  rivers 
and  their  numerous  tributary  creeks,  nearly  half  a  mill'on  acres  of  land  being 
capable  of  irrigation,  and  as  much  more  well  adapted  to  dry  farming,  while  the 
foothills  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  afiford  excellent  grazing  fields  for  live  stock. 

The  great  resources  of  the  county  are  in  farmmg,  stock  raising  and  coal 
mining.  In  1916  the  county  reported  48,107  cattle,  50,955  sheep,  9,148  horses 
and  4,870  hogs,  the  total  assessed  value  of  the  live  stock  being  $2,141,244.  Sheri- 
dan reported  more  hogs  than  any  other  county  in  the  state  and  stood  second  in 
the  number  of  cattle. 

Mining  experts  assert  that  practically  the  entire  county  is  underlain  by  coal 
deposits,  and  mines  have  been  opened  at  Dietz.  Monarch,  Carneyville,  Kooi, 
Acme  and  a  few  other  points,  and  the  coal  is  shipped  to  almost  every  state  west 


538  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  the  Missouri  River.  In  many  places  the  settlers  obtain  their  coal  at  the 
outcroppings  near  their  farms  and  ranches.  Some  oil  is  also  produced  in  the 
county,  and  ind'cations  of  gold,  copper,  etc.,  have  been  noted  in  the  western  part, 
where  some  attempts  have  been  made  to  develop  mines.  Iron  ore,  gypsum, 
graphite,  talc,  building  and  lithograph  stone  and  a  fine  quality  of  cement  rock  exist 
in  large  quantities  in  various  parts  of  the  county. 

Sheridan  is  rich  in  natural  scenery.  Cloud  Peak,  one  of  the  most  lofty 
mountains  of  the  Big  Horn  range,  rises  to  a  height  of  almost  thirteen  thousand 
feet  above  sea  level.  Upon  its  sides  can  be  seen  the  great  glaciers  of  snow 
and  ice,  rivaling  in  p'cturesqueness  the  famous  Swiss  Alps.  Goose  Creek  \'al- 
ley,  near  Sheridan,  with  an  altitude  of  3,700  feet,  with  its  precipitous  banks  and 
limpid  pools,  its  waterfalls  and  sportive  trout,  offers  to  the  tourist  and  sportsman 
inducements  to  enjoy  himself  among  its  scenic  beauties  and  "cast  flies." 

The  first  election  for  county  officers  was  held  on  Monday,  May  7,  1888. 
Marion  C.  Harris.  William  E.  Jackson  and  Peter  Reynolds  were  elected  county 
comni'ssioners ;  Thomas  J.  Kusel,  sheriff;  Frank  McCoy,  county  clerk;  James 
P.  Robinson,  treasurer;  William  J.  Stover,  county  attorney;  Jack  Dow,  surveyor; 
Pulaski  Calvert,  assessor;  Richard  McGrath,  superintendent  of  schools.  In  1905 
the  county  completed  a  handsome  and  commodious  courthouse,  at  a  cost  of 
$70,000. 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  Sheridan  County  may  be  mentioned  Henry  A. 
Coffeen,  who  was  elected  to  represent  the  state  in  Congress  in  1892;  O.  P. 
Hanna,  the  well  known  scout ;  L.  C.  Tidball.  speaker  of  the  House  in  the  Second 
State  Leg'slature ;  James  Lobban,  John  Loucks,  George  Brundage,  Frank  Mar- 
tin. M.  L.  Sawin,  D.  T.  Hillman  and  J.  D.  Adams. 

Sheridan,  the  county  seat  and  second  city  of  the  state,  is  centrally  located, 
on  the  line  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  system  that  runs  from 
L-ncoln,  Neb.,  to  Billings,  Mont.  At  Clearmont  the  Wyoming  Railroad  connects 
with  this  line  and  runs  to  Buffalo.  Altogether  there  are  about  one  hundred  and 
ten  miles  of  railroad  in  the  county,  so  that  Sheridan  is  better  provided  with 
means  of  transportation  than  some  of  her  sister  counties.  Other  towns  of 
importance  are  Carneyville,  Clearmont,  Dayton,  Dietz,  Kooi,  Monarch,  Parkman 
and  Ranchester. 

In  191 5  the  population  was  15,429  and  in  191 7  the  assessed  valuation  was 
$21,203,057.  It  is  the  second  populous  county  of  Wyoming  and  stands  third  in 
wealth. 

SWEETW.\TER  COUNTY 

The  County  of  Sweetwater,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  state,  is  situated  in  the 
southwestern  part.  On  the  north  it  is  bounded  by  Fremont  County ;  on  the  east 
by  Carbon  County ;  on  the  south  by  the  states  of  Colorado  and  Utah ;  and  on  the 
west  by  Lincoln  and  Uinta  counties.  According  to  Rand-McNally's  Atlas,  the 
area  is  10,500  square  miles. 

Gold  was  discovered  near  the  South  Pass  in  the  summer  of  1867  and  within 
a  few  weeks  several  hundred  miners  had  located  claims  near  the  northern 
boundarv'  of  the  present  Sweetwater  County.  Among  these  pioneers  were:  Noyes 
Baldwin.  Frank  Marshall.  Harrv  Hubbell  and  others,  who  are  given  more  ex- 


SHERIDAN  COLXIY  COURTHOUSE,  SHERIDAN 


540  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

tended  mention  in  connection  with  the  history  of  Fremont  County.  Toward  the 
fall  of  1867  (the  exact  date  cannot  be  ascertained),  these  miners,  in  order  to 
have  some  form  of  local  government,  organized  a  county,  which  they  named 
"Carter,"  in  honor  of  W.  A.  Carter,  of  Fort  Bridger,  who  was  elected  probate 
judge.  Harry  Hubbell  was  chosen  recorder  and  John  Murphy,  sheriff.  These 
were  the  most  important  offices  at  that  time — the  recorder  to  keep  track  of  the 
location  and  boundaries  of  mining  claims,  and  the  sheriff  to  preserve  order 
among  the  lawless  and  turbulent  individuals  that  so  frequently  are  among  the 
first  comers  to  a  new  gold  field.  Carter  County  was  legally  organized  by  the 
Dakota  Legislature  by  an  act  approved  on  December  27,  1867.  This  act  fixed 
the  western  boundary  of  Carter  County  at  the  thirty-third  meridian  of  longitude 
west  from  Washington,  and  the  territory  embraced  extended  eastward  lYi 
degrees. 

Early  in  the  year  1868  a  company  of  Mormons  came  from  Salt  Lake  City 
and  settled  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Sweetwater  River.  Among  them  were 
H.  A.  Thompson,  J.  F.  Staples,  James  Leffingwell.  Moses  Sturman,  John  Hol- 
brook,  Christopher  Weaver,  Frank  McGovern  and  Jeff  Standifer,  some  of  whom 
remained  but  a  short  time  and  others  became  permanent  settlers.  Another  pio- 
neer was  Samuel  Fairfield,  who  was  born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1836.  He  came 
to  Wyoming  soon  after  the  discovery  of  gold  at  the  South  Pass,  built  three  saw- 
mills, one  of  which  he  sold  to  the  Government,  and  in  connection  with  James 
.\.  McAvoy  opened  the  road  from  the  Town  of  Lander  to  the  timbered  lands  on 
the  Popo  Agie  River.    In  1880  he  removed  to  Rawlins  and  in  1883  to  Colorado. 

In  the  spring  of  1869  the  Territorial  Government  of  Wyoming  went  into 
operation  and  the  first  Legislature  met  on  the  12th  of  the  following  October. 
Among  the  acts  passed  by  that  Legislature  was  the  following,  to  take  effect  on 
December  13,   1869: 

"Section  i.  That  all  that  portion  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  erected  into 
the  County  of  Carter  by  an  act  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory 
of  Dakota,  approved  December  2"],  1867,  and  bounded  as  follows :  Beginning  at 
the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  latitude  where  the  thirty-third  meridian  of  longitude 
crosses  the  said  parallel  of  latitude ;  thence  south  along  said  meridian,  being  the 
eastern  line  of  CHnta  County,  to  the  forty-first  parallel  of  latitude,  being  the 
southern, boundary  of  the  territory:  thence  east  along  the  said  southern  boundary 
to  a  point  30°  30'  west  from  Washington ;  thence  north  along  said  meridian  of 
30°  30'  to  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  latitude,  to  a  point  30°  30'  west  from  Wash- 
ington ;  thence  west  along  said  forty-fifth  parallel  to  the  place  of  beginning, 
shall  be  and  constitute  a  county  by  the  name  of  Sweetwater:  Provided,  that  the 
eastern  line  of  said  county  shall  be  deemed  to  nm  one-fourth  of  one  mile  west 
of  Separation  station  upon  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  until  a  Government  or 
Territorial  survey  shall  prove  said  station  to  be  west  of  the  said  east  line.  The 
county  seat  of  Sweetwater  County  shall  be  located  at  South  Pass  City  until  re- 
moved according  to  law. 

"Section  2.  The  following  officers  are  hereby  appointed  for  said  County  of 
Sweetwater,  who,  after  being  qualified,  shall  hold  their  offices  until  the  next 
general  election,  and  until  their  successors  are  elected  and  qualified :  For  county 
commissioners,  W.  C.  Erwin,  of  South  Pass  City.  James  A.  Brennan,  of  Atlantic 
City,  and  John  Dugdale,  of  Hamilton  City;  for  judge  of  probate.  T.  Quinn ;  for 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  541 

sheriff.  John  McGlinchy ;  for  county  clerk,  Tim  McCarthy  ;  for  prosecuting  attor- 
ney, P.  L.  Williams ;  for  county  assessor,  Henry  Smith ;  for  county  superintend- 
ent of  schools,  Frank  Oilman;  for  county  surveyor,  William  Smith,  of  South 
Pass  City;  for  justices  of  the  peace  for  South  Pass  precinct,  James  W.  Stillman 
and  Presley  J.  Talbot;  for  constable  in  said  precinct,  James  Smith;  for  justice  of 
the  peace  for  Atlantic  City,  Edward  Lawn ;  for  constable  in  said  Atlantic  City 
precinct,  W.  Hagan ;  for  justice  of  the  peace  at  Bryan  precinct,  William  Grin- 

nell;  for  constable  in  said  precinct,  ;  for  justice  of  the  peace  at  Point  of 

Rocks  precinct,  ;  for  constable  in  said  precinct,  ." 

The  act  further  provided  that  the  sheriff'  of  Carter  County  should  "retain 
and  serve,  or  execute  and  return  to  the  proper  court  or  judge,  all  papers  relating 
to  said  county,  up  to  and  including  the  nth  day  of  December,  1869,"  and  that 
on  the  13th  the  county  officers  of  Carter  County  should  turn  over  all  papers, 
records,  dockets,  etc.,  to  the  officers  named  in  Section  2  of  the  above  act.  The 
county  was  named  for  the  Sweetwater  River,  but  with  the  erection  of  Fremont 
County  in  1884,  this  name  lost  its  significance  as  applied  to  Sweetwater  County. 

As  established  by  the  first  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wyoming,  the  County 
of  Sweetwater  extended  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
territory.  It  included  the  present  counties  of  Sweetwater.  Fremont.  Hot  Springs 
and  Park,  the  greater  part  of  Bighorn  and  Washakie,  the  west  end  of  Sheri- 
dan, and  the  southwestern  part  of  Carbon.  By  an  act  of  the  Wyoming  Legisla- 
ture, approved  on  December  9,  1873,  the  county  seat  was  removed  from  South 
Pass  City  to  Green  River,  which  place  was  to  remain  the  county  seat  "unless  it 
be  removed  by  vote  of  the  people  at  the  next  general  election."  As  it  was  not 
removed  by  vote  of  the  people  at  the  election  specified,  it  still  remains  the  seat 
of  justice. 

Topographically,  the  surface  of  Sweetwater  County  is  composed  of  exten- 
sive plateaus  or  ranges,  from  which  mountainous  elevations  rise  in  different 
parts.  Near  the  center  of  the  northern  boundary  the  Continental  Divide  extends 
for  some  distance  into  the  county.  Farther  south  are  the  Aspen  and  Table  moun- 
tains, and  in  the  southwestern  part  are  the  Bad  Lands  Hills.  There  are  also 
"isolated  peaks  here  and  there,  such  as  Essex  Mountain,  North  Pilot  Butte,  Table 
Rock,  Steamboat  Mountain,  Centennial  Peak,  etc.  The  Green  River  is  the  prin- 
cipal stream.  It  enters  the  county  from  the  west  about  twenty  miles  south  of  the 
northwest  corner  and  flows  in  a  southeasterly  direction  into  L^tah.  There  are 
numerous  smaller  streams  and  lakes  which  afford  abundant  water  for  reclama- 
tion purposes. 

The  Great  Divide  Basin,  in  the  northeastern  part,  and  the  district  known  as 
the  "Red  Desert"  afford  excellent  grazing  grounds  for  sheep  and  cattle  and  live 
stock  raising  is  a  prominent  industry.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  the  Red 
Desert  was  thought  to  be  practically  worthless,  but  stock  men  have  discovered 
that  sheep  can  thrive  during  the  winter  on  the  grasses  of  these  plains  with  only 
snow  for  moisture.  In  1915  the  county  reported  322.751  sheep,  valued  at  $1,077,- 
456.  Sweetwater  is  preeminently  a  sheep  county,  as  in  that  year  only  4,552  cat- 
tle were  returned  for  taxation. 

In  the  way  of  mineral  resources,  Sweetwater  is  noted  for  its  immense  de- 
posits of  coal.  Geologists  have  estimated  the  amount  of  coal  in  the  Rock  Springs 
field,  between  the  Aspen  and  Table  mountains,  at  eight  hundred  million  tons. 


542  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

lying  in  veins  from  eight  to  twenty  feet  in  thickness.  Rock  Springs  coal  is  known 
in  every  state  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Over  two  million 
tons  are  taken  annually  from  the  mines  at  Rock  Springs,  Superior,  Gunn,  Reli- 
ance and  adjacent  mining  camps.  Spurs  of  railroad  have  been  built  by  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company  to  the  mines  to  facilitate  the  shipping  of  coal.  This 
company  has  164  miles  of  railroad  in  Sweetwater  County.  The  main  line  crosses 
the  county  from  east  to  west  near  the  center  and  most  of  the  towns  in  the  county 
are  located  along  the  line  of  railway.  At  Granger,  in  the  western  part,  the  Oregon 
Short  Line  connects  with  the  Union  Pacific  and  runs  in  a  northwesterly  direction 
into  Lincoln  County. 

In  1915  the  population  of  Sweetwater  was  10,642,  and  in  1917  the  prop- 
erty in  the  county  was  valued  for  tax  purposes  at  $21,935,562.  Only  one  county 
(Laramie)  reported  a  larger  valuation  of  property,  and  three  counties  a  larger 
population. 

UINTA   COUNTY 

Uinta  County,  located  in  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of  the  state,  is  one  of 
the  counties  created  by  the  first  Territorial  Legislature,  the  act  having  been 
approved  by  Governor  Campbell  on  December  i,  1869.  The  boundaries  as  des- 
cribed in  that  act  were  as  follows : 

"Commencing  at  the  intersection  of  the  forty-first  parallel  of  latitude  and  the 
thirty-third  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Washington ;  running  thence  north 
along  said  thirty-third  meridian  of  longitude  to  its  intersection  with  the  forty- 
fifth  parallel  of  latitude;  thence  west  along  said  forty-fifth  parallel  of  latitude 
to  its  intersection  with  the  thirty-fourth  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Wash- 
ington ;  thence  south  along  said  thirty-fourth  meridian  to  its  intersection  with  the 
forty-first  parallel  of  latitude ;  thence  east  along  said  parallel  to  the  place  of 
beginning." 

By  tracing  these  boundaries  upon  a  map  of  Wyoming,  it  will  be  seen  that 
Uinta  County  originally  included  the  present  county  of  that  name,  Lincoln 
County  and  the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  The  Yellowstone  National  Park* 
was  set  ofT  by  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  on  March  i,  1872,  and  Lincoln  County 
was  cut  off  in  191 1,  reducing  Uinta  to  its  present  dimensions.  Its  area  is  now 
a  little  over  two  thousand  square  miles.  The  territory  comprising  LTinta  and 
Lincoln  counties  was  taken  from  L'tah  and  Idaho  when  the  Territory  of  Wyo- 
ming was  created  to  straighten  the  western  boundary. 

Lender  the  provisions  of  the  act  creating  the  county,  the  county  seat  was  loca- 
ted at  Merrill,  until  the  voters  should  select  a  permanent  seat  of  justice  at  the 
general  election  on  September  6,  1870.  At  the  election  Evanston  was  chosen 
by  a  majority  of  the  voters  for  county  seat  and  the  Town  of  Merrill,  which  was 
located  near  old  Fort  Bridger,  afterward  disappeared  from  the  map. 

The  county  officers  appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  1869  were :  W.  A.  Carter, 
probate  judge  and  treasurer;  J.  Van  A.  Carter,  clerk;  R.  H.  Hamilton,  sherifif; 
E.  S.  Jacobs,  superintendent  of  schools.  These  officials  served  until  the  election 
of  September  6,  1870,  when  Jesse  L.  Atkinson,  J.  Van  A.  Carter  and  Russell 
Thorpe  were  elected  county  commissioners ;  Lewis  P.  Scott,  clerk ;  Harvey  Booth, 


POSTOFFK'E,  EVAXSTOX 


I9HI 

.^^        ^  JBBBm^B^^B^^^BI 

i^n 

fra  IRpni 

%lil 

^n 

^^'^t'^rC  -■*- ■'^ggggggn 

^^^^^* 

UINTA  COUXTY  COURTHOUSE.  EVAXSTON 


544  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

sheriff;  W.  A.  Carter,  probate  judge  and  treasurer;  E.  S.  Jacobs,  superintendent 
of  schools. 

One  of  the  oldest  settlements  in  Wyoming  was  made  in  this  county  in  1853. 
when  a  company  of  fifty-five  Mormons,  led  by  Isaac  Bullock  and  John  Xebeker 
came  from  Utah  and  located  near  old  Fort  Bridger.  on  Black's  Fork  of  the  Green 
River.  In  1868  Moses  Byrn  and  a  man  named  Guild  located  claims  on  Muddy 
Creek,  about  half  way  between  Evanston  and  Fort  Bridger.  Jesse  L.  Atkinson, 
one  of  the  first  county  commissioners,  was  born  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1830,  and 
came  to  Uinta  County  in  the  spring  of  1870.  For  some  time  he  was  engaged 
in  lumbering,  obtaining  his  supply  of  tirnber  in  the  Uinta  Mountains.  After  a 
residence  in  the  county  for  a  few  years  he  went  to  Colorado,  where  he  became 
associated  with  Benjamin  Majors  in  the  cattle  business  and  accumulated  a  for- 
tune. 

Coal  was  discovered  about  two  miles  west  of  the  site  of  Evanston  in  the 
summer  of  1868.  The  first  mine  was  opened  the  following  year,  and  in  1870 
the  Rocky  Mountain  Coal  and  Iron  Company  was  formed,  with  headquarters 
at  Almy.  In  1871  Newell  Beeman,  a  native  of  Ontario  County,  New  York,  came 
to  Almy  as  bookkeeper  for  the  Rocky  Mountain  Coal  and  Iron  Company,  be- 
ing at  that  time  about  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  Two  years  later  he  was  made 
superintendent  of  the  company.  Mr.  Beeman  also  became  an  active  participant 
in  county  affairs.  In  1874  he  was  elected  county  commissioner  and  held  the 
office  for  three  successive  terms ;  was  for  a  time  one  of  the  school  trustees, 
and  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  republican  central  territorial  committee. 

On  December  13,  1873,  Governor  Campbell  approved  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture authorizing  the  commissioners  of  Uinta  County  to  erect  a  courthouse  and 
jail  at  Evanston,  to  cost  not  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  to 
issue  bonds  for  that  amount,  "or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,"  to  pay 
for  the  same,  the  bonds  to  bear  interest  at  not  more  than  12  per  cent  per  annum. 

The  principal  industries  are  farming,  stock  raising  and  coal  mining.  Although 
the  lowest  altitude  is  5.000  feet,  the  farmers  raise  abundant  crops  of  winter 
wheat,  hay,  alfalfa,  potatoes,  oats  and  barley,  in  fact  all  of  the  agricultural 
products  that  can  be  grown  at  an  altitude  of  7,000  feet  or  more.  The  Bear 
River,  Black's  Fork  of  the  Green  River,  Muddy  Creek  and  their  tributaries 
afford  plenty  of  water  for  irrigation,  though  dry  farming  is  carried  on  in  some 
districts.  In  the  higher  altitudes  there  is  an  abundance  of  native  grasses  where 
live  stock  thrive  the  greater  part  of  the  year  without  feeding.  In  191 5  Uinta  re- 
ported 14,956  cattle,  83,195  sheep  and  2,972  horses,  the  assessed  valuation  of 
these  animals  being  $890,244. 

Besides  the  great  coal  mining  interests,  oil  has  been  discovered,  and  there  are 
found  in  the  county  various  other  minerals,  including  gold,  copper  and  phos- 
phates, though  the  deposits  are  either  untouched  or  only  partially  developed. 

The  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  enters  the  county  near  the 
northeast  corner  and  runs  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  crossing  the  western 
boundary  about  twenty  miles  north  of  the  southern  boundary  of  the  state. 
The  principal  railroad  stations  are  Evanston,  Almy,  Antelope.  Carter,  Chelsea: 
Bridger  and  Springvalley.  Almy  is  the  terminus  of  a  short  spur  of  railroad 
that  connects  with  the  main  line  at  Almy  Junction,  about  three  miles  west  of 
Evanston. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG  545 

In  191 5  the  population  of  the  county  was  given  in  the  state  census  reports  as 
6,051,  and  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  in  1917  was  $9,418,068.  Although 
one  of  the  smallest  counties  in  the  state  in  area,  Uinta  stands  ninth  in  population 
and  eleventh  in  wealth. 

W.VSHAKIE   COUNTY 

On  February  9,  191 1,  Gov.  Joseph  M.  Carey  affixed  his  signature  to  the  bill 
creating  the  County  of  Washakie.  A  glance  at  a  map  of  the  state  shows  a 
zigzag  boundary  line  between  Washakie  and  Hot  Springs  counties.  To  de- 
scribe this  line  in  the  technical  and  legal  phraseology  of  the  act  is  deemed  unnec- 
essary in  this  description  of  the  county.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  county  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Bighorn  County ;  on  the  east  by  Johnson  County ; 
on  the  south  by  Natrona  and  Fremont  counties ;  and  on  the  west  by  the  counties 
of  Park  and  Hot  Springs.  Its  area  is  about  twenty-two  hundred  square  miles 
and  it  derives  its  name  from  Washakie,  chief  of  the  Shoshone  Indians  and  a  firm 
friend  of  the  white  man  in  the  early  days  of  Wyoming's  history.     On  April  18, 

191 1,  the  commissioners  appointed  by  Governor  Carey  to  organize   the  county 
entered  upon  their  duties.     The  first  election  of  officers  occurred  in  November, 

1912,  and  the  officers  then  elected  went  into  office  on  the  first  Monday  in  Jan- 
uary, 1913. 

Washakie  is  one  of  the  three  small  counties  of  the  state.  Its  surface  is  a 
combination  of  mountains,  plains,  bad  lands  and  rich  agricultural  valleys.  Along 
the  No  Wood,  Ten  Sleep,  Spring  and  Otter  Creeks,  and  other  small  streams  of 
the  county,  the  old-time  ranchmen  live,  depending  more  upon  their  herds  of  sheep 
and  cattle  than  on  farming  for  their  living.  In  191 5  the  county  reported  11,566 
cattle,  90,971  sheep,  4,963  horses  and  2,000  hogs,  the  total  assessed  value  of  live 
stock  being  $1,469,107. 

In  October,  1917,  the  first  oil  well  was  sunk  in  the  Washakie  Bad  Lands.  It 
turned  out  to  be  a  gas  well,  with  a  flow  of  8,000,000  cubic  feet  daily,  obtained  at  a 
depth  of  1,065  ^^st-  Since  then  several  oil  companies  have  been  "prospecting" 
in  the  county,  a  number  of  wells  have  been  drilled  and  oil  of  excellent  quality 
has  been  found.  This  is  but  another  instance  of  wealth  being  obtained  from 
Wyoming's  lands  formerly  considered  worthless. 

The  Denver  &  Billings  division  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Rail- 
way system  passes  through  the  county  a  little  west  of  the  center.  Worland,  the 
county  seat,  is  on  this  line  of  railroad.  Other  railroad  stations  are  Durkee, 
Colter,  Neiber  and  Chatham. 

In  1915  the  population  of  Washakie  was  1,744,  and  in  1917  the  property  was 
valued  for  tax  purposes  at  $4,188,332.  In  both  respects  the  county  shows  the 
lowest  figures  of  any  in  the  state,  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  it  was  one 
of  the  last  counties  to  be  organized,  that  it  is  small  in  area,  and  that  the  territory 
of  which  it  is  composed  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Indians  for  years 
after  some  of  the  older  counties  of  Wyoming  were  settled.  The  county  is  rap- 
idly "coming  to  the  front,"  however,  farm  lands  selling  from  fifty  to  seventy-five 
dollars  per  acre.  These  lands  produce  good  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  barley,  alfalfa, 
sugar  beets  and  emmer — a  grain  that  is  coming  into  use  as  a  breakfast  food. 


546  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

WESTON   COUNTY 

Weston  County  is  situated  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  state.  It  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  Crook  County ;  on  the  east  by  the  State  of  South  Dakota ;  on 
the  south  by  Niobrara  and  Converse  counties;  and  on  the  west  by  the  County  of 
Campbell.  The  county  is  almost  square,  with  an  area  of  a  little  less  than  twenty- 
five  hundred  square  miles.  It  was  originally  a  part  of  Laramie  County,  but  was 
included  in  Crook  County  when  the  latter  was  established  in  1875.  On  March  12, 
1890,  Governor  Warren  approved  an  act  passed  by  the  last  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture of  Wyoming  creating  the  County  of  Weston,  to  wit: 

"All  that  portion  of  Wyoming  Territory  bounded  and  described  in  this 
section  set  forth,  is  hereby  created  and  made  a  county  of  the  Territory  of 
Wyoming,  under  the  name  of  Weston  County,  to  wit:  Commencing  at  a  point 
on  the  east  boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  where  the  twelfth  standard 
parallel  north  intersects  the  east  boundary'  line  of  Wyoming  Territory ;  thence 
running  west  along  said  twelfth  standard  parallel  north  to  the  one  hundred  and 
sixth  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Greenwich ;  thence  south  along  said  meri- 
dian line  to  the  line  of  43°  30'  north  latitude;  thence  east  along  said  latitude  to 
the  east  boundary  of  said  territory ;  thence  north  along  said  east  boundary  line  of 
said  territory  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

The  new  county  was  made  a  part  of  the  First  Judicial  District  and  was  at- 
tached to  the  County  of  Crook  for  legislative  purposes  until  it  should  be  fully 
organized.  The  county  seat  was  established  at  Newcastle,  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  county.  The  surface  is  a  rolling  plain,  well  watered  by  the  Black  Thunder 
and  Beaver  creeks  and  the  tributary  streams  of  the  Belle  Fourche  River,  which 
just  touches  the  northwest  corner.  These  streams  provide  sufficient  water  for 
irrigation,  though  but  little  of  it  has  so  far  been  utilized  for  that  purpose.  The 
principal  industry  of  the  county  is  stock  raising.  In  191 5  Weston  reported 
26,493  cattle,  35,548  sheep  and  6,873  horses,  the  total  value  of  these  animals 
being  given  as  $1,469,107. 

Coal  has  been  discovered  in  large  deposits  in  the  eastern  part,  the  Cambria 
field  being  one  of  the  most  productive  in  the  state.  These  mines  are  at  the 
terminus  of  a  spur  of  railroad  which  connects  with  the  main  line  of  the  Lincoln 
&  Billings  division  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  system  at  Newcastle. 
The  principal  railway  stations  are  L^pton,  Newcastle,  Spencer,  Owens.  Clifton 
and  Dakoming. 

In  1915  the  population  of  Weston  was  4.414  and  in  1917  the  assessed  valua- 
tion of  property  was  $6,515,346,  placing  the  county  fifteenth  in  population  and 
seventeenth  in  wealth  when  compared  with  the  other  twenty  counties  of  the 
state. 


\\JLbl()>,   lOUNFY   (_(>LR1  HOUSE,  NEWCASTLE 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  NEWCASTLE 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
THE  STORY  OF  CHEYEXiXE 

HOW  THE  CITY  WAS  LOCATED GENERAL  DODGe's  ACCOUNT — THE  FIRST   SETTLERS 

ORGANIZING  A  GOVERNMENT THE  FIRST  ELECTION A  NEW  CHARTER — VIGI- 
LANCE COMMITTEE EARLY  JUSTICE "jUDGE"  BEAN EARLY  BUSINESS  INTER- 
ESTS  CHEYENNE  RANGERS — WHEN  TEN   YEARS  OLD THE   POSTOFFICE — PUBLIC 

UTILITIES— TWENTIETH    CENTURY   CHEYENNE. 

The  City  of  Cheyenne,  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Wyoming  and  county  seat 
of  Laramie  County,  dates  its  beginning  from  July  27,  1867,  when  the  Union 
Pacific  engineers  completed  the  survey  of  the  town.  Ballard  Dunn,  of  the 
Union  Pacific  system,  gives  the  following  account  of  how  the  city  came  to  be 
located  where  it  stands : 

"A  band  of  hostile  Indians  that  had  attempted  to  ambush  and  murder  Gen. 
Grenville  M.  Dodge,  chief  engineer  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  during  the  days 
of  its  construction,  was  responsible  for  the  founding  of  the  City  of  Cheyenne. 
Credit  must  be  given  in  this  way  to  this  band  of  savages,  for  the  reason  that  out 
of  this  attempted  ambush  came  the  fortunate  circumstances  of  locating  the  pass 
across  the  mountains  west  of  Cheyenne  over  which  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific 
was  built." 

For  about  two  years  surveyors  and  engineers,  operating  under  the  direction 
of  General  Dodge,  had  examined  practically  every  valley  from  the  Arkansas 
River  to  the  Yellowstone,  in  the  effort  to  find  a  route  across  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. At  the  end  of  that  time  the  route  by  way  of  the  North  Platte  River, 
through  what  is  now  known  as  the  "Goshen  Hole"  country  was  regarded  as  the 
most  feasible,  when  the  incident  mentioned  by  Mr.  Dunn  caused  a  change  to  the 
Sherman  Pass.  In  his  book  entitled  "How  We  Built  the  Union  Pacific,"  General 
Dodge  tells  how  this  was  brought  about,  to  wit: 

"While  returning  from  the  Powder  River  campaign,  I  was  in  the  habit  of 
leaving  my  troops  and  trains  and  with  a  few  men  examining  all  the  approaches 
and  passes  from  Fort  Laramie  south  over  the  secondary  range  of  mountains 
known  as  the  Black  Hills,  the  most  difficult  to  overcome  with  proper  grades 
of  all  the  ranges,  on  account  of  its  short  slopes  and  great  height.  It  was  on  one 
of  these  trips  that  I  discovered  the  pass  through  the  Black  Hills  and  gave  it 
the  name  of  Sherman,  in  honor  of  my  great  chief.  Its  elevation  is  8.236  feet, 
and  for  years  it  was  the  highest  point  reached  by  any  railroad  in  the  United 
States.  The  circumstances  of  this  accidental  discovery  may  not  be  uninterest- 
ing. 

"When  I  reached  the  Lodge  Pole  Creek,  up  which  went  the  Overland  Trail. 
I  took  a  few  mounted  men  and  with  one  of  my  scouts  as  guide,  went  up  the 
548 


a 

.1 

•-l>" 

H     vV 

SL< 

1^         T'-'^' 

^5^; 

1' 

1^ 

-M 

r" 

\ 

r  i' 

-V.W.J 

\'.!^^H 

iHHPi  la^Ban 

M^ 

^ 

COMMERCIAL  CLUB,  CHEYEXNE 


I  Mill    ffrti  II 


PLAINS  HOTEL,  CHEYENNE 


550  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

creek  to  the  summit  of  Cheyenne  Pass,  striking  south  along  the  crest  of  the 
mountains  to  obtain  a  good  view  of  the  country,  the  troops  and  trains  at  the  same 
time  passing  along  the  east  base  of  the  mountains  on  what  was  known  as  the  St. 
Vrain  and  Laramie  Trail. 

"About  noon,  in  the  valley  of  a  tributary  of  Crow  Creek,  we  discovered 
Indians,  who,  at  the  same  time,  discovered  us.  They  were  between  us  and  our 
trains.  I  saw  our  danger  and  immediately  took  means  to  reach  the  ridge  and 
try  to  head  them  off,  and  follow  it  to  where  the  cavalry  could  see  our  signals. 
We  dismounted  and  started  down  the  ridge,  holding  the  Indians  at  bay  with  our 
Winchesters  when  they  came  too  near.  It  was  nearly  night  when  the  troops  saw 
our  smoke  signals  of  danger  and  came  to  our  relief.  In  going  down  to  the  train 
we  followed  this  ridge  until  I  discovered  it  led  down  to  the  plains  without  a 
break.  I  then  said  to  my  guide  that  if  we  saved  our  scalps  I  believed  we  had 
found  the  crossing  of  the  Black  Hills.  *  *  *  i  reported  the  result  of  my 
examination  on  November  15,  1866,  to  the  company,  and  on  November  23,  1866, 
the  company  adopted  the  lines  which  I  had  recommended." 

THE   FIRST   SETTLBRS 

About  the  time  the  plat  of  the  town  was  completed  by  the  Union  Pacific 
engineers,  James  R.  Whitehead,  Thomas  E.  McLeland,  Robert  M.  Beers,  and 
three  other  men,  all  accompanied  by  their  families,  located  upon  the  town  site 
and  to  these  men  belongs  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  to  acquire  a  residence 
in  Cheyenne.  Mr.  Whitehead  was  appointed  lot  agent  for  the  railroad  company. 
At  first  lots  sold  for  $150,  one-third  cash,  and  within  thirty  days  some  of  the 
same  lots  sold  for  $1,000.  The  first  two-story  house  was  built  by  Mr.  White- 
head on  the  west  side  of  Eddy  Street  (now  Pioneer  Avenue),  and  the  first 
house  south  of  Crow  Creek  was  built  by  a  man  named  Larimer.  The  lumber 
for  these  houses  was  brought  from  Denver.  Morton  E.  Post  purchased  two 
lots  on  the  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Ferguson  (now  Carey  Avenue)  and  erected 
a  store  building  there  early  in  August. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  Cheyenne  was  a  daughter  of  J.  D.  Manderville, 
a  soldier  at  Camp  Carlin.  It  was  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  regular  army  at 
that  time  for  a  soldier  to  keep  his  wife  at  or  near  the  post  where  he  was  sta- 
tioned. Notwithstanding  these  regulations,  Manderville's  wife  came  quietly  to 
Cheyenne  and  the  attending  physician  when  her  child  was  born  was  the  post  sur- 
geon at  Camp  Carlin.  The  baby  lived,  grew  to  womanhood,  married  a  man 
named  Gregory,  and  at  last  accounts  was  living  at  Fort  Collins.  Colo. 

ORGANIZING   A    GOVERNMENT 

At  first,  Cheyenne  was  little  more  than, a  construction  camp  for  the  builders 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  General  Dodge,  writing  of  early  conditions, 
says:  "All  the  rififralTf  of  the  frontier  gathered  in  that  new-made  camp — • 
gamblers,  bad  men,  hangers-on,  a  tough  lot  I  assure  you ;  so  bad  that  at  last  I 
ordered  the  officer  commanding  the  military  to  sweep  them  out  of  the  place,  which 
was  done." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Cheyenne  became  known  by  the  undesirable  name 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  551 

of  "Hell  on  Wheels."  Within  a  month  of  the  time  that  the  first  permanent  set- 
tlers took  up  their  residences  and  Mr.  Whitehead  was  appointed  for  the  sale 
of  lots,  Cheyenne  had  a  population  of  several  hundred,  many  of  them  of  the 
"bad  man"  type,  and  the  better  class  of  citizens  detennined  to  institute  some 
form  of  government  that  would  have  authority  to  rid  the  town  of  these  undesir- 
able characters.  Accordingly,  a  call  was  issued  by  a  self-constituted  cominttee 
for  a  mass  meeting  to  be  held  on  the  evening  of  August  7,  1867. 

James  R.  W'hitehead  called  the  meeting  to  order,  Edward  M.  Brown  was 
chosen  permanent  chairman  and  Robert  M.  Beers  was  elected  secretary.  On 
motion,  the  president  appointed  R.  E.  Talpey,  A.  C.  Beckwith  and  James  R. 
Whitehead  a  committee  to  draft  a  charter  for  the  town,  with  instructions  to 
present  the  same  at  an  adjourned  meeting  to  be  held  the  following  evening  in 
A.  C.  Beckwith's  store.  The  charter  submitted  by  the  committee  consisted  of  a 
long  list  of  laws,  ordinances  and  regulations,  taken  from  the  laws  of  the  terri- 
tories of  Colorado  and  Dakota  and  the  ordinances  of  the  cities  of  Omaha  and 
Denver.  It  was  adopted  by  the  adjourned  meeting,  and,  as  one  of  the  pioneers 
afterward  expressed  it,  Cheyenne  from  that  date  "began  to  put  on  airs.'' 

THE  FIRST   ELECTION 

Events  followed  each  other  -n  rapid  succession  in  those  days  on  the  frontier. 
The  charter  was  adopted  on  Thursday  evening.  August  8,  1867,  and  the  same 
meeting  ordered  an  election  for  city  officers  to  be  held  on  the  following  Saturday. 
At  the  election  H.  M.  Hook  was  chosen  mayor ;  Thomas  E.  McLeland,  clerk 
and  recorder;  J.  R.  Wliitehead,  city  attorney;  James  Slaughter,  police  magis- 
trate ;  Edward  Melanger,  marshal ;  and  the  following  six  gentlemen  were  elected 
councilmen:  R.  E.  Talpey,  A.  C.  Beckwith,  J.  G.  Willis,  G.  B.  Thompson,  .S.  M. 
Preshaw  and  W.  H.  Harlow.  From  the  minutes  of  the  mass  meeting  and  the 
returns  of  this  first  election  can  be  gleaned  the  names  of  those  pioneers  who  were 
most  active  in  laying  the  foundation  of  the  city. 

A  NEW   CHARTER 

The  government  thus  established  by  the  people  was  lacking  in  authority  from 
a  higher  power  to  enforce  the  laws  passed  by  the  council.  To  obviate  th's  diffi- 
culty, the  Legislature  of  Dakota  Territory,  in  which  Cheyenne  was  then  situated, 
passed  an  act  incorporating  the  City  of  Cheyenne.  This  act  was  approved  by 
Governor  A.  J.  Faulk  on  December  24,  1867,  "to  take  effect  and  be  in  force 
from  and  after  its  passage."  J.  P.  Bartlett,  G.  M.  O'Brien  and  William  Martin 
were  named  in  the  act  as  commissioners  to  conduct  the  first  election.  They 
immediately  posted  up  notices  and  published  in  the  Cheyenne  Leader  that  an 
election  would  be  held  on  Thursday.  January  23,  1868,  and  the  citizens  began  to 
array  themselves  into  parties  for  the  campaign. 

The  first  officers  elected  under  the  new  charter  were :  Luke  Murrin,  mayor ; 
Edward  Orpen,  city  clerk;  R.  K.  Morrison,  treasurer;  J.  C.  L-'ddell,  Charles 
Sternberger,  Patrick  W.  McDonald,  William  Wise,  W.  A.  Hodgeman  and  J.  F. 
Hamilton,  councilmen.  These  officers  assumed  their  respective  duties  on  January 
30,  1868. 


552  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Luke  Murrin,  the  first  mayor  of  Cheyenne  under  the  charter  enacted  by  the 
Dakota  Legislature,  was  born  in  County  Sligo,  Ireland,  and  came  to  America 
in  the  fall  of  1855.  After  attending  Brown  County  College  (Ohio)  for  three 
years,  he  took  a  course  in  a  commercial  college  at  Cincinnati.  In  1861  he  enlisted 
as  a  lieutenant  in  Company  K,  Tenth  Ohio  Infantr}-,  and  was  in  numerous  engage- 
ments during  the  great  Civil  war.  In  Januar\-,  1865,  after  several  promotions, 
he  was  commissioned  colonel  and  given  command  of  a  new  regiment  until  mus- 
tered out  of  the  service.  After  the  war  he  came  West  and  finally  located  at 
Cheyenne,  where  he  engaged  in  business. 

The  new  city  government  at  once  set  about  the  task  of  "cleaning  house.''  On 
February  25,  1868,  a  comprehensive  ordinance  was  passed  and  approved  by  the 
mayor  against  gambling  and  disorderly  houses,  and  providing  fines  ranging  from 
ten  to  one  hundred  dollars  for  each  offense. 

VIGILANCE  COMMITTEE 

For  some  time  prior  to  the  passage  of  that  ordinance  the  lawless  element 
had  been  practically  in  control.  The  government  established  in  August,  1867, 
seemed  to  be  unable  to  improve  conditions  and  a  number  of  citizens  decided  to 
take  matters  into  their  own  hands  and  see  what  could  be  done  toward  purifying 
the  moral  atmosphere.  In  the  Leader  of  January  11,  1868,  nearly  two  weeks 
before  the  first  election  under  the  new  charter,  appeared  the  following  item  of 
local  news: 

■'GRE-\T   excitement VIGIL.\NTES  AROUND 

"their  first  DEMONSTRATION 

"Yesterday  three  men,  F.  St.  Clair,  E.  De  Bronville  and  W.  Grier.  were  arrested 
by  Deputy  United  States  Marshal  Goff,  charged  with  stealing  $900,  and  the  court 
being  busy  in  the  examination  of  other  cases,  the  prisoners  were  put  under  bonds 
of  $4,500  to  appear  before  United  States  Commissioner  Bartlett  on  next  Tuesday 
to  answer  to  the  charge  of  grand  larceny.  The  prisoners  were  set  at  liberty  and 
this  morning  the  three  men  were  found  on  Eddy  Street,  tied  together,  walking 
abreast  with  a  large  canvas  attached  to  them,  with  the  following  letters  very 
conspicuous : 

"  "Sgoo  Stolen — Thieves — S500  Recovered 
"  'F.  St.  Clair  E.  De  Bronville 

"  'W.  Grier. 
"  "City  Authorities  Please  not  inter- 
fere until  ten  o'clock  A.  M. 

"  'Next  Case  Goes  up  a  Tree. 
"  'Beware  of  \'igilance  Committee.' 

"About  8  o'clock  this  morning  Deputy  Marshal  Goff  took  the  placard  oft', 
cut  the  cords  and  turned  the  men  loose.    All  sorts  of  rumors  are  afloat.' 

The  Leader  cautioned  the  \'-gilantes  to  go  slow  in  their  summary-  methods 
of  dealing  with  oft'enders  against  the  law,  though  the  editor  admitted  the  neces- 
sity of  "cleaning  up  the  town."'    A  few  days  after  the  first  demonstration  of  the 


MASONIC  TEMPLE,  CHEYENNE 


ELKS'  CLUB,  CHEYENNE 


55i  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

committee,  the  new  city  officers  went  in  and  after  the  passage  of  the  ordinance 
of  February  28,  1868,  many  hoped  for  better  conditions.  Some  improvement 
was  soon  manifest,  but  there  were  still  enough  of  the  '"bad  men"  left  in  the  city 
to  cause  trouble  occas'onally,  and  the  \'igilantes  again  came  to  the  front.  The 
Leader  of  March  21,  1868,  says: 

"This  morning  rumors  of  the  Vigilantes'  doings  were  in  circulation  at  an 
early  hour,  and  about  8  o'clock  the  bodies  of  two  men  were  brought  to  the  city 
hall  just  as  they  had  been  cut  down,  with  the  ropes  still  on  their  necks.  They 
were  soon  after  taken  in  charge  by  Dr.  F.  W.  Johnson,  county  coroner,  and  an 
inquest  was  held.    Various  parties  testified  and  the  following  facts  were  elicited : 

"Charles  Martin,  who  was  recently  acquitted  of  the  charge  of  murder  by  a 
jury  of  his  countrymen,  was  last  night  about  i  o'clock  called  to  the  door  of  the 
Keystone  Dance  Hall,  where  he  was  dancing,  and  told  that  a  friend  wished  to 
see  him.  Martin  went  to  the  door,  others  being  prevented  from  going  out  by  a 
display  of  several  revolvers.  The  last  that  was  seen  of  Martin,  he  was  making 
some  desperate  struggles,  and  marks  on  h's  head  show  that  he  had  been  beaten 
with  a  pistol  or  some  other  instrument.  He  was  found  this  morning  just  east  of 
the  city,  hanging  upon  a  temporary  scaiTold  consisting  of  three  poles. 

"Morgan,  the  other  unfortunate  victim,  was  found  hanging  in  the  rear  of 
the  Elephant  Corral.  It  appears  that  some  mules  had  been  stolen  and  the  owners 
had  suspected  certain  parties.  On  the  road  between  here  and  Denver  they  found 
Morgan  and  a  man  named  Kelly,  who  after  being  taken  into  custody  confessed 
being  in  with  other  parties  from  whom  they  bought  stolen  mules.  W.  G.  Smith, 
one  of  the  owners  of  the  mules,  was  bringing  Morgan  and  Kelly  to  this  city 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  them  up  to  the  officers  of  the  law,  when  they  were 
met  about  9  o'clock  last  night  near  Crow  Creek  by  about  two  dozen  men  who 
took  the  two  men  from  him,  which  was  the  last  he  saw  of  them.  Kelly  is  yet 
missing  and  it  is  suspected  that  he  has  met  the  fate  of  his  companion." 

The  verdict  of  the  coroner's  jury  was  that  the  two  men  met  the'r  death  by 
strangulation  by  persons  unknown.  The  jury  was  composed  of  F.  W.  Williams, 
E.  M.  Tower,  J.  H.  Follett,  Harry  Powers,  Fred  ClifTord  and  Bud  Sternberger. 
The  hanging  of  the  two  men  caused  great  excitement,  some  of  the  people  com- 
mending the  \igilantes  and  others  condemning  mob  rule.  It  was  generally  believed 
that  the  vigilance  committee  organized  in  January,  and  believed  to  be  about  two 
hundred  strong,  was  not  respons'ble  for  the  hanging  of  Martin  and  Morgan, 
but  that  the  deed  was  perpetrated  by  others.  Martin  shot  and  mortally  wounded 
William  A.  James  (alias  Andy  Harris)  about  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
February  13.  1S68.  James  (or  Harris)  died  about  noon  the  next  day,  Martin 
was  arrested  and  tried  for  murder,  but  was  acquitted  under  a  plea  of  self-defense. 
There  were  a  few  others  hanged  or  banished  by  the  \'igilantes,  but  the  above  were 
the  demonstrations  that  occasioned  the  most  comment. 

E.\RLY  JUSTICE 

In  the  early  days  the  town  had  an  old  log  cabin  on  Thomas  Street,  imme- 
diately back  of  the  Dyer  Hotel,  that  was  used  as  a  jail,  where  tramps,  petty 
th'eves  and  men  arrested  for  drunkenness  were  confined.  The  jail  was  small 
and  when  it  was  filled  with  offenders  a  mild  form  of  vigilance  committee  tactics 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  555 

was  practiced.  A  crowd  would  repair  to  the  jail,  round  up  the  occupants  and 
ask  each  of  them  where  he  wanted  to  go.  When  he  named  his  destination,  he 
was  faced  in  that  direction  and  commanded  to  "Git !"  The  command  was 
enforced  by  the  application  of  a  cowhide,  somet'mes  aided  by  a  heavy  boot,  to 
the  town  limits,  and  the  "hobo"  was  allowed  to  continue  his  journey,  glad  that 
he  escaped  without  more  serious  injur)-. 

During  the  late  '60s  and  early  '70s  the  Union  Pacific  was  overrun  with  tramps, 
who  beat  their  way  on  freight  trains  when  they  could  and  walked  when  they 
could  not  evade  the  watchfulness  of  the  conductors  and  brakemen.  Every  town 
along  the  line  was  filled  at  times  with  these  gentry,  and  Cheyenne  came  in  for 
its  share.  Among  the  early  justices  of  the  peace  was  James-  Bean,  who  had  an 
original  and  novel  way  of  handling  tramps.  When  anyone  charged  with  vagrancy 
was  brought  before  him,  "Judge"  Bean  would  get  down  from  a  convenient  shelf 
a  large  law  book  and  in  an  impressive  manner  would  read  the  penalties  for 
vagrancy  and  begging.  For  the  first  offense  the  penalty  was  a  modest  fine ;  for 
the  second  a  "ball  and  chain."  the  culprit  to  work  on  the  streets  for  a  certain 
number  of  days;  and  for  the  third  ofTense  "twenty  lashes  to  be  adnrnistered  in 
public."  For  graver  crimes  the  penalty  was  life  imprisonment  or  hanging  to  a 
limb  of  a  tree. 

The  law  as  thus  expounded  by  "Judge"  Bean  was  the  product  of  his  own 
fertile  brain,  and  sometimes  a  "hobo"  would  question  its  accuracy  and  ask  to 
see  for  himself.  In  such  cases  the  "Judge"  was  always  equal  to  the  emergency. 
Within  easy  reach  he  kept  the  "butt  end"  of  a  heavy  billiard  cue,  which  was 
qu'ckly  produced  and  generally  had  the  effect  of  convincing  the  incredulous  pris- 
oner that  the  law  was  correct.  The  tramp  was  then  given  his  choice  of  paying 
the  penalty  or  of  getting  out  of  town  and  staying  out.  He  usually  chose  the 
latter,  and  during  "Judge"  Bean's  administration  not  many  tramps  were  fed  at 
the  public's  expense  in  Cheyenne.  After  several  years  as  magistrate,  Mr.  Bean 
went  to  California,  where  he  passed  the  remaining  years  of  his  life. 

While  T.  J.  Carr  (formerly  Un'ted  States  marshal)  was  sheriff  of  Laramie 
County,  the  notorious  Doc.  Baggs  and  his  gang  of  bunco  men,  who  were  working 
the  Union  Pacific,  were  arrested  in  Cheyenne  and  sentenced  to  serve  a  certain 
term  in  the  county  jail.  Baggs  tried  to  bribe  a  deputy  sheriff  to  permit  him  to 
escape.  The  deputy  told  Carr,  who  remarked :  "Well,  111  make  him  talk,  and 
talk  hard,"  and  immediately  started  for  the  jail.  Carr  was  a  powerful  man 
physically.  He  p'cked  Baggs  up  for  a  few  gentle  caresses,  tossed  him  in  the 
air  several  times,  catching  him  as  he  fell,  and  as  he  kept  up  the  sport  told  Baggs 
he  was  going  to  "kill  him  by  inches."  \\'hen  released,  Baggs  fell  on  his  knees 
and  begged  for  mercy.  Other  members  of  the  gang  were  treated  to  the  same 
kind  of  medicine  and  at  the  expiration  of  their  jail  sentence  they  lost  no  time 
in  placing  Cheyenne  below  the'r  horizon. 

EARLY    BUSINESS    INTERESTS 

Morton  E.  Post  and  A.  C.  Beckwith  were  among  the  first  merchants. 
Stephen  Bon  opened  a  shoe  shop  on  Sixteenth  Street  a  little  while  after  the 
town  was  started.  Early  in  the  fall  of  1867  H.  J.  Rogers  &  Company  opened 
a  bank  in  the  store  of  Coniforth  Brothers,  but  it  was  soon  afterward  removed 


556  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

to  a  small  building  on  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Eddy  streets.  They  were 
soon  followed  in  this  business  by  Kountze  Brothers  and  the  firm  of  J.  A.  Ware  & 
Company.     (  See  chapter  on  Financial  History. ) 

The  rap'd  growth  of  the  town  created  a  demand  for  hotel  accommodations 
and  within  a  few  months  several  houses  of  entertainment  were  advertised.  Among 
these  were  the  Cheyenne  (later  the  Wyoming)  House,  on  the  corner  of  Seven- 
teenth and  Thomas  streets,  kept  by  Holladay  &  Thompson ;  the  Dodge  House, 
on  the  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  O'Neil  streets,  of  which  J.  H.  Gildersleeve  was 
the  proprietor ;  the  Pilgrim  House  was  located  on  the  corner  of  Twentieth  and 
O'Xeil  streets  and  was  kept  by  Hook  &  Moore,  who  also  conducted  the  Great 
Western  Corral  and  Stables,  and  advertised  the  "only  Fairbanks  hay  scales  in 
the  country."  Other  hostelries,  more  or  less  popular,  were  the  Talbott  House, 
on  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Thomas;  the  Sherman,  on  Ferguson  Street, 
between  Fifteenth  and  S'xteenth :  the  International,  the  Everett,  the  Karns  and 
the  Meigs,  all  of  which  did  a  profitable  business. 

In  July,  1868,  when  Cheyenne  was  one  year  old,  the  Daily  Ledger  carried 
advertisements  of  six  hotels,  two  banking  houses,  nineteen  mercantile  establish- 
ments, nine  physicians,  seven  lawyers  or  law  firms,  and  a  number  of  miscellaneous 
business  concerns.  Besides,  there  were  numerous  small  shops,  etc..  that  did 
not  advertise.  A  popular  place  of  amusement  about  this  time  was  McDaniel's 
\'ariety  Theater,  where  drinks  and  other  refreshments  were  served  by  girls 
during  the  performance.  This  theater  was  much  frequented  by  cowboys,  stage 
drivers,  "mule  skinners,"  as  drivers  of  freight  wagons  were  commonly  called, 
and  the  applause  could  frequently  be  heard  a  block  away. 

CHEYENNE    R.ANGERS 

In  the  winter  of  1873-74  the  Sioux  Indians  began  committing  depredations 
against  the  frontier  settlements.  An  Indian  was  captured  about  three  miles  north 
of  Fort  Russell,  brought  to  the  fort  and  after  an  examinat'on  was  set  at  liberty. 
He  started  for  his  triljesmen  and  about  the  same  time  a  party  of  the  Fifth  United 
States  Cavalry  set  out  on  a  jack  rabbit  hunt.  The  huntsmen  returned  to  the 
fort  a  few  hours  later,  but  the  Indian  wa's  never  heard  of  afterward. 

This  afl:'air.  with  the  threatening  attitude  of  the  Indians  north  and  northeast 
of  the  city,  led  to  the  organizat'on  of  a  volunteer  military  company  that  adopted 
the  name  of  the  "Cheyenne  Rangers."  A.  H.  Swan  was  chosen  captain.  John 
Talbott  and  Herman  Glafcke.  lieutenants.  W^  P.  Carroll,  who  afterward  wrote 
an  account  of  the  company  for  the  Cheyenne  Leader,  says  that  at  one  of  the 
early  meetings  of  the  company  some  one  proposed  the  election  of  a  second  set 
of  officers  to  act  as  alternates  in  the  event  of  the  absence  -of  those  first  chosen. 
The  motion  was  carried  and  another  set  of  officers  was  chosen,  leaving  Mr.  Carroll 
"the  only  private  iri  the  company."  He  was  a  new  arrival  in  the  city,  which 
probably  accounts  for  his  not  being  elected  to  an  office. 

Each  man  was  to  furnish  h's  own  horse  and  equipment,  to  be  ready  at  any 
moment  to  respond  to  a  call  to  arms.  As  the  Indian  scare  subsided,  interest  in 
the  company  also  abated,  though  meetings  were  held  regularly  for  several  weeks. 
At  one  of  these  meetings  W.  G.  Provines  offered  a  motion  that  every  member 
of  the  company  be  required  to  provide  and  carry  with  him  a  large  bucket.     When 


L 

' 

:"\\ 

kiW'^M 

^ 

\  1     \. 

m 

i 

p.^^ 

wB 

5 

m 

^m 

^9 

15 

^ 

m^^ 

n 

■V 

ifflHip 

mnmML^^ 

1 

^■Ma 

^^HJK 

MSgpmV^ramS 

n 

IE 

T^^^ 

^^XliT" 

SKXATOI}    WARRKX'S    l{P:sinEX(E,  ( 'HEYENXE 


558  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

asked  what  for,  he  replied  "To  catch  the  blood  in."  \\'hether  or  not  this  sarcasm 
was  responsible  for  the  disbanding  of  the  company  is  not  certa-.n,  but  that  was 
the  last  meeting  of  which  there  is  any  record. 

WHEN  TEN  YE.ARS  OLD 

In  1877,  when  Cheyeime  was  ten  years  old,  the  city  was  visited  by  Airs.  Carrie 
A.  Strahorn,  whose  husband,  Robert  E.  Strahorn,  was  for  several  years  in 
charge  of  the  advertising  and  publicity  department  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company.  Some  years  later  Mrs.  Strahorn  published  a  book  entitled  "Fifteen 
Thousand  Miles  by  Stage,"  in  which  she  deseribes  the  scenery  and  resources  of 
Wyoming.    Concerning  Cheyenne  at  that  time  she  says : 

"Of  all  the  forlorn,  homesick  looking  towns,  Cheyenne  never  had  an  equal. 
*  *  *  Without  a  spear  of  grass,  without  a  tree  within  scope  of  the  eye,  with- 
out water  except  as  it  was  pumped  up  for  domestic  use,  with  a  soil  sandy,  hard 
and  barrren — that  was  the  raw  Cheyenne  in  the  '70s.'' 

With  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Black  Hills  in  the  early  '70s,  Cheyenne 
came  into  prominence  as  an  outfitting  point  for  prospectors  and  others  going  to 
the  new  mines.  A  line  of  stage  coaches  and  freighters  was  opened  to  the  min- 
ing districts,  and  Mrs.  Strahorn  tells  of  the  dialogue  between  an  outgoing  and 
a  returning  freighter,  in  which  the  former,  when  asked  of  what  his  cargo  con- 
sisted, answered :  "Twenty  barrels  of  whisky  and  a  sack  of  flour."  Whereupon 
the  other  laconically  inquired :  "What  in  hell  are  you  going  to  do  with  so  much 
flour  ?" 

The  story  is  an  exaggeration,  but  there  is  no  question  that  whisky  was  then 
an  important  article  of  commerce,  not  only  in  Cheyenne,  but  also  in  the  other 
towns  and  cities  of  the  West.  Mrs.  Strahorn  also  mentions  the  great  hail  storm 
in  the  spring  of  1878,  the  worst  in  the  city's  history.     On  this  subject  she  says: 

"In  our  home  a  hail  stone  went  through  a  window,  then  through  a  cane 
seated  chair,  hitting  the  floor  with  force  enough  to  bound  back  and  make  a 
second  hole  through  the  cane  seat.  Many  of  the  stones  measured  seven  inches 
in  circumference  and  our  enterprising  landlady  gathered  enough  hail  stones  to 
freeze  several  gallons  of  ice  cream  and  gave  what  she  called  a  'hail  stone  party.'  " 

Could  the  writer  of  that  book  visit  Cheyenne  in  the  year  1918,  she  would  no 
longer  consider  the  place  a  "forlorn,  homesick  looking  town."  Hundreds  of 
thrifty  shade  trees  would  greet  her  eyes,  the  public  parks  and  well  kept  lawns 
would  disprove  the  statement  that  the  soil  is  "barren,"  and  the  handsome  homes, 
excellent  sidewalks  and  modern  system  of  waterworks  would  present  a  marked 
contrast  to  the  conditions  that  existed  in  1877. 

THE  POSTOFFICE 

One  of  the  first  things  the  early  settlers  did  was  to  apply  to  the  United  States 
Government  for  the  establishment  of  a  postofifice.  In  this  they  were  supported 
by  the  Union  Pacific  officials.  The  petition  was  granted,  Thomas  E.  McLeland 
was  appointed  postmaster,  and  the  office  was  opened  on  August  10,  1867,  in  a 
frame  building  10  by  15  feet  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Ferguson  (Carey  Ave- 
nue) and  Seventeenth  streets,  where  the  Bankers  and  Steckmen's  Trust  Company 


1 

c?^ 

^             ^ 

Bil 

P 

r 

P 

^HMiv'^ 

lil^r^-l 

B95^^^^= 

^ 

-        1       '■*" 

BS 

CARNEGIE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY,  CHEYENNE 


POSTOFFICE  AN1>  LARAMIE  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,  CHEYENNE 


560  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

is  now  located.  The  same  day  the  office  was  opened  for  business,  Mr.  McLeland 
was  elected  city  clerk.  A  complete  list  of  the  postmasters  is  not  available,  but 
among  those  who  succeeded  Mr.  McLeland  were:  W.  \V.  Corlett ;  Herman 
Glafcke,  formerly  secretary  of  Wyoming  Territory;  Mrs.  Susan  R.  Johnson, 
widow  of  Edward  P.  Johnson,  who  was  territorial  attorney  for  seven  years ;  and 
John  S.  Jones,  better  known  as  "Timberline'  Jones,  on  account  of  his  excessive 
height  and  the  fact  that  he  was  bald,  his  hair  marking  a  "timber  line"  around 
his  head.  Postmasters  in  more  recent  years  were  A.  C.  Snyder,  William  Massey. 
George  Draper  and  George  W.  Hoyt,  the  last  named  holding  the  position  for  over 
sixteen  years.  The  present  incumbent,  Walter  L.  Larsh.  received  his  appointment 
in  February,  1914. 

From  the  establishment  of  the  office  in  August.  1867.  to  1903,  it  was  kept  in 
various  quarters  rented  by  the  Government.  The  present  Federal  Building, 
located  on  the  north  side  of  Eighteenth  Street,  between  Carey  and  Pioneer  ave- 
nues, was  erected  in  1903-04.  Besides  the  postoffice,  which  occupies  the  main 
floor,  the  building  contains  the  United  States  courtroom,  land  office,  marshal's 
office,  the  headquarters  of  the  railway  mail  service,  etc.  The  cost  of  the  building 
and  site  was  about  half  a  million  dollars. 

PUBLIC   UTILITIES 

As  early  as  1868  General  Dodge  made  an  examination  and  reported  that  a 
water  supply  for  the  city  could  be  obtained  by  the  construction  of  a  reservoir 
on  Crow  Creek,  but  the  people  then  were  not  financially  able  to  undertake  the 
project.  The  first  contract  for  digging  trenches  and  laying  water  mains  was 
made  in  the  fall  of  1877.  Since  that  time  Cheyenne  has  expended  approximately 
two  million  dollars  in  constructing  the  system  of  waterworks,  with  the  result 
that  no  city  in  the  \\'est  has  a  more  bountiful  supply  of  water  of  the  purest  and 
most  wholesome  quality. 

In  1886.  when  the  site  of  the  state  capitol  building  was  selected,  some  of  the 
citizens  of  Cheyenne  organized  a  street  railway  company  for  the  purpose  of 
constructing  a  line  from  the  Union  Pacific  Station  to  the  capitol.  J.  C.  Baird  was 
secretary  and  general  manager  of  the  company.  Three  cars,  each  twelve  feet 
long,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  sixteen  passengers,  were  built  in  Cheyenne,  and 
on  January  10,  1888,  the  first  car  passed  over  the  tracks.  After  that  trips  were 
made  every  half  hour  from  Abney's  livery  stable  to  the  capitol  building.  J.  C. 
Abney  was  superintendent  and  furnished  the  horses  to  draw  the  cars. 

This  horse  railway  was  the  only  one  in  Cheyenne  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
On  June  20,  1908,  Thomas  A.  Cosgrifif  and  his  associates  were  granted  a  franchise 
for  an  electric  railway,  \^^ork  was  commenced  at  once  and  the  first  car  was  run 
on  August  20,  1908,  during  the  Frontier  Day  celebration.  Later  the  line  was 
extended  to  Fort  D.  A.  Russell. 

Cheyenne  has  efficient  gas  and  electric  lighting  plants,  a  modern  sewer  system 
and  a  central  heating  plant  which  supplies  steam  heat  to  many  of  the  buildings 
in  the  business  section  of  the  city.  Five  public  parks  provide  places  of  rest  and 
recreation.  One  of  these.  Frontier  Park,  is  the  place  where  the  Frontier  Days 
celebrations  are  held  annually.  The  public  school  system  embraces  six  modern 
buildings. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  561 

TWENTIETH    CENTURY   CHEYENNE 

From  the  tent  and  shanty  town  of  1867,  the  City  of  Cheyenne  has  developed 
into  a  modern  and  progressive  city  of  12,000  inhabitants.  Among  its  manufac- 
turing concerns  are  wagon  and  machine  shops,  a  trunk  factory,  a  large  flour  mill, 
creamery,  ice  manufacturing  plant,  harness  and  saddle  factory,  a  large  pressed 
brick  plant,  candy  and  cigar  factories,  planing  mills,  bottling  works,  bakeries, 
etc.  Wholesale  and  retail  stores  carry  all  lines  of  merchandise,  and  the  six 
banks  on  January  i,  1918,  reported  deposits  of  nearly  fifteen  million  dollars. 

The  city  has  a  $50,000  Carnegie  Library,  a  city  hall,  a  number  of  good  hotels, 
two  daily  newspapers  and  several  weekly  and  monthly  publications,  ten  religious 
denominations  have  church  organizations  and  most  of  them  have  fine  houses 
of  worship,  the  Alasonic  fraternity  has  a  temple  that  cost  $100,000,  the  Elks 
have  a  $50,000  clubhouse,  the  Odd  Fellows,  Knights  of  Pythias  and  Eagles  all 
own  their  own  buildings,  and  the  paid  fire  department  is  equipped  with  motor 
apparatus. 

Near  the  city  is  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  the  largest  exclusive  military  post  in  the 
United  States,  and  adjoining  the  fort  are  the  Pole  Mountain  maneuver  grounds 
of  100  square  miles,  capable  of  maneuvering  30,000  troops.  The  buildings  and 
improvements  at  Fort  Russell  have  cost  the  United  States  Government  about 
seven  million  dollars. 

Cheyenne  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Mountain  States  Telephone  and  Tele- 
graph Company,  which  occupies  a  $25,000  building  on  one  of  the  principal  busi- 
ness corners.  The  Industrial  Club,  numbering  in  its  membership  several  hundred 
of  the  active  business  men  of  the  city,  owns  a  fine  clubhouse  on  East  Seventeenth 
Street  and  is  active  in  its  eft'orts  to  advertise  Cheyenne's  advantages  as  a  com- 
mercial and  social  center.  The  Country  Club  has  a  neat  clubhouse  and  golf  links 
north  of  Frontier  Park,  and  there  are  several  social  and  literary  organizations. 
Taken  altogether,  the  business,  educational,  financial  and  social  life  of  Cheyenne 
justifies  the  name  of  "Magic  City  of  the  Plains." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

CITIES  AXD  TOWNS 

According  to  the  state  census  of  1915,  the  State  of  Wyoming  then  had  sixty- 
eight  cities  and  incorporated  towns,  and  in  every  county  there  are  several  small 
villages,  rural  postoffices  and  minor  railway  stations  that  serve  as  local  trading 
points,  etc.  Most  of  these  small  hamlets  have  no  special  history  and  it  would  be 
impracticable  to  attempt  a  detailed  description  of  each  one  in  this  connection.  The 
story  of  Cheyenne,  the  capital  city  of  the  state,  has  already  been  told,  and  the 
province  of  the  present  chapter  is  to  give  some  account  of  each  of  the  cities  and 
incorporated  towns,  which  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader  have  been  arranged 
in  alphabetical  order. 


In  the  western  part  of  Lincoln  County,  between  the  Salt  River  and  Caribou 
ranges  of  mountains,  lies  the  Star  Valley,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  entire 
Rocky  Mountain  system.  In  this  valley  there  are  nine  towns,  the  largest  of 
which  is  Afton.  Although  far  removed  from  the  railroad,  daily  stages  connect 
Afton  with  the  Oregon  Short  Line  at  Montpelier,  Idaho,  and  Cokeville,  Wyo. 
The  stage  road  between  Afton  and  Cokeville  w-as  built  by  convict  labor  and  is 
one  of  the  best  in  the  state.  The  first  settlements  in  the  Star  Valley  were  made 
by  Mormons  from  Utah,  and  at  Afton  there  is  a  large  tabernacle  of  the  Latter 
Day  Saints.  The  town  has  a  large  machine  shop,  a  bank  that  carries  deposits 
of  about  one-fourth  of  a  million  dollars,  good  hotels,  fine  public  school  buildings, 
a  weekly  newspaper,  well  stocked  mercantile  establishments,  and  a  modern  roller 
mill.  It  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Lincoln  County  Fair  Association.  The  pop- 
ulation in  1915  was  reported  as  673,  a  gain  of  103  during  the  preceding  five  years. 


The  incorporated  town  of  Baggs  is  situated  in  the  extreme  southwestern  part 
of  Carbon  County,  on  the  Little  Snake  River  and  only  three  miles  from  the 
Colorado  line.  It  is  connected  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  by  daily  stages 
which  run  between  Baggs  and  Wamsutter,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles.  This  town 
is  the  center  of  a  large  agricultural  and  stock  raising  district.  A  bank  was 
established  in  1908  for  the  convenience  of  the  stockmen.  Large  quantities  of 
coal  are  known  to  be  deposited  near  the  town,  but  they  have  not  been  developed 
for  lack  of  transportation  facilities.  Timber  is  plentiful  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
and  there  are  several  sawmills  that  do  a  successful  business.  It  is  a  supply  point 
562 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  563 

for  a  large  section  of  the  countrj',  the  merchants  freighting  their  goods  by  wagon 
from  Rawhns  or  Wamsutter.    The  population  of  Baggs  in  191 5  was  157. 


This  town  is  the  county  seat  of  Bighorn  County.  It  is  located  in  the  heart 
of  the  Big  Horn  Basin,  from  which  it  derives  its  name,  on  the  Big  Horn  River 
and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad  that  runs  from  Denver,  Colo., 
to  Billings,  ^lont.  The  town  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  meeting  point  of 
several  trails,  where  travelers  in  early  times  were  accustomed  to  meet.  When 
Bighorn  County  was  established  in  i8go,  the  early  settlers  selected  as  the  site 
of  their  county  seat  this  beautiful  spot  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Big  Horn  River, 
and  directed  their  efforts  toward  making  it  one  of  the  active  and  prosperous  cities 
of  Wyoming.  About  1910,  while  W.  S.  Collins  was  mayor  he  brought  into  the 
town  and  set  out  about  two  thousand  California  poplars.  Nearly  all  these 
trees  lived,  so  that  now  (1918)  the  streets  of  Basin  are  better  shaded  than  most 
of  the  younger  cities  of  the  West. 

The  Commercial  Club  of  Basin  is  one  of  the  most  active  industrial  organi- 
zations of  Wyoming.  Through  its  systematic  efforts  a  number  of  inhabitants 
have  been  brought  to  the  city  within  the  few  years,  as  well  as  the  establishment  of 
new  business  enterprises  and  the  erection  of  public  buildings.  The  members  of 
this  club  pulled  together  for  the  new  postoffice  building,  which  is  to  be  com- 
pleted in  the  near  future,  and  the  new  courthouse,  which  cost  $65,000.  The 
club  also  aided  in  securing  the  donation  of  $15,000  from  Andrew  Carnegie  for 
the  public  library,  which  was  dedicated  in  1909.  It  is  known  as  the  Bighorn 
County  Library  and  is  open  to  all  residents  of  the  county. 

Basin  has  four  banks,  the  aggregate  deposits  of  which  amount  to  nearly  two 
million  dollars,  a  good  system  of  waterworks,  an  electric  light  plant,  modem 
school  buildings,  and  the  mercantile  establishments  compare  favorably  with 
those  of  many  larger  cities  in  the  state.  The  Baptists,  Catholics,  Episcopalians, 
Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Christian  Scientists  and  Second  Day  Adventists  all 
have  church  organizations  in  Basin,  and  some  of  these  denominations  have  neat 
church  edifices.  The  population  of  Basin  in  1915  was  728.  During  the  year  1917 
a  large  number  of  new  buildings  were  erected,  the  estimated  amount  expended 
for  these  buildings  being  $300,000.  In  the  spring  of  1918  the  population  was 
estimated  at  1.400. 

BIG  PINEY 

The  Upper  Green  River  Valley  supports  a  number  of  prosperous  towns,  one 
of  which  is  Big  Piney.  It  is  located  in  the  eastern  part  of  Lincoln  County  about 
sixty  miles  northeast  from  Kemmerer,  the  county  seat,  in  one  of  the  best  stock 
raising  regions  of  the  state.  The  town  was  laid  off  by  D.  B.  Budd  in  1880  and 
a  postoffice  was  established  soon  after.  A.  W.  Smith,  another  early  settler,  is 
still  living  in  Big  Piney  and  claims  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest  resident  in 
that  part  of  Lincoln  County.  Big  Piney  has  a  bank,  a  weekly  newspaper,  a 
large  public  hall,  a  fine  school  building,  Congregational  and  Episcopal  churches 
and  a  number  of  well  stocked  stores.     The  population  in  1915  was  141,  accord- 


564  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ing  to  the  state  census,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  claim  more  than  double 
that  number. 


The  Cit)'  of  Buffalo,  the  county  seat  of  Johnson  County,  is  situated  north 
of  the  center  of  the  county  on  Clear  Creek,  and  only  a  short  distance  east  of 
the  Big  Horn  Mountains.  Buffalo  was  founded  by  Alviii  J.  McCray,  W.  L. 
Andrews,  William  H.  Phillips  and  Charles  Williams.  The  first  house  was  still 
standing  in  the  spring  of  1918  and  was  then  occupied  by  a  plumbing  establish- 
ment, after  having  served  as  the  postoffice  and  a  banking  house.  Two  stories  are 
told  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  town  received  its  name.  One  is  that  is  was 
named  by  Alvin  J.  McCray,  who  was  born  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1854,  and  came 
west  soon  after  reaching  his  twenty-first  birthday  anniversary.  In  1876  he  estab- 
lished the  first  hotel  in  Deadwood,  S.  D.,  but  soon  afterward  came  to  Johnson 
County  (then  Pease  County)  and  assisted  in  laying  out  the  county  seat,  naming 
it  after  his  birthplace.  The  other  story  is  that  several  houses  had  been  erected 
before  a  name  was  selected.  Each  man  was  given  a  slip  of  paper  upon  which 
he  was  to  write  the  name  he  desired.  The  slips  were  then  placed  in  a  hat,  with 
the  understanding  that  they  were  to  be  thoroughly  mixed  and  the  first  one 
drawn  out  was  to  be  the  name  of  the  town.  "Buffalo"  happened  to  be  the  word 
on  the  slip  drawn  and  William  Hart,  a  native  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  claimed  to 
be  the  one  who  deposited  that  particular  slip  in  the  hat.  If  the  latter  ston,-  is 
correct,  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  other  names  were  proposed,  but 
they  will  probably  never  be  learned. 

Robert  Foote  opened  the  first  store  in  Buffalo  in  1882.  His  first  stock  of 
goods  was  brought  in  wagons  by  George  W^  Munkers  and  Eugene  B.  Mather. 
Charles  Buell  was  the  proprietor  of  the  first  hotel,  accommodating  his  guests 
in  a  tent  until  a  building  could  be  erected.  The  town  was  incorporated  by  aa  act 
of  the  Wyoming  Legislature,  approved  on  March  3,  1884,  and  H.  A.  Bennett 
was  elected  the  first  mayor.  He  was  born  in  Tennessee  in  1854  and  came  to 
Wyoming  in  1877.  Ten  years  after  the  incorporation  Buffalo  had  electric  lights 
and  a  system  of  waterworks,  both  installed  by  the  Buffalo  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, which  constructed  a  dam  four  miles  west  of  the  town  in  the  Clear  Creek 
Canyon  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  power  for  a  flour  mill. 

For  many  years  Buffalo  claimed  to  be  the  largest  town  in  the  United  States 
without  a  railroad,  but  this  distinction  departed  on  February  28,  igi8.  when  the 
first  train  arrived  over  the  Wyoming  Railroad,  which  makes  connection  with 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  at  Clearmont,  Sheridan  County,  and  which 
was  commenced  in  1914.  The  event  was  celebrated  by  the  citizens  of  the  town, 
and  within  a  short  time  stock  yards  were  established  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  stockmen  in  the  vicinity.  The  building  of  the  railroad  also  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  the  coal  mining  industry  and  coal  in  large  quantities  is  now 
shipped  from  the  Buffalo  mines. 

Buffalo  has  three  banks,  a  telephone  exchange  of  the  Mountain  States  Tele- 
graph and  Telephone  Company,  four  large  church  edifices,  and  a  high  school 
building  was  recently  erected  at  a  cost  of  $26,000.  There  are  also  four  garages, 
several   large  mercantile  houses,  two  weekly  newspapers,  a   public  library,  and 


566  HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 

many  cozy  homes.  Stage  lines  run  daily  between   Buffalo  and   Sheridan   and 

Buffalo  and  Kaycee.  The  population  in  191 5,  according  to  the  state  census,  was 
1,246. 


This  town,  formerly  called  Luther,  is  located  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
twenty-six  miles  east  of  Cheyenne,  in  Laramie  County.  It  came  into  existence 
some  years  after  the  completion  of  the  railroad  in  response  to  a  demand  for  a 
shipping  point  on  the  part  of  the  stock  growers  in  that  section.  Burns  has  a 
bank,  a  fine  public  school  building  that  cost  $20,000,  electric  light  and  water- 
works. Christian.  Catholic  and  Presbyterian  churches,  and  in  1915  reported  a 
population  of  230. 


The  incorporated  town  of  Byron  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Big- 
horn County,  on  the  Shoshone  River  about  five  miles  south  of  Cowley,  which  is 
the  nearest  railroad  station.  It  was  incorporated  early  in  the  present  century  and 
in  1905  reported  a  population  of  491.  Since  that  time  the  railroad  towns  have 
drawn  heavily  upon  Byron,  which  in  191 5  had  a  population  of  232. 


About,  six  miles  north  of  Newcastle,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Weston  County, 
is  the  mining  town  of  Cambria.  It  is  the  terminus  of  a  short  line  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railway  system  which  was  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  the  mines  at  Cambria.  These  mines  ship  about  fifteen  hundred  tons 
of  coal  daily.  Cambria  was  incorporated  under  the  general  laws  of  Wyoming 
after  the  census  of  1910  had  been  taken,  and  in  191 5  reported  a  population  ot 
1,023.  It  is  lighted  by  electricity  furnished  by  the  Newcastle  Light  and  Power 
Company,  has  a  telephone  exchange,  a  fine  public  school  building,  a  hotel,  sev- 
eral well  stocked  stores,  and  is  one  of  the  live  towns  of  Eastern  Wyoming. 


As  late  as  the  year  1886  the  site  of  Casper,  the  county  seat  of  Natrona  County, 
was  nothing  but  a  sagebrush  flat,  inhabited  only  by  prairie  dogs  and  rattlesnakes. 
Now  Casper  is  the  fifth  city  of  Wyoming  and  the  second  greatest  wool  shipping 
point  in  the  United  States.  With  the  building  of  the  railroad  a  "tent  town"  was 
started,  which  quickly  became  the  rendezvous  of  cowboys  and  the  place  of  the 
roundup.  The  "cow  town"  acquired  the  reputation  of  being  a  place  "where  money 
was  easy  and  friendship  true  as  steel."  Next  came  the  oil  prospector,  who  was 
quickly  followed  by  the  banker  and  merchant,  coal  mines  were  opened  and 
Casper  took  her  place  permanently  upon  the  map. 

Casper  is  situated  on  the  North  Platte  River,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
county,  and  near  the  site  of  old  Fort  Casper,  which  was  named  in  honor  of 
Lieut.  Caspar  Collins,  who  lost  his  life  while  charging  a  large  body  of  Indians 


MASONIC  TEMPLE,  CASPER 


568  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

there  in  July,  1865,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  another  chapter.  The  origin 
of  the  city's  name  is  therefore  apparent. 

The  city  owns  its  waterworks,  the  supply  coming  from  mountain  springs, 
and  for  both  quantity  and  quality  is  unexcelled.  The  income  of  the  water  plant 
is  more  than  sufficient  to  defray  the  cost  of  operation  and  maintenance,  a  surplus 
every  year  being  used  to  extend  the  service  to  new  districts.  Electric  light  is 
supplied  by  two  companies,  and  natural  gas  near  the  city  is  utilized  for  fuel. 
Another  claim  of  Casper  is  that  it  has  the  best  fire  department  in  the  state,  two 
large  automobile  trucks  and  chemical  machines  and  a  hook  and  ladder  truck  being 
kept  in  one  house,  and  a  smaller  company  has  its  headquarters  on  the  south  side. 

In  the  way  of  industries  and  business  enterprises,  Casper  has  two  large  oil 
refineries  which  ship  about  a  million  dollars"  worth  of  oil  each  month,  a  large 
artificial  ice  plant,  good  hotels,  a  fine  postoffice  building  erected  by  the  United 
States  Government,  and  large  railroad  interests,  being  the  division  point  for 
both  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  and  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  lines.  The 
Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  have  handsome 
buildings,  and  the  five  banks  carry  deposits  of  over  five  million  dollars. 

The  public  school  system  is  one  of  the  best  equipped  in  the  West.  Casper 
schools  were  among  the  leaders  in  what  has  become  widely  known  as  the  Steever 
cadet  system,  and  the  world's  record  for  wall  scaling  by  school  cadets  is  held 
by  the  Casper  High  School.  A  fine  public  library  adds  to  the  educational  advan- 
tages. The  Baptists,  Catholics,  Episcopalians,  English  and  German  Lutherans, 
and  Presbyterians  all  have  their  own  church  buildings,  and  the  Christian,  United 
Brethren  and  Christian  Scientists  hold  regular  services  in  rented  quarters.  The 
population  of  Casper  in  1915  was  4.040.  Two  years  later  the  citizens  claimed  a 
population  of  7.500. 


Cody,  the  county  seat  of  Park  County,  is  located  at  the  junction  of  two  trans- 
continental automobile  routes — the  Black  and  Yellow  Trail  and  the  Yellowstone 
Highway.  As  late  as  1897  the  town  consisted  of  about  a  dozen  frame  houses 
of  the  "balloon"  type.  Among  the  first  business  men  were  ^^".  P.  \\'ebster  and 
H.  P.  Arnold,  each  of  whom  opened  a  general  store.  A  little  later  M.  L.  Frost 
added  a  third  mercantile  house  and  Frank  L.  Houx  engaged  in  the  real  estate 
and  insurance  business.  \Mien  the  town  was  incorporated  on  August  30,  1901, 
Mr.  Houx  was  elected  the  first  mayor. 

The  town  was  located  by  George  T.  Beck  and  named  for  William  F.  Cody, 
known  all  over  the  world  as  "Buffalo  Bill."  When  Park  County  was  created  in 
iqog,  Cody  was  made  the  seat  of  justice.  The  building  of  the  branch  railroad  from 
Frannie  to  Cody  also  helped  the  town  and  in  1915  it  reported  a  population  of 
1.035,  which  was  probably  below  the  actual  number  of  inhabitants.  The  road  from 
the  railroad  terminus  to  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park — 
the  "Cody  ^^'ay" — was  built  by  the  United  States  Government.  It  is  one  of  the 
best  highw-ays  in  the  West  and  runs  through  a  section  of  country  that  presents 
some  of  the  finest  natural  scenery  in  the  world. 

Cody  has  two  banks,  an  electric  light  and  power  plant,  a  large  flour  mill,  sul- 
phur works  that  cost  $60,000.  a  courthouse  that  cost  $45,000,  modern  public  school 


lb& 

i 

i 

^nKSMrnHPSMK^^^^^^I 

1'-    --^ 

^ 

Copyright  by  Doubleday-FiBter  Photo  PrimliiB  Co. 

VIEW  OF  MAIN  STREET,  CASPER 


CODY  IN  1897 


570  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

buildings,  Catholic,  Episcopal,  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches,  and  the 
Masonic  fraternity  owns  a  temple  that  would  be  a  credit  to  a  much  larger  place. 
The  Hotel  Irma,  which  was  built  by  Buffalo  Bill,  is  celebrated  far  and  wide  for 
the  character  of  its  accommodations.  The  town  also  has  a  good  system  of  water- 
works, two  hospitals,  and  it  is  the  principal  supply  point  for  a  large  and  rich 
agricultural  and  mineral  district. 

COKEVILLE 

On  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad,  in  the  western  part  of  Lincoln  County, 
forty-two  miles  northwest  of  Kemmerer.  is  the  incorporated  Town  of  Cokeville. 
One  would  judge  from  the  name  that  the  town's  chief  interest  lay  in  coal  mining, 
but  such  is  not  the  case,  although  some  coal  is  mined  in  the  vicinity.  Cokeville 
is  a  sheepman's  town,  where  fortunes  have  been  made  in  that  line  of  industry. 
The  first  white  settler  here  was  John  Bourne,  who  located  on  the  townsite  in 
1874.  He  was  followed  by  Sylvanus  Collett  and  family  and  in  1879  the  first 
store  was  opened  by  J.  W.  Stoner.  A  postoffice  was  established  in  1881.  For 
several  years  after  this  Cokeville  was  only  a  trading  post  for  trappers  and  Indians, 
but  when  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad  was  built  in  the  early  '90s  the  town 
began  to  grow. 

Near  the  town.  Smith's  Fork,  one  of  Lincoln  County's  streams  famous  for  trout, 
empties  into  the  Bear  River.  The  Oregon  Short  Line  station  at  Cokeville  is  one  of 
the  best  on  the  entire  line.  Near  the  depot  is  a  large  wool  warehouse,  from  which 
several  million  pounds  of  wool  are  shipped  annually.  The  town  has  a  splendid 
system  of  waterworks,  municipally  owned,  the  water  being  taken  from  a  spring  on 
Pine  Creek,  and  a  municipal  electric  light  and  power  plant  was  installed  in  the 
summer  of  1917.  Cokeville  has  a  bank,  a  telephone  exchange,  a  fine  public  school 
building,  good  cement  sidewalks,  and  mercantile  establishments  handling  all  lines  of 
goods.  The  early  settlers  were  Mormons,  and  there  is  a  large  church  of  the  Latter 
Day  Saints  at  Cokeville.    The  population  in  1915  was  305. 


In  the  northwestern  part  of  Bighorn  County,  fifty  miles  from  Basin,  is  the 
incorporated  Town  of  Cowley.  It  is  located  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy 
Railroad  and  grew  up  after  that  road  was  completed.  Cowley  has  a  large  carbon 
manufacturing  plant  that  cost  $1,000,000,  a  bank,  a  money  order  postoffice,  tele- 
graph and  telephone  service,  several  general  stores,  an  electric  light  and  power 
plant,  a  weekly  newspaper,  a  Latter  Day  Saints  Church  and  an  academy  that  is 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  that  denomination.  The  population  in  1915 
was  630. 


Dayton  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Sheridan  County,  on  the  north 
fork  of  the  Tongue  River,  eighteen  miles  from  Sheridan  and  six  miles  southwest 
of  Ranchester,  which  is  the  nearest  railroad  station.  Among  the  industries  of 
Dayton  are  a  large  flour  mill,  a  nuuiicii^al  light  and  water  plant  and  several  minor 


COLOXEL  WILLIAM  F.  CODY 


572  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

concerns.     The  town  has  a  bank,  a  good  public  school  building,  a  Congregational 
Church  and  is  connected  with  the  surrounding  towns  by  telephone. 

DI.\MONDVILLE 

A  short  distance  south  of  Kemnierer.  the  county  seat  of  Lincoln  County,  is  the 
incorporated  Town  of  Diamoiuhille,  the  headquarters  of  the  Diamond  Coal  and 
Coke  Company,  which  operates  the  mines  at  Diamondville,  Glencoe  and  Oakley. 
The  first  mine  was  opened  here  in  1894  by  Thomas  Sneddon,  and  the  town  has 
grown  up  about  the  mines.  The  mines  of  the  Diamond  Company  employ  1,200  men 
and  the  daily  output  is  3,000  tons.  Aside  from  the  mining  interests  the  principal 
business  concern  is  the  Mountain  Trading  Company,  one  of  the  largest  mercantile 
establishments  in  Western  \\yoming.  which  has  branch  stores  at  Oakley  and 
Glencoe.  The  town  also  has  a  good  hotel,  a  lumber  yard,  a  modern  public  school 
building,  an  electric  light  plant,  a  good  system  of  waterworks,  churches  of  the 
Latter  Day  Saints  and  Methodists,  and  a  number  of  small  business  concerns. 

On  April  2-/,  igi8,  a  mass  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Diamondville  decided  not 
to  hold  the  usual  annual  election,  but  to  continue  the  mayor  and  two  councilmen, 
whose  terms  expire  on  the  ist  of  June,  for  another  year  and  use  the  election  fund 
for  the  purchase  of  Liberty  Bonds.  Accordingly  the  council,  thus  instructed  by 
the  voters,  purchased  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $3,000,  nearly  three  dollars  for  every 
inhabitant,  as  the  population  in  19  [5  was  reported  as  being  1,018. 


The  little  mining  Town  of  Dietz  is  situated  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad.  si.\  miles  north  of  Sheridan,  the  county  seat  of  Sheridan  County. 
It  dates  its  beginning  from  the  time  the  railroad  was  completed  and  now^  ships 
4.000  tons  of  coal  daily.  Dietz  has  a  good  public  school  building.  Catholic  and 
Methodist  churches,  telegraph  and  tele])hone  service,  a  number  of  mercantile 
establi.shments,  and  in  191 5  reported  a  population  of  1 50. 


Situated  on  the  Little  Snake  River,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Carbon  County, 
is  the  incorporated  Town  of  Dixon.  It  is  seventy-five  miles  south  of  Rawlins, 
the  county  seat,  and  sixty  miles  from  Wamsutter,  the  nearest  railroad  point,  with 
which  place  it  is  connected  by  a  daily  mail  stage  line.  Dixon  has  a  large  milling  and 
power  plant,  a  sawmill,  a  bank  which  carries  deposits  of  over  a  cjuarter  of  a 
million  dollars,  a  telephone  exchange,  a  public  school,  several  stores  and  an  Epis- 
copal Church.    Its  altitude  is  6,854  feet  and  in  1915  its  population  was  in. 


When  the  Fremont.  Elkhorn  &  Missouri  \"alley  (now  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western) Railroad  was  built  up  the  North  Platte  River  in  1886,  Douglas  was  not 
then  in  existence.  About  two  hundred  people  were  living  about  Fort  Fetterman. 
which  was  the  only  settlement  of  consequence  in  what  is  now  Converse  County. 


VIEW  OF  EVANSTON 


DOUGLAS  IN 


574  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

When  the  county  was  created  in  1888,  Douglas  was  made  the  county  seat  and  its 
history  really  dates  from  that  time.  Then  came  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railroad  and  Douglas  began  to  assume  an  air  of  importance  among  the  towns  and 
cities  of  the  state.  Situated  near  one  of  the  leading  oil  fields  of  the  state,  in  the 
heart  of  a  rich  agricultural  district,  with  coal  deposits  not  far  away,  the  natural 
advantages  of  Douglas  may  be  readily  understood. 

One  of  the  big  business  institutions  of  the  city  is  the  warehouse  and  offices  of 
the  Chicago  Hide,  Fur  and  Wool  Company,  which  employs  about  twenty-five 
people,  has  50,000  names  upon  its  mailing  list,  and  does  an  annual  business  amount- 
ing to  more  than  a  million  dollars.  The  city  has  three  banks,  two  newspapers,  an 
excellent  system  of  waterworks,  a  postofifice  building  that  cost  $75,000,  a  new 
$50,000  courthouse,  a  $60,000  county  high  school  building,  a  modern  city  hall  that 
cost  $20,000,  and  several  fine  church  edifices.  The  state  fair  grounds  are  located 
here  and  the  city  also  has  a  Chautauqua  Association  that  conducts  a  course  every 
year.  A  land  office  is  located  in  the  postoffice  building.  Douglas  also  has  a  large 
brick  making  plant  that  turns  out  a  fine  quality  of  pressed  brick,  a  wagon  factory, 
an  electric  light  and  power  company,  a  hospital,  a  public  library,  good  hotels,  and 
the  usual  complement  of  mercantile  houses,  garages,  etc.,  found  in  cities  of  its 
class.  In  1910  the  United  States  census  reported  the  population  of  Douglas  as 
2,246,  but  the  state  census  of  191 5,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  the  citizens  of  the  city 
reported  only  1,845.  As  the  school  population  increased  nearly  40  per  cent  annually 
during  the  five  years,  the  Douglas  Commercial  Club  thinks  there  is  something 
wrong  with  the  enumeration  of  191 5  and  estimates  the  population  of  the  city  at 
nearly  double  that  shown  by  the  state  census. 


Dubois  is  located  on  the  \\'ind  River  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Fremont 
County,  about  eighty  miles  northwest  of  Lander,  the  county  seat,  at  an  altitude  of 
6,909  feet.  It  is  probable  that  this  part  of  the  state  was  visited  by  \'erendrye  in 
1733,  by  John  Colter  in  1807,  and  it  is  known  that  Smith,  Jackson  and  Sublette  had 
their  rendezvous  near  here  in  1828.  The  nearest  railroad  point  is  Thermopolis, 
seventy  miles  distant,  but  owing  to  the  mountainous  character  of  the  country 
between  that  place  and  Dubois,  most  of  the  freighting  and  stage  transportation  is 
through  the  Wind  River  Valley  to  Lander.  Dubois  is  the  trading  and  banking 
center  for  a  large  district  in  the  upper  Wind  River  country  and  in  191 5  reported 
a  population  of  142. 

ELK   MOUXT-JiIN 

This  town  takes  its  name  from  the  mountain  range  a  few  miles  south  of  it. 
It  is  situated  in  the  east  central  part  of  Carbon  County,  fifteen  miles  southeast  of 
Hanna.  with  which  place  it  is  connected  by  a  daily  stage  line.  Elk  Mountain  has 
an  electric  light  plant,  a  large  sawmill,  several  general  stores,  a  hotel,  a  money 
order  postoffice,  a  public  school  and  a  telephone  exchange  of  the  Intermountain 
Telephone  Company.    It  had  a  population  of  177  in  1915- 


PUBLIC  LIBRARY,  KVAAJSTUN 


MASONIC  TEMPLE,  EVANSTON 


576  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

ENCAMPMENT 

The  incorporated  Town  of  Encampment  is  located  in  the  southern  part  of 
Carbon  County,  on  the  Grand  Encampment  River  in  the  beautiful  valley  between 
the  Medicine  Bow  and  Sierra' Madre  mountains.  It  was  established  in  1902  and  is 
the  outgrowth  of  the  development  of  the  gold  and  copper  mines  in  that  section 
of  the  state.  The  name  was  adopted  because  it  was  here  that  the  grand  encamp- 
ment of  the  Indian  tribes  was  located  for  the  season's  hunting.  A  smelter  was  built 
here  soon  after  the  town  was  started,  which  added  materially  to  its  growth.  En- 
campment is  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Saratoga  &  Encampment  Railroad, 
which  connects  with  the  Union  Pacific  at  Walcott.  It  has  a  bank,  several  good 
stores,  telegraph  and  telephone  service.  Presbyterian  Church,  a  graded  public 
school  and  a  number  of  cozy  homes.  Situated  at  an  altitude  of  7,270  feet,  at 
the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  the  Grand  Encampment  River,  the  town  is  a 
favorite  resort  for  fishermen  during  the  trout  season.  The  population  in  1915 
was  218.    Three  years  later  it  was  estimated  at  500. 

EV.\XSTOX 

In  June,  1869,  the  site  of  Evanston,  the  county  seat  of  Uinta  County,  was 
selected  by  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  as  a  suitable  place  for  a  town 
The  survey  was  made  the  following  spring  and  the  first  lots  were  offered  foi 
sale  on  June  25.  1870.  E.  S.  Whittier  was  the  first  man  to  purchase  a  lot.  A 
postoffice  had  been  established  in  April  previous  to  the  sale  of  lots,  with  Charles 
T.  Devel  as  the  first  postmaster.  He  held  the  position  for  eight  years,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  E.  S.  Whittier.  The  first  public  school  was  opened  on  July  8, 
1870.  with  eight  pupils  in  attendance,  and  before  winter  the  Baptist,  Methodist 
and  Presbyterian  churches  were  organized.  At  the  election  on  September  6,  1870. 
a  majority  of  the  voters  of  Uinta  County  voted  to  remove  the  county  seat  from 
Merrill  to  Evanston.  In  November,  1871,  the  railroad  shops  were  established 
and  brought  a  number  of  families  to  the  town. 

One  of  the  active  early  inhabitants  was  Maj.  Frank  M.  Foote,  who  was  born  at 
South  Bend,  Ind.,  in  1846  and  came  to  Wyoming  in  1871  as  a  clerk  in  the  Union 
Pacific  office  at  Bryan.  The  next  year  he  was  transferred  to  Evanston.  In 
1875  he  was' elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  and  in  1876 
was  elected  probate  judge  and  treasurer  of  Uinta  County.  He  was  under  sheriff 
in  1881-82  and  then  engaged  in  the  cattle  business,  locating  his  ranch  near  Medicine 
Butte  north  of  the  town.  Major  Foote  was  active  in  organizing  the  \\'yoming 
National  Guard  and  commanded  the  battalion  furnished  by  the  state  in  the 
Spanish-American  war. 

Evanston  was  first  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  approved  on 
December  11,  1873,  but  through  the  influence  of  ^lajor  Foote  and  others  this 
incorporation  was  annulled  in  1875.  The  present  form  of  city  government  was 
established  under  the  act  of  March  4,  1882. 

The  city  is  situated  on  the  Bear  River,  near  some  extensive  coal  deposits  and 
is  one  of  the  richest  irrigated  agricultural  districts  in  Western  Wyoming.  Its 
altitude  is  6,754  feet.  It  is  a  division  point  on  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  railroad 
company  has  here  extensive  shops,  a  roundhouse  that  cost  $750,000,  and  one  of 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  577 

the  finest  passenger  stations  on  the  entire  line.  The  Government  erected  a  new 
postoffice  building  a  few  years  ago,  at  a  cost  of  $184,000,  the  courthouse  is  a 
substantial  and  commodious  structure,  the  city  has  a  pubhc  hbrary  building  that 
cost  $11,000  and  the  state  insane  asylum  is  located  at  Evanston.  The  public 
utilities  include  a  splendid  system  of  waterworks  and  a  modern  electric  light  and 
power  plant. 

Evanston  has  three  banks  that  carry  deposits  of  about  two  million  dollars,  a 
large  flour  mill,  grain  elevators,  hotels  and  theaters,  live  newspapers,  churches 
of  the  Catholic,  Episcopal,  Latter  Day  Saints,  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  denomi- 
nations, a  public  school  system  that  is  unsurpassed  by  any  city  of  the  state,  sub- 
stantial business  buildings  and  many  pretty  liomes.  The  population  in  1915  was 
2,7.56. 

GILLETTE 

Near  the  center  of  Campbell  County  is  the  Town  of  Gillette,  the  county  seat. 
It  is  a  division  point  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  that  runs  from 
Lincoln,  Neb.,  to  Billings,  Mont.,  and  has  important  railroad  interests.  The 
town  was  incorporated  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  and  when 
Campbell  County  was  created  in  191 1.  it  was  made  the  county  seat.  Since  then  its 
growth  has  been  more  rapid  and  substantial,  the  population  in  191 5  being  reported 
as  505. 

Gillette  has  a  municipal  lighting  plant,  a  system  of  waterworks,  a  good  sewer 
system  for  a  town  of  its  size,  a  new  $25,000  high  school  building.  Catholic,  Episco- 
pal atid  Presbyterian  churches,  a  creamery,  two  banks  with  deposits  of  nearly  a 
million  dollars,  a  hotel,  a  telephone  exchange,  etc.  The  Commercial  Club  of 
Gillette  is  composed  of  wide  awake,  energetic  business  men  and  is  active  in 
advertising  the  advantages  of  the  town  with  a  view  of  attracting  new  business 
enterprises. 


The  development  of  the  oil  fields  in  Wyoming  has  converted  a  number  of  old 
"cow  towns"  into  towns  of  the  modern  and  progressive  type.  Among  these  is 
Glenrock.  the  second  town  in  importance  of  Converse  County.  It  is  located  on  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  and  the  North  Platte  River,  twenty-four  miles 
west  of  Douglas,  near  extensive  coal  beds  and  the  western  boundary  of  the  Big 
Muddy  oil  fields.  In  1915  the  state  census  reported  a  population  of  220.  and  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1918  the  population  was  estimated  at  1.500.  In  April.  1918, 
the  people  of  the  town  voted  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $40,000,  in  addition  to  some 
$60,000  previously  authorized,  to  establish  a  system  of  waterworks,  an  electric 
light  plant,  and  to  extend  the  sewer  system. 

Glenrock  has  two  banks,  an  oil  refinery,  a  new  $27,000  public  school  building, 
an  active  commercial  club,  three  large  lumber  yards.  Baptist,  Catholic  and 
Episcopal  churches,  a  number  of  stores  handling  all  lines  of  merchandise,  hand- 
some residences,  and  early  in  1918  the  Wyoming  Building  and  Investment  Com 
pany  announced  its  intention  to  erect  a  hotel  to  cost  $150,000. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


Granger,  also  called  the  "Junction  City, '  is  located  in  the  western  part  of 
Sweetwater  County,  thirty  miles  west  from  Green  River,  the  county  seat.  It  is 
the  terminus  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad,  which  here  joins  the  Union 
Pacific.  An  important  industry  is  that  of  furnishing  ties  to  the  two  railroads. 
The  ties  are  cut  in  the  mountains  on  Ham's  Fork  and  Black's  Fork  of  the  Green 
River  and  floated  down  to  the  "tie-boom"  a  short  distance  east  of  the  town. 
Thousands  of  railroad  ties  are  supplied  to  the  railroad  companies  annually  and 
during  the  summer  months  the  "boom"  is  one  of  the  busiest  places  in  Sweetwater 
County.  In  1917  the  preliminary  steps  were  taken  to  establish  an  electric  light 
plant  and  a  system  of  waterworks  for  the  town.  The  population  in  1915  is  given 
in  the  state  census  as  134. 

GREEN   RIVER 

Probably  no  county  seat  in  Wyoming  has  a  more  picturesque  and  romantic 
site  than  Green  River,  the  county  seat  of  Sweetwater  County.  It  stands  upon  an 
elevated  position  on  the"  banks  of  the  Green  River,  at  the  western  end  of  the 
Table  Mountains.  Passengers  on  the  Union  Pacific  have  looked  out  of  the  car 
windows  and  speculated  on  the  height  of  Castle  Rock,  but  few  of  them  have 
realized  that  its  summit  is  more  than  one  thousand  feet  above  the  railroad 
station  grounds.  Here,  too,  is  the  Pulpit  Rock,  from  which  Brigham  Young 
delivered  a  sermon  to  his  Mormon  followers  when  they  were  on  their  way  to  Salt 
Lake  Valley  in  1847.  The  main  street  in  Green  River  was  once  the  famous 
Oregon  Trail,  and  later  the  Overland  stages  passed  along  this  street  on  their  way  to 
and  from  the  Pacific  Coast.  Here  Col.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston's  army  crossed 
the  Green  River  in  1857,  when  the  little  frontier  town  was  composed  entirely 
of  adobe  houses.  At  Green  River  the  expeditions  of  Maj.  J.  W.  Powell,  Julius 
F.  Stone,  the  Kolb  brothers  and  others  outfitted  for  the  exploration  of  the  Green 
River  and  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado.  An  account  of  these  expeditions  is 
given  in  another  chapter  of  this  work. 

Green  River  was  founded  in  April,  186S,  and  for  years  after  that  it  was 
the  "frontier,"  where  civilization  and  savagery  met  on  almost  an  equal  footing 
and  struggled  for  the  mastery.  The  town  was  the  home  of  quite  a  number  of  men 
who  played  important  parts  in  the  public  afifairs  of  Wyoming  during  the  terri- 
torial days  and  in  the  early  years  of  statehood.  Among  them  were  A.  C.  Beck- 
with,  Edward  J.  Morris,  P.  L.  Williams,  Patrick  Barrett,  William  A.  Johnson, 
A.  E.  Bradbury,  John  Dykins,  T.  S.  Taliaferro  and  Asbury  B.  Conaway,  chief 
justice  of  the  Wyoming  Supreme  Court.  Not  only  did  these  men  give  strength 
and  character  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Wyoming,  but  their  influence  extended 
to  the  adjoining  states  in  numerous  instances. 

The  Green  River  of  the  present  is  one  of  the  actixe,  progressive  cities  of 
Wyoming.  It  has  two  banks,  the  largest  brewery  in  the  state,  a  great  caustic 
soda  manufactory,  a  fine  public  library  building  which  was  the  gift  of  Andrew 
Carnegie,  a  substantial  court-house  for  transacting  the  business  of  Sweetwater 
County,  modern  pttblic  school  buildings,  electric  light  and  waterworks,  beautiful 
public  parks,  several  large  mercantile  houses,  Catholic,  Congregational,  Episcopal 


SCENES    TAKEX    WHEN    THE    FIRST    ENLISTED   BOYS   LEFT    GREEN   RIVER   FOR 
THEIE  ENCAMPMENT,  PREPARATORY  TO  ENTERING  THE  WORLD'S  WAR 


580  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

and  Methodist  chtirches.  and  many  handsome  residences.    The  population  in  1915 
was  1,219. 


One  of  the  most  important  shipping  points  in  the  County  of  Bighorn  is  the 
town  of  Greybull,  situated  on  the  Denver  &  Billings  division  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  eight  miles  north  of  Basin.  The  people  of  this 
town  take  pleasure  in  referring  to  it  as  the  "Oil  City,"  on  account  of  the  great 
oil  fields  in  the  vicinity.  Greybull  has  two  oil  refineries,  with  a  daily  capacity  of 
30,000  barrels,  the  railroad  company  has  a  roundhouse  at  this  place,  fuel  and 
light  are  supplied  by  the  natural  gas  wells  near  the  town  and  there  is  also  an 
electric  light  plant. 

Greybull  takes  its  name  from  the  Greybull  River,  which  empties  into  the  Big 
Horn  a  short  distance  above  the  town.  It  has  two  banks,  good  streets,  cement 
sidewalks,  a  modern  public  school  building,  Baptist,  Episcopal  and  Presbyterian 
churches,  and  a  number  of  mercantile  concerns,  being  the  principal  supply  point 
for  a  large  farming  district  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin.  The  population  in  1915  was 
421,  an  increase  of  163  during  the  preceding  five  years,  and  the  growth  since  the 
census  of  191 5  was  taken  has  been  in  even  greater  proportion. 

GUERNSEY 

Guernsey  is  the  second  largest  town  in  Platte  County.  It  is  situated  on  the 
North  Platte  River  at  the  junction  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  and  the 
Colorado  &  Wyoming  railroads,  in  the  center  of  a  rich  mining  district,  and  ships 
large  quantities  of  iron  and  copper  ores.  The  "Burlington  Route"  has  established 
stock  yards  and  shearing  pens  at  Guernsey,  so  that  wool  and  live  stock  are  among 
the  leading  exports.  The  railroad  company  also  has  a  roundhouse  at  this  point. 
Guernsey  has  two  banks,  a  telephone  exchange,  a  good  public  school  building, 
the  usual  number  of  general  stores  found  in  towns  of  its  class,  and  in  191 5 
reported  a  population  of  239. 


In  the  Rock  Springs  mining  district  of  Sweetwater  County,  on  a  branch  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  about  eight  miles  northeast  of  Rock  Springs,  is  the 
little  mining  town  of  Gunn,  which  ships  large  quantities  of  coal  every  year.  It 
was  incorporated  under  the  general  laws  of  Wyoming  about  1908,  and  in  1915 
had  a  population  of  227. 


Although  this  town  is  not  incorporated,  it  is  one  of  the  important  shipping 
points  and  trading  centers  of  Carbon  County.  It  is  located  on  the  main  line  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  forty  miles  east  of  Rawlins,  the  county  seat,  has  elec- 
tric light  and  waterworks,  an  opera  house,  a  bank.  Episcopal  and  Methodist 
churches,  telegraph  and  telephone  sen'ice,  and  is  a  great  stage  center,  daily  stage 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  581 

lines  connecting  a  number  of  the  surrounding  towns  with  the  railroad  at  Hanna. 
The  population  in  1915  was  1,347. 

HARTVILLE 

In  1881  H.  T.  Miller  discovered  the  mineral  deposits  where  the  town  of  Hart- 
ville  now  stands,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Platte  County.  I.  S.  Bartlett  inter- 
ested a  number  of  capitalists  in  the  mines  and  organized  the  Wyoming  Copper 
Company,  which  purchased  the  "Sunrise"  mine  and  erected  a  smelter  at  Fairbank. 
The  first  miners  came  from  the  Black  Hills  and  Harlville  was  for  several  years 
a  typical  western  mining  town,  with  the  customary  saloons,  gambling  houses, 
dance  halls,  etc.  With  the  building  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad 
up  the  Platte  Valley,  much  of  Hartville's  business  was  diverted  to  the  towns 
that  sprang  up  along  the  railroad.  Then  a  branch  of  the  railroad  was  built  to 
the  Sunrise  mine  and  the  town  regained  some  of  its  lost  prestige,  without  the 
"wide  open"  features.     In  1918  the  population  was  reported  as  being  205. 

The  principal  business  of  Hartville  at  the  present  time  is  the  quarrying  of 
limestone  from  the  quarries  adjoining  the  town.  These  quarries  were  opened 
about  1906  by  I.  S.  Bartlett  &  Sons.  From  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  men 
are  employed  in  the  two  quarries,  one  owned  by  I.  S.  Bartlett  &  Company  and 
the  other  by  the  Great  Western  Sugar  Company. 


Ten  miles  east  of  Lander,  on  the  Popo  Agie  River  and  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad,  is  the  town  of  Hudson,  the  third  largest  in  Fremont  County. 
Three  large  coal  mines  are  near  the  town  and  the  railroad  company  gives  Hudson 
the  credit  of  shipping  more  live  stock  than  any  station  west  of  Casper.  The  town 
has  two  banks,  a  modern  hotel,  a  weekly  newspaper,  a  telephone  exchange, 
Catholic  and  Methodist  churches,  lodges  of  the  leading  fraternal  orders,  good 
public  schools,  electric  light  and  waterworks.  The  population  in  1915  was  428, 
an  increase  of  109  during  the  preceding  five  years.  Hudson  is  on  the  line  of  the 
Shoshone  Indian  reservation  and  is  an  important  trading  point  for  the  rich  farm- 
ing district  in  the  Popo  Agie  Valley. 

JACKSON 

As  early  as  1828  the  region  south  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  in  what 
is  now  the  northern  part  of  Lincoln  County,  was  given  the  name  of  "Jackson's 
Hole"  by  W.  L.  Sublette,  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  his  partner,  David  E. 
Jackson,  had  passed  the  preceding  winter  there.  Since  that  time  the  name  "Jack- 
son" has  been  applied  to  other  objects  in  that  section,  and  finally  to  a  town  about 
fifteen  miles  from  the  Idaho  line.  Jackson  is  beautifully  situated  in  tllie  Snake 
River  Valley,  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  Teton  Pass,  through  which  a  stage  line 
runs  between  Jackson  and  Victor,  Ida.,  the  nearest  railroad  town.  It  is  in  the 
big  game  country  and  the  elk  refuge  reservation  is  not  far  from  the  town.  Jack- 
son is  the  principal  trading  post  and  banking  town  for  the  settlers  in  a  large  part 
of  the  Snake  River  Valley  and  in  1915  reported  a  population  of  204.  It  is  the 
largest  town  in  the  northern  part  of  Lincoln  County. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 


In  the  southern  part  of  Johnson  County,  on  the  Powder  River  and  about 
forty-five  miles  south  of  Buffalo,  is  the  incorporated  town  of  Kaycee.  The  state 
census  for  191 5  gives  Kaycee  a  population  of  57,  but  the  residents  of  the  town 
claim  nearly  ten  times  that  number.  They  also  claim  that  their  town  is  the 
largest  in  the  United  States  without  a  railroad.  These  claims  are  at  least  partially 
sustained  by  the  fact  that  Kaycee  has  two  banks  and  a  large  graded  public  school 
building,  accommodations  that  would  hardly  be  required  by  the  number  of  inhab- 
itants reported  by  the  census.    Daily  stages  run  between  Kaycee  and  Buffalo. 

KEM  MERER 

\\'hen  the  first  coal  mine  was  opened  at  Dianiondville  in  1894.  the  attention 
of  capitalists  was  drawn  to  the  new  field.  P.  J.  Quealy  went  to  Xew  York  and 
succeeded  in  interesting  M.  S.  Kemmerer  in  the  coal  mining  proposition.  Three 
years  later  he  made  a  trip  to  Boston  and  made  arrangements  with  Samuel  Carr, 
president  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad  Company,  to  build  a  branch  to  the 
coal  fields.  In  September,  1897,  the  Town  of  Kemmerer  took  its  place  upon  the 
map  of  Wyoming  and  was  named  for  M.  S.  Kemmerer,  whose  financial  aid  made 
the  de\elopment  of  the  coal  industry  possible.  (3ne  of  the  early  residents  tells 
the  following  story  of  that  period: 

"Back  in  1897  I  helped  shoot  up  the  Town  of  Kemmerer.  You  see,  we  were 
working  at  the  Oregon  Short  Line  grading  camp  near  the  old  station  of  Hams- 
fork,  and  one  Sunday  moming  three  or  four  of  us  decided  to  kill  time  by  walking 
down  the  track  to  see  what  we  could  find  to  shoot  at.  When  we  got  to  Kemmerer 
the  inhabitants  treated  us  very  coldly  and  a  few  of  them  actually  'sassed'  us. 
Near  the  corner  where  the  First  National  Bank  now  stands  a  particular  saucy 
individual  so  riled  us  that  we  began  shooting  and  did  not  quit  until  nineteen  of 
the  inhabitants  were  killed." 

Then,  after  a  pause  long  enough  for  his  listener  to  show  horror  at  such  a 
blood-curdling  affair,  and  with  a  peculiar  twinkle  in  his  eye,  he  proceeds  to  explain 
that  the  town  at  that  time  was  only  a  prairie  dog  town,  and  that  the  nineteen 
victims  so  ruthlessly  slaughtered  were  nothing  more  than  rodents.  The  story, 
however,  serves  to  illustrate  the  almost  miraculous  growth  of  Kemmerer  during 
the  first  twenty  years  of  its  existence. 

While  the  founding  of  Kemmerer  was  due  primarily  to  the  eft'orts  of  P.  J. 
Quealy,  general  manager  of  the  Kemmerer  Coal  Company,  other  pioneers  have 
cooperated  in  building  up  the  city.  Dr.  W.  A.  Hocker  was  the  first  physician 
and  Col.  H.  E.  Christmas  was  the  first  lawyer.  The  former  came  to  Evanston 
in  1873  and  practiced  in  that  city  until  Kemmerer  was  established.  He  then 
located  in  the  "tent  town"  and  has  been  one  of  its  useful  and  influential  citizens 
ever  since.  Colonel  Christmas  came  to  Wyoming  in  1891,  locating  first  at  Rock 
Springs,  but  came  to  Kemmerer  soon  after  the  town  was  established. 

Kemmerer  was  incorporated  early  in  the  present  century  and  when  Lincoln 
County  was  created  by  act  of  the  Legislature  in  191 1  it  was  made  the  county 
seat.  The  Oregon  Short  Line  has  railroad  shops,  roundhouse  and  extensive 
yards  for  handling  the  immense  coal  shipments,  a  fine  city  hall  and  modern  jail 


\ 

-4 

^ 

^■H  RIYTH-FARGO-H0SWN5  Ca  ;: 

Jj 

mmi 

i-""'   '    '^       ' 

1 

MARSHALL  DAY,  KEiLMEKER 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  KEMMERER 


584  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

have  recently  been  erected,  there  are  two  banks  with  deposits  aggregating  about 
two  milHon  dollars,  three  public  parks,  one  of  which  was  given  to  the  city  by 
P.  J.  Ouealy,  two  weekly  newspapers,  several  lodges  of  fraternal  societies,  Catho- 
lic, Episcopal,  Methodist  and  Latter-Day  Saints  churches,  five  hotels,  and  mer- 
cantile houses  of  all  kinds  with  stocks  as  large  and  well  selected  as  are  frequently 
found  in  cities  with  a  much  larger  population.  The  city  has  a  fine  system  of 
waterworks,  and  electric  light  plant  and  an  excellent  public  school  system.  Late 
in  the  year  1916  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  was  organized  with  Joseph  E.  Burch, 
president,  and  E.  L.  Smith,  secretary.  This  organization  is  forwarding  the  work 
of  good  roads,  to  secure  a  public  library  and  a  new  postoffice  building.  The 
Lincoln  County  Miners'  Hospital  is  located  at  Kemmerer.  The  population  of 
the  city  in  191 5  was  1,481,  an  increase  of  638  during  the  preceding  five  years, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1918  the  population  was  estimated  at  2,000. 


One  of  the  oldest  incorporated  cities  in  Wyoming  is  Lander,  the  county  seat 
of  Fremont  County.  It  is  situated  in  the  beautiful  Popo  Agie  Valley,  near  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  Shoshone  Indian  reservation,  and  is  the  terminus  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad.  It  is  also  on  the  Denver- Yellowstone 
highway,  one  of  the  automobile  routes  leading  to  the  Yellowstone  National  Park. 
The  Shoshone  reservation  was  established  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Bridger  (July 
3,  i868j  and  Lander  soon  afterward  came  into  prominence  as  a  trading  post. 
In  the  preceding  chapter,  in  connection  with  the  historical  sketch  of  Fremont 
County,  the  early  settlers  in  this  section  of  the  state  are  mentioned,  some  of 
whom  were  active  in  founding  the  town.  The  old  Lander  Trail  led  from  here 
through  Fremont  and  Lincoln  coimties  to  the  mining  camps  of  Idaho  and 
Montana.     In  early  days  it  was  one  of  the  important  trails  of  Wyoming. 

When  the  railroad  was  completed  to  Lander,  the  town  gained  additional  pres- 
tige as  a  commercial  center  and  distributing  point  for  the  surrounding  country. 
It  was  incorporated  before  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  and  has  increased 
in  population  from  525  in  1890  to  1,726  in  1915.  Besides  being  the  great  trading 
point  for  the  rich  agricultural  region  in  the  Popo  Agie  Valley,  Lander  also  has 
large  mineral  interests.  Coal,  gold,  copper  and  asbestos  are  all  found  in  paying 
quantities  near  the  city.  About  190 1  Capt.  John  B.  Henderson  located  in  Lander 
and  began  developing  one  of  the  largest  placer  mining  fields  in  W'yoming.  In 
191 1  he  became  interested  in  the  oil  business,  with  the  result  that  there  are  now 
five  producing  fields  in  Fremont  County  contiguous  to  the  county  seat. 

Lander  has  three  banks,  a  system  of  waterworks  operated  by  gravity  pres- 
sure that  cost  $75,000,  an  armory  and  theater  that  cost  $20,000,  a  $15,000  public 
library  that  was  presented  to  the  city  by  Andrew  Carnegie,  a  Federal  building 
that  cost  $165,000,  the  Bishop  Randall  Hospital  that  cost  $40,000,  and  in  1918 
a  new  hotel  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  $100,000.  The  Wyoming  School  for 
Defective  Children  was  located  at  Lander  by  the  Legislature  of  191 1  and  the 
state  has  expended  on  this  institution  about  $100,000.  A  $20,000  high  school 
building  was  erected  by  the  city  a  few  years  ago,  and  in  191 7  a  county  voca- 
tional school  was  authorized,  to  cost  $100,000.  A  well  equipped  electric  light 
plant  provides  light  for  the  streets  and  buildings  and  the  city  has  a  modern  sewer 


586  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

system.  From  this  brief  summary  it  may  be  seen  that  Lander  is  better  pro- 
vided with  pubhc  buildings  and  pubHc  utihties  than  a  majority  of  the  cities  of 
its  size.  The  Congregationalists.  EpiscopaHans  and  Methodists  have  comfort- 
able houses  of  worship  in  the  city. 

Lander  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Fremont  County  Fair  Association,  which 
holds  annual  exhibits  of  the  live  stock,  farm  products,  minerals,  etc.  The  Com- 
mercial Club  is  an  active  body  of  the  progressive  business  men  and  has  done  a 
great  deal  of  systematic,  effective  work  for  the  promotion  of  the  general  welfare 
of  the  city  and  its  people.  Stage  lines  run  from  Lander  to  Fort  Washakie,  South 
Pass,  Atlantic  Citv,  Pinedale  and  intermediate  towns. 


In  the  State  of  \\'yoming  the  name  "Laramie"  is  applied  to  a  range  of  moun- 
tains, a  river,  a  military  post,  a  county  and  a  city.  One  of  the  early  trappers  in 
this  section  was  named  La  Ramie,  and  he  has  thus  left  the  impress  of  his  char- 
acter and  wanderings  upon  a  number  of  the  features  of  the  state,  even  though 
the  name  is  somewhat  differently  written  and  pronounced. 

The  City  of  Laramie,  the  fourth  in  the  state  in  population,  was  platted  by  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  in  April,  1868,  and  within  a  week  about  four 
hundred  lots  were  sold.  In  May  the  railroad  was  completed  to  Laramie  and  by 
that  time  nearly  five  hundred  houses  had  been  erected,  most  of  them  of  a 
transient  and  flimsy  character.  When  Albany  County  was  established  by  the 
first  Territorial  Legislature,  Laramie  was  made  the  county  seat.  The  same 
Legislature  located  the  penitentiary  here,  and  probably  no  town  in  the  West  at 
that  time  stood  in  greater  need  of  such  an  institution.  Following  the  construction 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  came  a  number  of  lawless  "undesirables,"  and  a 
vigilance  committee  was  organized  to  preserve  order.  As  the  railroad  was  con- 
tinued westward,  many  of  these  turbulent  indixiduals  "passed  on"  and  Laramie 
grew  into  a  respectable  community. 

Laramie  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  approved 
on  December  12,  1873.  The  act  provided  that  the  first  election  should  be  held 
on  January  13,  1874,  and  that  subsequent  elections  should  be  held  annually  on  the 
same  date,  unless  the  13th  came  on  Sunday,  in  which  case  the  election  should  be 
held  on  the  14th.  The  five  trustees  were  each  to  receive  a  salary  of  $12  per 
year  and  were  given  power  to  pass  ordinances  for  the  government  of  the  town, 
improve  the  streets,  provide  fire  protection,  etc.  This  incorporation  lasted  until 
the  present  form  of  city  government  was  established  some  years  later. 

The  Municipalities  of  Wyoming  have  been  fortunate  in  having  their  affairs 
administered  by  public  officials  who  have  usually  been  faithful  to  their  trust.  One 
of  the  few  defalcations  occurred  in  the  City  of  Laramie.  On  Sunday,  April  24, 
1893,  Charles  T.  Gale,  city  treasurer,  left  for  Denver,  ostensibly  to  consult  an 
oculist.  After  he  had  been  absent  for  several  days  the  city  council  caused  his 
books  to  be  examined  and  a  shortage  of  nearly  twelve  thotisand  dollars  was  found 
in  his  accounts.  LTpon  the  petition  of  Charles  W.  Bramel,  then  prosecuting  at- 
torney of  Albany  County,  Governor  Osborne  offered  a  reward  of  $250  for  Gale's 
apprehension.  Shortly  after  this  it  was  learned  that  the  defaulting  treasurer  was 
in  San  Francisco,  where  he  was  arrested  and  brought  back  to  Laramie  on  A  lay  18, 


IVINSOX  MEMORIAL  HOSl'ITAL.  LAHA.MIK 
Erected  by  Eihvard  Ivinson   in   191 G  as  a   memorial  to  his  wife.  Jane  Ivinson. 


xtS^^^H^H^^^^.. . 

fc^ 

-'■.:■  . 

^^mP:,             •*»«^ffff^^ 

'                                                .'  i  Is 

1 

-f^  L>-^^jJ 

sn 
ie 

'^^MHIIIIIr^          -T^ 

-  -  m 

£;: 

CAKXEUIE  LIBRARY.  LARAillE 


588  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

1893,  in  charge  of  a  deputy  sheriff.  Gale  was  a  tailor  by  trade  and  claimed  that 
he  had  merely  gone  to  San  Francisco  to  learn  new  methods  of  cutting  garments. 
The  shortage  was  made  good  by  his  bondsmen. 

In  manufacturing  Laramie  leads  all  the  cities  of  the  state.  The  Union  Pa- 
cific Company  established  rolling  mills  and  machine  shops  here  at  a  compara- 
tively early  date.  The  city  has  three  cement  plaster  mills,  a  Portland  cement 
works,  brick  making  plants  that  turn  out  a  fine  quality  of  pressed  brick,  a  tie 
treating  plant,  a  large  brewery,  saw  and  planing  mills,  tanneries,  a  flour  mill,  and 
a  number  of  smaller  concerns,  such  as  creameries,  bottling  works,  steam  laun- 
dries, bakeries,  etc.  A  glass  factory  was  started  some  years  ago,  but  for  lack 
of  sufficient  capital  it  failed  to  meet  the  anticipations  of  its  projectors. 

The  water  supply  comes  from  mountain  springs  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
from  the  city.  These  springs  have  a  flow  of  2,000,000  gallons  daily  and  the 
water  is  noted  for  its  purity.  The  streets  and  buildings  are  lighted  by  electricity 
furnished  by  an  up-to-date  plant,  and  the  Laramie  Fire  Department  is  one  of  the 
best  in  the  state.  An  important  feature  of  Laramie  is  the  stock  yards,  where 
cattle  in  transit  to  the  Omaha  and  Chicago  markets  are  fed  and  watered.  The 
three  banks  of  the  city  carry  deposits  of  nearly  four  million  dollars. 

Laramie  is  the  seat  of  the  State  University  of  Wyoming,  a  history  of  which 
is  given  in  the  chapter  relating  to  education.  The  state  fish  hatchery  is  also 
located  here.  The  city  has  a  fine  Carnegie  public  library,  daily  and  weekly  news- 
papers, Baptist,  Catholic,  Christian  Science,  Episcopal,  Methodist  and  Presby- 
terian church  organizations,  all  of  which  own  fine  church  buildings,  wide,  well- 
shaded  streets,  the  Ivinson  ^Memorial  Hospital,  and  modern  school  buildings.  The 
cornerstone  of  the  Laramie  High  School  building  was  laid  on  December  7,  1910, 
by  the  Masonic  lodge  of  the  city,  and  the  next  year  the  same  lodge  erected  a 
$20,000  temple.  Other  fraternal  societies  are  well  represented.  The  population 
of  Laramie  is  given  in  the  state  census  of  191 5  as  4,962.  The  United  States  cen- 
sus of  1910  reported  a  population  of  8,237,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  much  of 
the  apparent  decrease  can  be  accounted  for  by  errors  in  the  last  enumeration. 


About  ten  miles  south  of  the  Montana  line,  in  the  northern  part  of  Bighcrm 
County,  is  the  incorporated  town  of  Lovell.  It  is  a  station  on  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Railroad,  occupying  a  beautiful  site  on  the  banks  of  the  Sho- 
shone River,  in  one  of  the  best  fruit  growing  sections  of  the  state.  Oil  and  natural 
gas  are  found  in  abundance  only  three  miles  from  the  town.  Lovell  has  a  sugar 
mill  for  the  manufacture  of  beet  sugar,  two  banks,  two  Latter-Day  Saints 
churches,  a  good  public  school  building,  a  hotel  and  a  number  of  well  stocked 
stores.  On  September  11,  igoS,  Lovell  was  almost  "wiped  off  the  map"  by  a 
tornado,  but  it  has  been  rebuilt  more  substantially  than  before  and  in  191 5  re- 
ported a  population  of  640.  In  the  rebuilding  of  the  town  the  Commercial  Club 
played  an  important  part. 


Lusk,  the  county  seat  of  Niobrara  County,  is  located  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  county,  on  the  Niobrara  River  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  in 


MASONIC  TEMPLE,  LARAMIE 


ELKS'  HOME,  LARAMIE 


590  HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG 

the  midst  of  one  of  the  best  dry  farming  sections  of  the  state.  Niobrara  County 
was  created  in  191 1,  hence  Lusk  is  one  of  the  new  county  seats  of  Wyoming. 
The  town,  however,  came  into  existence  about  1880.  It  is  located  at  the  point 
where  the  old  Cheyenne-Deadwood  Trail  crossed  the  Niobrara  River,  but  until 
the  completion  of  the  railroad  it  was  only  one  of  numerous  insignificant  villages 
in  Wyoming.  Since  it  became  the  county  seat  its  growth  has  been  both  rapid  and 
substantial.  Early  in  the  year  1918  oil  was  struck  about  twenty  miles  northwest 
of  Lusk,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Buck  Creek  dome,  and  prospectors  have  been 
investigating  the  country  between  that  place  and  Lusk.  Another  "find"  was  made 
northeast  of  the  town  and  on  the  strength  of  these  discoveries  the  price  of  lots 
began  to  advance  and  a  number  of  new  buildings  were  erected. 

Lusk  has  two  banks,  waterworks,  an  electric  light  plant,  a  good  sewer  sys- 
tem, a  telephone  exchange  of  the  Lusk-Manville  Telephone  Company,  a  new 
school  building  that  is  the  pride  of  the  town,  several  general  stores,  drug,  hard- 
ware and  clothing  houses,  hotels  and  restaurants,  and  a  number  of  pretty  homes. 
The  Civic  Improvement  Club,  an  organization  of  women,  have  started  a  move- 
ment for  a  Carnegie  Library,  which  will  be  established  in  1918.  The  Catholics, 
Congregationalists  and  Episcopalians  have  neat  church  buildings  and  the  town 
boasts  two  weekly  newspapers  (the  Herald  and  the  Standard).  In  191 5  the  popu- 
lation was  434.     Many  carloads  of  live  stock  are  shipped  annually. 


About  forty  miles  east  of  Evanston,  in  the  Black's  Fork  \'alley  and  near  the 
old  Fort  Bridger  military  resenation,  is  the  incorpora:ted  town  of  Lyman.  The 
nearest  railroad  station  is  Carter  on  the  Union  Pacific,  eleven  miles  northwest. 
Daily  stages  run  between  this  station  and  Lyman.  The  town  has  a  bank,  a  money 
order  postofiice,  a  weekly  newspaper  called  the  Bridger  Valley  Enterprise,  a  pub- 
lic library,  a  church  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints,  a  hotel,  a  sawmill,  a  flour  mill  and 
several  general  stores-.  Lyman  is  one  of  the  old  towns  of  Uinta  County  and  in 
1915  reported  a  population  of  182. 

M.\NDERSON 

One  of  the  recently  incorporated  towns  of  Wyoming  is  IManderson,  situated 
in  the  southern  part  of  Bighorn  County  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy 
Railway  and  the  Big  Horn  River.  It  is  the'  natural  gateway  to  the  Big  Horn 
Basin  and  is  the  nearest  railroad  station  to  the  newly  developed  Hidden  Dome  oil 
field.  It  has  a  bank,  a  flour  mill,  a  public  hall,  a  large  outfitting  store  and  several 
smaller  mercantile  houses,  a  modern  public  school  building,  and  the  Baptists  have 
a  fine  church  edifice.  Stage  lines  connect  Ten  Sleep,  Hyattville  and  some  of  the 
other  adjacent  towns  with  the  railroad  at  Manderson.  The  population  in  191 5 
was  225.  Considerable  quantities  of  coal  and  several  carloads  of  live  stock  are 
shipped  from  Manderson  every  year. 


Thirty  miles  from  the  Nebraska  state  line,  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Nio- 
brara River,  in  the  southern  part  of  Niobrara  County,  is  the  thriving  little  town 


592  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

of  Manville.  It  is  the  first  station  west  of  Lusk  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  and  is  an  important  shipping  point  for  the  stock  raisers  of  that  section. 
The  Lance  Creek  oil  fields  lie  north  of  the  town  and  recent  developments  there 
have  had  the  effect  of  adding  materially  to  Manville';  prosperity.  The  town  has  a 
bank,  a  system  of  waterworks  that  cost  $21,000,  two  large  general  stores,  a  hotel, 
a  fine  public  school  building,  a  telephone  exchange,  a  grain  elevator,  and  the 
customary  number  of  minor  business  enterprises.  A  few  miles  southwest  of  the 
town  are  the  historic  "Spanish  Diggings,"  where  the  remains  of  probably  the 
most  ancient  stone  quarries  in  the  United  States  may  be  seen — relics  of  a  bygone 
civilization.  Manville  was  incorporated  after  the  census  of  1910  was  taken  and 
in  1915  it  reported  a  population  of  133.  The  discovery  of  oil  in  the  vicinity  since 
then  has  more  than  quadrupled  the  number  of  inhabitants. 

MEDICINE  BOW 

In  the  eastern  part  of  Carbon  County  is  the  railroad  station  and  incorporated 
town  of  Medicine  Bow,  on  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  It  is 
situated  in  the  irrigated  district  of  the  Medicine  Bow  Valley,  from  which  it  takes 
its  name.  Like  Topsy  in  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  the  town  "just  growed."  Begin- 
ning as  a  small  shipping  station  for  the  stock  raisers  in  the  valley,  it  has  devel- 
oped into  a  town  of  considerable  importance  to  the  surrounding  country.  It  has 
a  bank,  general  stores,  a  postofiice,  a  hotel,  etc.  Medicine  Bow  was  incorporated 
in  1903  and  in  1915  had  a  population  of  170. 

MEETEETSE 

This  town  is  situated  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Park  County,  on  the  Grey- 
bull  River,  a  short  distance  above  the  mouth  of  the  Meeteetse  Creek,  from  which 
it  takes  its  name,  and  about  thirty  miles  from  Cody,  the  :ounty  seat.  Stage  lines 
connect  Meeteetse  with  Cody  and  Basin,  but  a  railroad  line  is  in  contemplation 
which  will  give  the  town  modern  transportation  facilities  when  it  is  completed. 
Oil  fields  and  coal  mines  near  the  town  offer  inducements  for  the  building  of 
the  road.  Meeteetse  has  two  banks,  a  weekly  newspaper,  general  stores,  etc.,  and 
it  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Big  Horn  Pioneer  and  Historical  Association.  Near 
the  town  are  some  curious  freak?  of  nature,  one  of  which,  the  "Devil's  Garden," 
is  shown  in  an  illustration  in  this  volume. 

MOORCROFT 

The  town  of  Moorcroft  is  situated  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Crook  County, 
on  the  Chicago.  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad  a  short  distance  east  of  the  Belle 
Fourche  River  and  thirty  miles  from  Sundance,  the  county  seat.  It  is  at  the 
junction  of  two  noted  automobile  routes — the  George  Washington  Highway  and 
the  Black  and  Yellow  Trail,  which  leads  from  the  Black  Hills  to  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park.  Moorcroft  has  a  bank,  a  municipal  system  of  waterworks,  a  new 
high  school  building,  a  weekly  newspaper  (the  Democrat),  a  telephone  exchange, 
and  several  mercantile  establishments  that  supply  the  people  of  the  extensive  dry 


•  (.opvrighted  bj   H     s\enh.on  htudm 

HOLLIDAY  BUILDING,  LARAMIE 


Copyright  by  Luckhaus 


DAILY  PARADE  AT  FORT  RUSSELL 


594  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

farming  district  adjoining  the  town.    Three  star  mail  routes  emanate  from  Moor- 
croft.     The  population  was  131  in  1915. 

NEWCASTLE 

Newcastle,  the  county  seat  of  Weston  County,  is  situated  about  ten  miles 
west  of  the  South  Dakota  line  and  almost  due  east  of  the  center  of  the  county. 
It  is  on  the  Lincoln  &  Billings  division  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Rail- 
way system  and  ships  large  quantities  of  coal  and  live  stock  annually.  Back  in 
the  days  of  the  old  Cheyenne  &  Deadwood  stage  line  a  relay  station  was  main- 
tained here  by  the  stage  company.  In  1889  the  railroad  had  been  completed  to 
Crawford,  Neb.,  about  ninety  miles  southeast,  and  the  Town  of  Newcastle  was 
then  projected  by  Kilpatrick  Brothers  &  Collins,  coal  operators.  The  first  sale 
of  lots  was  on  September  10,  1889.  A  year  later  the  railroad  was  built  through 
the  town  and  Kilpatrick  Brothers  &  Collins  had  900  men  at  work  opening  the 
coal  mines.  The  firm  also  opened  a  large  store  at  Newcastle,  which  was  the 
first  business  enterprise  of  importance. 

During  its  existence  of  nearly  forty  years,  Newcastle  has  had  its  "ups  and 
downs."  In  1890  the  population  was  1,715;  ten  years  later  it  had  dropped  to 
756;  in  1905  the  state  census  reported  a  population  of  1,008;  the  United  States 
census  of  1910  gave  the  town  975,  and  the  state  census  of  191 5  only  651. 

Shortly  after  the  town  was  founded  the  Cambria  Alining  Company  expended 
$100,000  upon  a  system  of  waterworks  to  supply  Cambria,  Newcastle  and  the  ad- 
jacent mining  camps.  The  supply  is  furnished  by  mountain  springs  thirteen  miles 
from  the  town.  The  town  also  has  an  electric  light  plant  which  supplies  New- 
castle and  Cambria,  three  banks,  a  large  flour  mill,  a  weekly  newspaper  (the 
News-Journal),  an  active  commercial  club,  Catholic  and  Methodist  churches,  a 
good  system  of  public  schools,  and  a  number  of  well  stocked  stores.  Newcastle 
is  the  home  of  Frank  W.  Mondell.  who  has  represented  Wyoming  in  Congress 
for  more  than  twenty  years. 

PINE   BLUFFS 

Next  to  Cheyenne,  this  is  the  largest  town  in  Laramie  County.  It  is  situated 
near  the  eastern  line  of  the  county  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  and  is  the  most 
important  station  between  Cheyenne  and  Julesburg.  The  site  of  Pine  Bluffs 
was  once  a  favorite  camping  place  on  the  trail  from  the  South  Platte  country 
to  Fort  Laramie.  When  the  railroad  was  built  the  old  camping  ground  grew 
into  a  town  that  is  a  supply  point  for  a  large  agricultural  district  in  Wyoming  and 
Nebraska.  Pine  Blufifs  has  two  banks,  two  grain  elevators,  electric  light  and 
waterworks,  yards  for  handling  and  shipping  live  stock,  a  weekly  newspaper  (the 
Post),  Catholic  and  ^Methodist  churches,  stores  that  deal  in  all  lines  of  merchan- 
dise, etc.  The  town  recently  erected  a  new  school  building  of  the  modern  type. 
The  population  in  191 5  was  650. 


In   the   northeastern   part   of   Park   County,   on   the  branch  of   the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railway  system  that  runs   from   Frannie  to  Cody,  is  the 


■ITY  LIBRARY,  NEWCASTLE 


fclEE'EE 

H^^^^HKI 

•j^ 

COMPAXY  A  ARMORY  BriLDING,  NEWCASTLE 


596  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

town  of  Powell,  one  of  the  most  progressive  towns  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  state.  It  has  two  banks,  municipal  waterworks,  electric  lights,  an  efficient 
fire  department,  large  alfalfa  mills,  a  Chautauqua  Association,  a  creamery,  a 
weekly  newspaper,  good  hotels,  Baptist,  Catholic,  Episcopal  and  Presbyteiian 
churches,  and  a  new  school  building  that  cost  $30,000.  Powell  has  one  of  the 
most  energetic  commercial  clubs  in  Northern  Wyoming.  It  is  a  comparatively 
new  town,  was  incorporated  after  the  census  of  1910  was  taken,  and  in  1915 
reported  a  population  of  406. 


Rawlins,  the  county  seat  of  Carbon  County,  is  the  sixth  city  of  the  state  in 
population,  and  occupies  even  a  higher  position  than  that  in  wealth  and  commer- 
cial importance.  The  city  dates  its  beginning  from  the  spring  of  1868,  when  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  through  Wyoming,  and  was  named  for 
John  A.  Rawlins.  Ataong  the  first  settlers  were  James  C.  France,  who  was  the 
first  banker;  Isaac  C.  Miller,  who  served  two  terms  as  sheriff  of  the  county, 
and  who  was  the  democratic  candidate  for  state  treasurer  at  the  first  state  elec- 
tion in  1890;  John  C.  Dyer,  who  followed  the  Union  Pacific  to  Rawlins  and  was 
one  of  the  active  factors  in  developing  the  mineral  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
city;  DeWitt  C.  Kelley,  who  came  as  a  bookkeeper  for  Mr.  France  in  i86g,  be- 
came cashier  of  Mr.  France's  bank  when  it  was  started  in  1882,  and  the  same  year 
was  elected  probate  judge  and  county  treasurer. 

About  twenty  years  after  Rawlins  was  started,  the  Legislature  located  the 
penitentiary  there  and  the  state  has  expended  about  a  quarter  of  million  dollars 
on  the  buildings  and  grounds.  The  Union  Pacific  Company  has  shops  here  that 
employ  from  three  hundred  to  five  hundred  men.  Extensive  coal  and  iron  de- 
posits near  the  city  furnish  the  fuel  and  raw  material  for  these  shops,  and  an- 
other mineral  deposit  is  that  of  the  mineral  paint  beds,  which  were  discovered 
by  John  C.  Dyer  soon  after  he  came  to  Rawlins.  This  paint,  known  as  the  "Raw- 
lins Red,"  has  been  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  country. '  A  few  years  ago  it  was 
used  to  repaint  the  noted  suspension  bridge  connecting  Brooklyn  and  New  York 
City.  Fine  building  stone — both  limestone  and  sandstone — is  found  almost  in 
the  limits  of  the  city,  and  from  the  great  beds  of  clay  a  fine  quality  of  pressed 
brick  is  manufactured.  The  development  of  these  natural  resources,  connected 
with  the  large  live  stock  interests,  has  led  the  people  of  Rawlins  to  set  up  the 
claim  that  it  is  the  richest  city  in  Wyoming  in  proportion  to  population. 

As  a  commercial  center  Rawlins  occupies  a  high  place.  Its  trade  extends 
over  a  large  portion  of  Carbon  and  Sweetwater  counties.  Goods  are  carried  by 
freight  wagons  from  Rawlins  to  Dixon  and  Baggs  on  the  south,  and  to  Miner's 
Delight,  Grosvenor  and  Atlantic  City  in  Fremont  County.  Several  daily  stage 
lines  connect  with  the  Union  Pacific  trains  at  Rawlins.  The  ranchmen  for  miles 
around  obtain  their  supplies  from  this  city  and  drive  their  stock  there  for  ship- 
ment. 

Besides  the  penitentiary,  already  mentioned,  Rawlins  has  an  $80,000  post- 
office  building,  a  $50,000  high  school,  an  Elks'  Home  that  cost  $50,000,  and  a 
Masonic  temple  that  cost  $60,000,  besides  a  number  of  fine  church  edifices  and 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  RAWLINS 


■K^      '  iZ 


OSBORNE  BLOCK,  RAWLINS 


POSTOFPICE,  RAWLINS 


RESIDENCE  OF  CHARLES  H.  ANDERSON 
Due  of  the  lamlmarks  of  Eawlius. 


WEST  PINE  STREET,  RAWLINS 


ELKS'  HOME,  EAWLIXS 


JL4S0NIC  TEMPLE,  KA^^^:INS 


600  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

other  public  buildings.  It  has  three  banks,  a  fine  system  of  waterworks, 
electric  light  plant,  a  good  sewer  system,  many  modern  homes  and  in  1915 
ported  a  population  of  2,975. 


Near  the  eastern  end  of  the  Shoshone  Indian  reservation,  in  the  beautiful 
and  fertile  Popo  Agie  Valley,  is  the  incorporated  Town  of  Riverton.  It  is  located 
on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  twenty-three  miles  east  of  Lander,  and 
is  the  second  largest  town  in  Fremont  County.  Being  in  the  center  of  a  rich 
irrigated  district,  Riverton  is  an  important  shipping  point  for  live  stock  and  farm 
products.  Oil  fields  have  recently  been  developed  near  the  town,  which  have 
added  to  its  importance  as  a  trading  center  and  supply  point.  Stage  and  freight 
lines  run  from  Riverton  up  the  Wind  River  to  Dubois  and  intermediate  towns. 
The  town  has  three  banks,  electric  light  and  waterworks,  large  flour  mills,  grain 
elevators,  mercantile  houses  of  all  kinds,  a  fine  public  school  building,  churches  of 
different  denominations,  etc.,  and  in  191 5  the  population  was  803,  an  increase  of 
320  during  the  preceding  five  years.     Riverton  was  incorporated  in  1907. 

ROCK    RIVER 

Although  a  small  town.  Rock  River  is  an  important  shipping  point  and  trad- 
ing center  in  the  western  part  of  Albany  County.  It  is  located  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  thirty-eight  miles  west  of  Laramie,  the  county  seat,  in  the 
center  of  an  irrigated  district  and  on  the  Lincoln  Highway.  It  has  a  bank,  a 
hotel,  general  stores,  a  $20,000  public  school  building,  and  is  supplied  with  pure 
water  piped  from  springs  in  the  mountains.  The  town  was  incorporated  about 
1908  and  in  191 5  had  a  population  of  195.     It  is  the  center  of  several  stage  lines. 

ROCK    SPRINGS 

Forty  years  ago  Rock  Springs,  now  the  largest  coal  mining  center  in  Wyo- 
ming and  the  third  city  of  the  state  in  population,  was  generally  referred  to  as 
a  "one  horse  town."  The  name  was  appropriate,  as  there  was  really  but  one 
horse  and  wagon  there.  They  belonged  to  the  Beckwith-Quinn  Company,  which 
opened  the  first  coal  mines  and  also  established  a  company  store,  which  was  the 
first  mercantile  concern.  The  wagon  was  used  for  delivering  goods  to  cus- 
tomers, hauling  freight  from  the  railroad  depot,  as  a  hearse  for  funerals — in 
fact  for  everything  where  a  vehicle  of  any  kind  was  needed. 

The  first  schoolhouse,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  high  school, 
was  the  largest  room  in  the  town  and  was  used  for  political  meetings,  dances, 
religious  services  and  the  regular  school.  The  first  Sunday  school  was  organized 
in  this  old  schoolhouse  by  O.  C.  Smith,  Solomon  Rouff  and  Mrs.  J-  M.  Tisdell, 
a  sister  of  Senator  Clarence  D.  Clark.  The  city  now  has  Baptist,  Catholic,  Con- 
gregational, Episcopal  and  Methodist  church  organizations,  all  of  which  have 
comfortable  houses  of  worship,  and  the  new  high  school  building,  which  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  old  frame  schoolhouse,  is  one  of  the  finest  in  Wyoming. 


SOUTH  FRONT  STREET,  ROCK  SPRINGS 


EET,  ROCK  SPRINGS 


602  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  the  early  days  there  was  neither  physician  nor  undertaker  in  Rock  Springs. 
If  any  one  was  taken  ill,  William  ^Meller,  mine  foreman  for  the  Beckwith-Ouinn 
Company,  was  sent  for,  as  he  knew  something  of  medicine  and  kept  a  few  stan- 
dard remedies  ready  for  emergencies.  If  the  person  died,  the  Beckwith-Ouinn 
Company  furnished  the  coffin  and  their  delivery  wagon  came  into  use  as  the 
hearse.  The  coffins  were  bought  unfinished  and  were  lined  and  trimmed  in  a 
room  over  the  store,  the  clerks  doing  the  work. 

The  second  store  in  the  town  was  opened  by  a  man  named  Johnson.  Shortly 
after  he  began  business  the  rumor  became  current  that  he  li\ed  on  crackers  and 
molasses,  and  from  that  time  he  was  known  almost  exclusively  by  the  sobriquet 
of  "Molasses  Johnson."    His  store  was  in  a  "dug-out"  near  the  old  bridge. 

An  old  Rock  Springs  miner  says  that  in  the  early  '80s  miners  there  were 
making  from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  per  day,  but  notwithstanding  such  wages  they 
organized  and  struck  for  more.  Chinamen  were  then  brought  in,  which  led  to 
the  riot  of  1885,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  another  chapter.  The  Beckwith- 
Quinn  store  stood  near  the  depot  and  the  postoffice  was  kept  in  the  store.  The 
company  had  a  Chinese  department,  in  which  several  Chinamen  were  employed 
as  clerks.  At  the  time  of  the  riot  one  of  these  clerks  was  kept  concealed  in  the 
basement  of  the  store  for  a  week,  as  the  rioters  had  ordered  every  Chinaman  to 
leave  town. 

The  Rock  Springs  of  the  present  day  is  quite  different  from  the  "one  horse 
town"  of  forty  years  ago.  Instead  of  only  one  store,  there  are  now  more  than 
a  score  of  well  appointed  mercantile  houses.  It  has  a  city  hall  that  is  one  of 
the  finest  public  buildings  in  the  state,  a  system  of  waterworks  that  cost  over 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  three  banks,  two  newspapers,  an  electric  light 
plant,  an  S8o,ooo  high  school  and  modern  grade  school  buildings,  a  postoffice 
building  that  cost  the  United  States  $90,000,  the  Elks  have  a  $25,000  club  house, 
and  the  Masonic  fraternity  has  a  fine  temple.  The  Wyoming  General  Hospital 
is  located  here.  The  city  takes  its  name  from  a  large  spring  that  flows  from  a 
rocky  cliff.  Rock  Springs  claims  to  be  the  most  cosmopolitan  city  in  Wyoming, 
having  forty-one  nationalities  among  its  population  of  5.699  in  191 5.  Stage 
lines  run  between  Rock  Springs  and  several  of  the  outlying  towns  of  S*veet- 
water  County. 


Twenty-one  miles  south  of  ^^'alcott,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  North  Platte 
River,  in  the  south  central  part  of  Carbon  County,  is  the  town  of  Saratoga.  It 
is  a  station  on  the  Saratoga  &  Encampment  Railroad,  and  was  incorporated  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  Near  the  town  are  the  Saratoga  Hot 
Springs,  sometimes  called  the  "Old  Indian  Bath  Tubs,"  because  thousands  of  In- 
dians were  accustomed  to  gather  here  in  the  early  days.  Analyses  of  the  waters 
of  these  springs  show  them  to  be  the  equal  of  the  waters  of  the  famous  Arkan- 
sas Hot  Springs  in  their  curative  properties.  A  rich  copper  mining  district  lies 
east  of  the  town.  Saratoga  has  two  banks,  ^neral  stores,  postoffice,  telephone 
and  telegraph  connections,  good  public  schools,  churches  of  different  denomina- 
tions, etc.,  and  in  1915  reported  a  population  of  425. 


POKTOII'K  K  AM'  MAS 


TEMPLE  ON  THE  LEFT,  ROCK  SPRINGS 


SCHOOL  AT  EOCK  SI 


604  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

SHERIDAN 

Sheridan,  the  "Queen  City  of  Northern  Wyoming,"  is  the  county  seat  of 
Sheridan  County.  It  is  situated  near  the  center  of  the  county,  on  the  Lincoln  & 
Billings  division  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railway  system,  at  the 
point  where  the  old  Bozeman  Road  crossed  the  middle  fork  of  the  Tongue  River. 
When  the  first  white  men  came  to  this  part  of  the  state  to  settle  they  found  on 
the  banks  of  Little  Goose  Creek,  a  short  distance  south  of  the  present  City  of 
Sheridan,  a  log  house  and  a  stable  with  room  for  twenty  horses,  which  they 
afterward  learned  was  the  northern  rendezvous  of  the  notorious  James  brothers 
gang  of  bandits.  When  pressed  by  officers  of  the  law  in  states  where  they  had 
committed  some  offense,  they  sought  refuge  in  the  wilds  of  Northern  Wyoming. 
Their  retreat  here  was  always  kept  in  readiness  for  them  by  a  negro  named  John 
Lewis  and  a  white  man  known  as  "Big  Nosed  George."  The  latter  was  after- 
ward hanged  by  the  vigilantes  of  Miles  City,  Mont.,  for  robbery  and  murder. 

The  first  cabin  in  Sheridan  was  built  by  O.  P.  Hanna,  who  was  well  known 
to  Generals  Crook,  Terry  and  other  commanders  in  the  campaigns  against  the 
Indians  as  a  capable  and  reliable  scout.  Henry  A.  Coffeen  developed  the  plans 
for  the  town,  and  Edward  Gillette,  a  civil  engineer,  surveyed  the  railroad  and 
laid  off  certain  mining  claims  near  by.  Sheridan  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature,  approved  on  March  6,  1884,  and  John  D.  Loucks,  one  of  the 
pioneer  business  men,  was  elected  the  first  mayor.  At  the  time  of  its  incorpora- 
tion the  city  was  only  about  two  years  old.  When  Sheridan  County  was  created 
in  1888  this  town  was  made  the  county  seat,  both  county  and  town  deriving  their 
names  from  Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  who  conducted  several  successful  cam- 
paigns against  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest. 

Sheridan  has  had  a  steady  growth  from  the  time  it  was  founded.  In  1890 
its  population  was  281 ;  ten  years  later  it  was  i,559;  in  1910  it  had  grown  to  a 
city  of  8,408;  and  the  state  census  of  191 5  reported  a  population  of  8,906.  It 
now  claims  to  be  the  largest  city  in  the  state,  having  passed  Cheyenne  since  the 
census  of  1915  was  taken,  but  that  claim  is  based  on  estimates  only. 

Few  cities  in  the  West  are  better  equipped  with  public  utilities.  Sheridan  has 
expended  almost  half  a  million  dollars  upon  its  waterworks  and  $145,000  upon 
its  sewer  system.  The  electric  light  and  power  plant  cost  $250,000  and  the  city 
has  ten  public  school  buildings,  four  of  which  cost  $50,000  each.  The  railroad 
station  built  by  the  Burlington  Company  cost  $100,000;  the  postoffice  building, 
$225,000;  the  city  hall,  $50,000;  the  Elks'  club  house,  $75,000,  and  the  Masonic 
fraternity  has  a  fine  temple.  All  the  leading  religious  denominations  are  repre- 
sented and  most  of  them  possess  fine  church  buildings,  some  of  which  cost  thirty 
thousand  dollars  or  more.  The  city  also  has  a  free  public  library,  the  gift  of 
Andrew  Carnegie. 

Among  the  industrial  institutions  of  Sheridan  is  a  sugar  factory  which  cost 
about  one  million  dollars.  The  city  also  has  a  large  flour  mill,  six  banks,  large 
mercantile  interests,  etc.,  but  the  most  important  industry  is  that  of  coal  mining, 
some  of  the  richest  mines  in  Northern  Wyoming  lying  near  the  city.  North  of 
the  city  is  Fort  Mackenzie,  an  army  post  upon  which  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment .has  expended  $1,500,000.  It  is  connected  with  Sheridan  by  an  electric 
railway  line.     The  Sheridan  branch  of  the  Wyoming  General  Hospital  was  es- 


Prora    the    Herbert    Coffeen 


^^EW  OF  SHERIDAN 


ANOTHER    \IEW   OF  SHKKI1>A.\ 


606  HISTORY  OF  \\YO.MIXG 

tablished  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  and  the  state  has  expended  $50,000 
erecting  buildings  for  the  institution. 


The  incorporated  town  of  Shoshoni  is  located  in  the  eastern  part  of  Fremont 
County  and  takes  its  name  from  the  Shoshone  Indian  reservation,  which  once 
extended  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  town.  It  is  a  station  on  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Railroad,  about  twenty-five  miles  northwest  of  the  geographical 
center  of  the  state.  Considerable  quantities  of  coal  are  mined  in  the  vicinity 
and  shipped  from  this  point.  Shoshoni  has  electric  light  and  waterworks,  a  bank 
and  opera  house,  a  Congregational  Church,  lodges  of  some  of  the  leading  fra- 
ternal orders,  and  several  general  stores.  This  is  the  transfer  point  for  pas- 
sengers on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  for  Bonneville,  on  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Qiiincy,  five  miles  north,  the  transfer  being  made  by  automobile. 
The  population  in  191 5  was  278. 


Sublet  is  situated  about  eight  miles  north  of  Kemmerer.  It  is  a  mining  town, 
mines  No.  5  and  No.  6  of  the  Kemmerer  Coal  Company  being  located  here.  The 
Oregon  Short  Line  spur  was  completed  to  Sublet  in  1907  and  the  town  was  soon 
afterward  incorporated.  In  1915  the  population  was  524,  an  increase  of  177 
during  the  preceding  five  years.  The  town  claimed  a  population  of  1,000  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1917. 


This  town,  which  is  the  seat  of  justice  of  Crook  County,  is  the  smalle^^t  county 
seat  town  in  the  State  of  Wyoming,  due  mainly  no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
only  one  without  railroad  accommodations.  It  is  situated  southeast  of  the  center 
of  the  county,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Sundance  Creek  and  near  the  base  of 
Sundance  Mountain.  Daily  stage  lines  connect  Sundance  with  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  at  Upton  and  Moorcroft,  and  with  the  Chicago 
&  Northwestern  at  Aladdin  and  Spearfish,  S.  D. 

Originally,  the  country  about  Sundance  was  a  pine  forest  and  for  years  saw- 
mills have  carried  on  a  profitable  business.  Seven  miles  from  the  town  is  the 
Bear  Lodge  mining  district,  in  which  there  are  several  paying  gold  mines.  Nearer 
the  town  are  rich  coal  deposits  that  have  been  successfully  worked  for  some 
time,  but  no  coal  is  shipped,  owing  to  the  lack  of  transportation  facilities.  The 
United  States  land  office  for  the  district  composed  of  Crook,  Campbell  and 
Weston  counties  is  located  at  Sundance,  as  there  is  still  a  large  quantity  of  the 
public  domain  in  those  three  counties  subject  to  entry  and  settlement. 

Sundance  was  incorporated  some  time  in  the  '80s.  It  has  two  banks,  a  creamery, 
several  general  stores,  hotel  and  restaurants.  Episcopal  and  Methodist  churches. 
a  public  school  building,  telephone  connections  with  the  surrounding  tovv-ns,  and 
in  1915  reported  a  population  of  341. 


MAIN  STREET,  SHERIDAN,  IN 


608  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

SUPERIOR 

About  twenty-five  miles  northeast  of  Rock  Springs,  on  a  spur  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  is  the  thriving  mining  Towy  of  Superior,  the  second  largest  in 
Sweetwater  County.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  developments  made  in  the  Rock 
Springs  coal  fields.  The  Union  Pacific  Coal  Company  opened  the  mines  here 
early  in  the  present  century  and  now  has  a  large  store  at  Superior.  The  town  has 
a  bank,  a  modern  public  school  building,  churches  of  different  denominations,  etc., 
and  in  191 5  the  population  was  1,382. 

South  Superior,  on  the  same  branch  of  railroad,  is  another  incorporated  town 
with  a  population  of  265.  It  has  a  bank,  general  stores,  a  public  school,  etc.  The 
population  of  South  Superior  is  composed  largely  of  foreigners.  Both  Superior 
and  South  Superior  were  incorporated  since  the  census  of  1910  was  taken. 

THERMOPOLIS 

Sixty-five  miles  northwest  of  the  geographical  center  of  the  state,  is  the  City  of 
Thermopolis,  the  county  seat  of  Hot  Springs  County.  The  site  of  Thermopolis 
was  originally  within  the  lirnits  of  the  Shoshone  Indian  Reservation.  A  small 
settlement  was  made  at  the  mouth  of  Owl  Creek — the  northeast  corner  of  the 
reservation.  Among  the  early  settlers  there  were  Martin  McGrath,  now  vice 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank,  William  Slane  and  Edward  Enderly,  all  of 
whom  have  contributed  to  the  development  of  the  city.  About  1898  the  town  was 
moved  from  the  mouth  of  Owl  Creek  to  the  Big  Horn  Hot  Springs,  from  which 
Thermopolis  derives  its  name.  Congress  gave  to  the  state  a  square  mile  of  land, 
upon  which  are  the  springs,  and  Thermopolis  is  partly  upon  the  reservation. 

In  April,  1908,  the  city  authorities  made  a  contract  with  the  Havemeyer  Con- 
struction Company  for  a  system  of  waterworks  to  cost  $48,475,  and  bonds  were 
issued  therefor.  On  April  15,  1918,  additional  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $50,000 
were  voted  with  only  a  few  dissenting  votes,  one-half  the  proceeds  to  be  used  in 
extending  the  waterworks  and  the  other  half  in  improving  the  sewer  system. 
Electric  light  is  furnished  by  the  Thermopolis  LigTit  and  Power  Company. 

Thermopolis  has  three  banks,  two  weekly  newspapers  (the  Record  and  the 
Independent),  Baptist,  Catholic,  Episcopal  and  Methodist  church  organizations, 
all  owning  church  buildings,  and  the  Presbyterians  hold  services  in  the  Masonic 
Temple.  Fourteen  teachers  were  employed  in  the  public  schools  during  the 
school  year  of  1917-18.  The  mercantile  establishments  handle  all  lines  of  goods 
and  the  trade  of  the  Themiopolis  merchants  extends  for  miles  in  every  direction. 
There  are  few  manufacturing  concerns,  but  the  great  attraction  is  the  springs. 
Several  good  hotels  have  been  built  within  the  last  few  years,  which  makes 
Thermopolis  a  favorite  place  for  holding  conventions.  During  the  year  1917 
nearly  half  a  million  dollars  were  expended  in  the  erection  of  new  buildings.  The 
population  in  1915  was  1,191,  but  at  the  close  of  the  year  1917  the  city  claimed 
a  population  of  3,000. 

TORRINGTON 

Torrington  was  incorporated  in  February,  1908,  and  when  Goshen  County 
was  created  in  191 1  this  town  was  made  the  countv  seat.     It  is  located  on  the 


^  r  ^^  ^  '^    '  ^A 


JK^"T,'^  ,™„i 


fajK»'  iio.\LK,  >siiekil>a: 


w 

jp  jy^2^^BW 

.  — 

witfjm: 

HOME  OF  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR  JOHN  B.  KENDRICK,  SHERIDAN 


610  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

north  bank  of  the  Platte  River  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad, 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  farming  country  irrigated 
by  the  Interstate  Canal,  for  which  it  is  the  shipping  and  supply  station.  The 
site  occupied  by  the  town  was  once  a  camping  place  for  emigrants  on  the  famous 
Oregon  Trail.  A  monument  marking  the  old  camping  grounds  was  erected  here 
by  the  Oregon  Trail  Commission  in  1914. 

Torrington  has  three  banks,  a  large  grain  elevator,  dry  goods,  hardware, 
clothing,  drug  and  miscellaneous  stores,  a  modern  public  school  building,  Catholic, 
Episcopal,  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches,  and  claims  a  large  number  of 
handsome  residences  than  any  other  town  in  the  state  with  the  same  population. 
In  1910,  the  first  census  after  the  incorporation,  Torrington  had  155  inhabitants. 
In  191 5,  according  to  the  state  census,  the  population  was  433.  Since  then  a 
number  of  substantial  business  blocks  and  many  new  dwellings  have  been  built, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  year  1917  the  citizens  claimed  a  population  of  about  one 
thousand. 


Eighteen  miles  northwest  of  Newcastle,  in  the  northern  part  of  Weston  County, 
is  the  incorporated  Town  of  Upton.  It  grew  up  after  the  building  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  and  was  incorporated  about  1907.  Upton  is  the 
shipping  and  supply  point  for  a  large  agricultural  region  in  the  northern  part  of 
Weston  and  the  southern  part  of  Crook  counties,  and  daily  mail  and  passenger 
stages  run  between  Upton  and  several  of  the  outlying  towns.  It  has  a  bank,  a  large 
mercantile  trade,  a  public  school  and  in  1915  reported  a  population  of  219. 

WHEATLAND 

Among  the  newer  towns  of  Wyoming  that  have  made  almost  marvelous 
progress  from  the  start  is  Wheatland,  the  county  seat  of  Platte  County.  It  was 
founded  in  1894  and  the  next  year  the  state  census  found  there  a  population  of 
1. 3 1 5.  The  town  takes  its  name  from  the  plateau  called  the  "Wheatland  Flats," 
a  tract  of  some  fifty  thousand  acres  of  irrigated  land  in  the  beautiful  Laramie 
Valley  near  the  center  of  the  county.  Some  of  the  early  business  men  of  Wheat- 
land, who  were  active  in  promoting  the  material  welfare  of  the  town,  were  H.  F. 
Crain,  I.  W.  Gray,  F.  E.  Davis.  T.  J.  and  Owen  Carroll,  William  Arnold,  D.  B. 
Rigdon  and  the  firm  of  D.  Miller  &  Son.  A  flour  mill  was  established  in  1896 
and  now  has  a  daily  capacity  of  150  barrels  of  white  flour,  40  barrels  of  corn  meal, 
and  35  barrels  of  rye  flour.  In  1916  a  Denver  firm  built  an  alfalfa  mill  which 
has  a  capacity  of  5.000  tons  of  alfalfa  meal  annually.  The  Wheatland  creamery 
turns  out  250,000  pounds  of  butter  every  year. 

In  1896  some  of  the  women  of  the  town  organized  the  Wheatland  Library 
Association.  A  few  volumes  were  collected  and  kept  at  Doctor  Rigdon's  residence 
until  1899,  when  Governor  Carey  presented  the  association  with  a  corner  lot  and  a 
small  building  was  erected  by  donations.  In  this  little  building  the  library  was 
housed  until  1917,  when  a  contribution  for  a  new  building  was  received  from 
Andrew  Carnegie.    The  cornerstone  was  laid  in  May  and  the  building  was  opened 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  611 

to  the  public  on  the  28th  of  November.     It  is  now  known  as  the  Platte  County 
Public  Library.    The  cost  of  the  building  was  $13,500. 

Wheatland  has  three  banks,  a  hospital,  two  weekly  newspapers  (the  Times, 
and  the  World),  several  large  and  well  appointed  mercantile  establishments, 
modern  public  school  buildings  in  which  fourteen  teachers  were  employed  during 
the  school  year  of  1917-18,  Catholic,  Congregational,  Episcopal  and  Methodist 
church  organizations  which  own  buildings,  and  Lutherans  and  Christian  Scientists 
that  hold  meetings  in  rented  quarters.  The  commercial  club  is  composed  of  wide- 
awake men  and  loses  no  opportunity  to  advertise  the  town.  Many  carloads  of 
grain  and  livestock  are  shipped  from  Wheatland  every  year,  over  the  Colorado 
&  Southern  Railway. 


Worland,  the  county  seat  of  the  new  County  of  Washakie,  is  situated  on 
the  Big  Horn  River  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  about  half 
way  between  Thermopolis  and  Basin.  It  was  incorporated  just  in  time  to  get  into 
the  L'nited  States  census  of  1910,  when  it  showed  a  population  of  265.  Five  years 
later  the  population  was  454,  and  recent  developments  in  the  oil  fields  near  the 
town  have  had  the  efifect  of  bringing  in  a  number  of  new  inhabitants. 

In  1914  Prof.  B.  C.  Buffum,  then  a  resident  of  Worland,  evolved  or  dis- 
covered the  plant  known  as  emmer.  Professor  Buflfum,  A.  G.  Rupp,  C.  F.  Robert- 
son, M.  G.  Hamilton  and  J.  S.  Russell  then  organized  the  Emmer  Products 
Company  and  built  the  only  mill  in  the  world  for  utilizing  the  grain  in  the  manu- 
facture of  breakfast  food.  Much  of  the  emmer  grain  comes  from  Northern 
Colorado,  but  a  considerable  portion  of  it  is  grown  upon  the  farms  of  Washakie 
and  adjoining  counties.  The  mill  has  a  daily  capacity  of  nearly  four  hundred 
cases  of  the  cereals. 

Another  large  institution  at  Worland  is  the  sugar  mill,  which  was  completed 
in  1917  at  a  cost  of  nearly  one  million  dollars.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  the 
mill  had  turned  out  50,000  sacks  of  sugar,  each  weighing  100  pounds.  Nearly 
thirty  thousand  tons  of  sugar  beets  were  used,  for  which  the  mill  paid  the  farmers 
$7.00  per  ton. 

Worland  has  three  banks,  a  $30,000  school  building,  a  number  of  well  stocked 
stores,  many  cozy  homes,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Congregational  and  Christian 
Scientist  church  organizations,  though  only  the  first  two  denominations  own 
church  buildings.  The  Wyoming  Industrial  School  is  located  near  Worland. 
The  Worland  Grit,  a  weekly  newspaper,  has  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the 
best  county  papers  in  the  state. 

OTHER  TOWNS 

The  foregoing  towns  and  cities  include  all  the  incorporated  municipalities 
given  by  the  state  census  of  191 5,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  minor  towns,  the 
population  of  which  was  less  than  one  hundred  each.  Scattered  over  the  state  are 
a  number  of  towns  that  in  1915  were  not  incorporated.  A  few  of  those  have  been 
incorporated  since  the  census  was  taken,  and  many  of  them  are  as  important  in 
a  commercial  and  industrial  sense  as  some  of  those  included  in  the  above  list. 


612  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Following  are  principal  towns  in  each  county,  in  addition  to  those  above  described : 

Albany — Buford,  Foxpark,  Hermosa  (or  Tie  Siding),  Lookout,  Sherman, 
Springhill  and  Wilcox. 

Bighorn — Bonanza,  Burlington,  Germania,  Hyattville,  lona,  Otto  and  Shell. 

Campbell — Croton,  Kier,  Morse,  Rozet  and  Wessex. 

Carbon — Carbon,  Fort  Steele,  Rambler,  Riverside,  Savery  and  Walcott. 

Converse — Careyhnrst,  Inez,  McKinley  and  Ross. 

Crook — Aladdin,  Beulah,  Colony,  Farrall  and  Hulett. 

Fremont — Atlantic  City,  Boulder,  Kendall,  Lost  Cabin.  Moneta,  Pacific,  Pine- 
dale  and  South  Pass  City. 

Goshen — Fort  Laramie.  Lagrange,  Whalen  and  Wyncote. 

Hot  Springs — Crosby.  Embar,  Gebo,  Kirby  and  Lucerne. 

Johnson — Barnum,  Kearney,  Mayoworth  and  Trabing. 

Laramie — Areola,  Carpenter,  Egbert,  Hillsdale,  Islay  and  Silver  Crown. 

Lincoln — Auburn,  Beckwith,  Cumberland,  Elkol,  Fossil,  Freedom,  Frontier, 
Marbleton,  Opal  and  Thayne. 

Natrona — Alcova,  Waltman  and  Wolton. 

Niobrara — Hatcreek,  Jireh,  Keeline  and  Van  Tassell. 

Park — Garland,  Ishawooa  and  Wapita. 

Platte — Chugwater,  Glendo,  Ironton,  Sunrise  and  Uva. 

Sheridan — Acme,  Arvada,  Big  Horn.  Clearmont.  Kooi,  ^Monarch.  Parkman  and 
Story. 

Sweetwater — Bryan.  Point  of  Rocks,  Sweetwater  and  Wamsutter. 

Uinta — Almy,  Carter,  Fort  Bridger,  Hilliard,  Lonetree,  Piedmont,  Robertson 
and  Springvalley. 

Washakie — Bigtrails,  Neiber  and  Ten  Sleep. 

Weston — Boyd,  Clifton,  Osage  and  Spencer. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 
^IISCELLAXEOUS    HISTORY 

cattlemen's   invasion   of    1892 — WAR  ON  THE   RUSTLERS — ORGANIZING  THE   RAID 

CAPTURE    OF    THE    INVADERS — EXPLORING    THE    GRAND    CANYON — GEN.    W.    H. 

ASHLEY MAJ.  J.  W.  POWELL — JAMES  WHITE MISCELLANEOUS  EXPEDITIONS 

KOLB    BROTHERS "DOC"    MIDDLETON MELBOURNE    THE    RAIN    MAKER EXPLO- 
SION   AT    ROCK    SPRINGS EXECUTION    OF    TOM     HORN AN     INDIAN'S     CURSE — 

SOME   EARLY   PRICES FRONTIER  DAYS   CELEBRATION. 

In  every  community  events  are  constantly  taking  place  which  possess  certain 
points  of  interest,  even  though  they  may  have  no  direct  bearing  or  influence  upon 
the  history  of  that  community.  Others,  apparently  independent  at  the  time  of 
their  occurrence,  may  have  an  aftermath  that  lingers  for  years  upon  the  minds 
of  the  people  and  wields  an  influence  upon  the  community's  destiny.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  State  of  Wyoming.  A  large  volume  might  be  filled  with 
accounts  of  these  miscellaneous  happenings — of  the  achievements  of  the  brawny, 
red-blooded  men  who  "made  the  West" — but  in  the  present  instance  only  such 
events  have  been  selected  for  this  chapter  as  directly  affect  the  history  of  the 
state,  show  the  character  of  the  early  inhabitants,  or  serve  to  recall  some  local 
occurrence  that  awakened  general  interest  at  the  time  it  took  place.  The  one 
incident  in  Wyoming  history  that  stirred  up  great  excitement  in  the  state,  that 
was  commented  on  by  the  press  of  the  erftire  nation,  that  stands  out  like  a  land- 
mark upon  the  trail  of  progress,  and  is  therefore  entitled  to  first  p\ace  in  this 
chajiter,  was  the 

cattlemen's  INVASION  OF    1892 

In  order  to  understand  the  reasons  for  this  invasion,  it  is  necessary  to  go 
back  a  few  years  and  note  the  conditions  which  preceded  it.  Back  in  "the  days  - 
of  '49,"  during  the  rush  to  the  California  gold  fields,  thousands  of  wagons  drawn 
by  oxen  crossed  the  plains  bound  for  the  new  El  Dorado.  Some  of  these  belated 
freight  trains  were  caught  among  the  eastern  foot  hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
by  the  first  snows  of  winter.  To  continue  the  journey  under  such  conditions  was 
out  of  the  cjuestion,  so  there  was  nothing  left  for  the  men  but  to  construct  rude 
winter  quarters  and  turn  their  oxen  loose  tiJ  shift  for  themselves,  thinking  no 
doubt  at  the  time  that  the  cattle  would  either  starve  or  fall  a  prey  to  wild  beasts. 
Greatly  to  their  surprise,  howe\er,  when  spring  came  the  oxen  were  found  to  be 
in  good  shape  and  ready  to  resume  the  journey.  Cattlemen  of  Texas  and  else- 
where, upon  learning  that  animals  could  exist  throughout  the  winter  season  upon 
the  natural  grasses  of  the  Wyoming  plains  and  foot  hills,  drove  thither  their  herds, 
613 


614  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

and  it  was  not  long  until  thousands  of  cattle  were  quartered  in  Wyoming,  upon 
ranges  where  grass  was  plentiful  and  water  convenient. 

The  first  markets  for  these  cattle  were  the  mining  camps  and  military  posts 
scattered  through  the  Indian  country.  But  the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  opened  the  eastern  markets,  where  the  price  of  beef  ruled  high,  to  the 
Wyoming  cattlemen.  The  business  then  became  a  sure  money  maker  and  this 
led  to  the  formation  of  great  corporations,  much  of  the  stock  of  which  was  held 
by  eastern  capitalists,  and  some  by  residents  of  the  British  Isles.  In  a  few 
instances  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  head  of  cattle  were  owned  by  one  of 
these  companies.  In  1872  the  Wyoming  Stock  Growers'  Association  was  organ- 
ized and  from  that  time  until  the  admission  of  the  state  it  dominated  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  territory. 

When  the  cattle  business  was  first  introduced  the  land  was  owned  by  the 
Government  and  ranges  were  free  to  the  cattle  owner.  Stock  in  the  cattle  com- 
panies returned  good  dividends  and  the  herds  were  increased  to  the  highest  possi- 
ble number.  This  had  the  effect  of  overcrowding  the  ranges  and  a  shortage  of 
feed  naturally  followed.  Prices  of  beef  in  the  eastern  cities  also  declined,  the 
managers  of  the  cattle  companies  found  it  difficult  to  keep  up  the  dividends  and 
stockholders  began  to  inquire  why.  Then  the  expedient  was  resorted  to  of  ship- 
ping every  animal  available,  even  though  not  of  the  class  that  commanded  the 
best  price  in  the  market,  "culls  were  rounded  up,  shipped  and  sold  as  feeders,  the 
proceeds  going  to  swell  the  regular  profits  of  the  business  and  cheer  the  heart 
of  the  stockholders." 

About  1889  another  factor  entered  into  the  conditions.  Wyoming  was  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  Union  for  admission.  ]\Iany  who  preferred  a  state  gov- 
ernment to  that  of  a  territory,  seeing  that  Wyoming  was  likely  to  be  admitted, 
came  flocking  into  the  territory  in  order  to  be  among  the  first  to  secure  desirable 
lands.  Settlements  were  formed  along  the  valleys  in  the  central  and  northern 
portions  of  the  state,  where  water  could  be  obtained  for  irrigation,  and  these 
homesteaders  restricted  the  great  cattle  ranges.  These  settlers  and  the  shortage 
of  herbage  finally  forced  the  managers  of  some  of  the  cattle  companies  to  "pass 
a  dividend."  The  stockholders  demanded  the  reason  and  were  informed  that 
the  failure  to  declare  the  customar)'  dividend  was  due  to  "rustlers,"  who  were 
stealing  the  cattle. 

There  was  just  enough  truth  in  this  statement  to  give  color  to  the  situation. 
Doubtless  a  few  cattle  had  been  stolen  here  and  there  from  some  herd,  but  the 
general  round  up  system  then  in  vogue  rendered  it  practically  impossible  for 
many  to  be  taken.  The  real  reason  was  that  the  herds  had  been  robbed  by  the 
managers  in  the  past  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  profits  until  that  system  could 
no  longer  be  continued.  True,  the  farms  of  the  settlers  presented  another  rea- 
son. Range  cattle,  when  left  entirely  to  their  own  resourcefulness,  could  take 
care  of  themselves.  If  a  blizzard  came  along  they  drifted  with  the  storm.  When 
it  was  over  they  quietly  grazed  their  way  back  to  their  accustomed  feeding 
grounds,  .^fter  fences  were  built  by  the  homesteaders  the  storm  driven  animals 
were  hemmed  in.  When  they  came  to  a  fence  they  walked  back  and  forth  along 
it  until  they  died  from  sheer  exhaustion,  and  many  cattle  perished  in  this  manner. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  cattle  business,  cowboys  were  paid,  in  addition  to 
their  regular  wages,   from  $2.50  to  $5.00  per  head   for  each   "max-erick"  upon 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  615 

which  they  could  place  the  company's  brand.  In  1884  the  Territorial  Legislature 
passed  the  "Maverick  Bill,"  which  had  been  prepared  by  the  Stock  Growers' 
Association.  This  law  made  it  a  felony  to  brand  a  maverick,  except  under  the 
supervision  of  an  authorized  agent  of  the  association,  and  then  with  the  letter 
"M"  as  the  property  of  the  territory.  Such  cattle  were  to  be  sold  in  April  of 
each  year,  the  money  going  into  the  territorial  treasury  to  defray  the  expense  of 
the  general  spring  round  up  and  inspection.  This  was  directly  contrary  to  the 
instructions  previously  given  the  cowboys,  and  it  became  as  difficult  to  convict 
men  for  branding  mavericks  as  under  the  old  system.  Stockmen  complained  of 
the  failure  to  convict  men  under  the  new  law  and  made  this  their  principal  excuse 
for  the  invasion  of  1892. 

WAR    ON    THE    RUSTLERS 

That  there  were  a  few  persons  scattered  through  the  territory  who  lived 
by  stealing  cattle  and  horses  is  indisputable,  and  this  condition  of  affairs  was 
taken  advantage  of  by  the  cattlemen.  The  theft  of  one  steer  was  magnified  in 
the  telling  to  a  score  of  cattle.  When  the  inquiry  was  made  as  to  who  were 
engaged  in  this  wholesale  thievery,  the  answer  came  back  "The  settlers  and  the 
small  stockmen,"  until  the  term  settler  and  "rustler"  became  synonymous.  The 
free  use  of  this  term  was  an  encouragement  to  the  actual  thieves,  who  could 
brand  mavericks  with  impunity  and  charge  the  act  to  some  settler.  The  fencing 
in  of  the  lands  was  really  the  main  offense  of  the  settlers,  and  in  time  the  opinion 
became  prevalent  that  the  term  "rustler"  was  overworked  by  the  cattlemen  for 
the  purpose  of  creating  sympathy  and  covering  their  later  eff'orts  to  drive  the 
homesteaders  out  of  the  country'. 

Among  the  settlers  who  came  into  the  territory  about  this  time,  or  a  little 
earlier,  was  one  James  Averil!,  who  took  a  claim  on  the  Sweetwater  River,  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  Carbon  County.  He  opened  a  small  store  and  was 
appointed  postmaster.  Adjoining  his  claim  was  that  of  Ella  Watson  (known 
as  "Cattle  Kate"),  who  had  a  small  herd  of  young  cattle  that  she  had  purchased 
from  cowboys  and  ranchmen.  These  claims  were  in  the  very  heart  of  one  of  the 
great  cattle  ranges  and  their  presence  there  was  an  eyesore  to  the  cattlemen. 
Averill  was  charged  with  selling  whisky,  which  was  probably  true,  and  Cattle 
Kate  was  accused  of  being  a  woman  of  "questionable  reputation,"  which  may 
likewise  have  been  true,  and  it  was  claimed  that  her  cattle  had  been  stolen  by 
cowboys  and  given  to  her,  but  no  action  was  ever  begun  in  the  courts  against 
either  the  woman  or  Averill. 

One  night  in  the  summer  of  1889  ten  men  rode  up  to  Averill's  store,  covered 
him  with  guns  and  commanded  him  to  surrender.  They  then  went  to  Cattle 
Kate's  and  took  her  out  of  the  house.  She  and  Averill  were  then  hanged,  "as 
a  warning  to  all  rustlers."  Two  men  saw  the  deed  committed.  One  of  them,  a 
young  man  who  was  an  invalid,  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  lynchers  and  died 
a  few  weeks  later.  The  other  man  made  his  escape  and  gave  the  names  of  the 
lynchers  to  the  Carbon  County  grand  jury.  His  identity  was  learned  and  he  was 
hounded  out  of  the  territory.  When  court  convened  there  was  no  witness 
against  the  defendants  and  they  were  discharged.    This  had  a  tendency  to  widen 


616  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  breach  between  the  cattlemen  and  the  settlers  and  encouraged  the  former 
to  continue  the  war. 

Persecution  of  the  so-called  rustlers  went  on  for  about  two  years  without 
any  further  lynchings.  On  the  morning  of  June  4,  1891,  three  men  went  to 
the  house  of  a  man  named  Waggoner,  near  Newcastle,  and  by  impersonating 
officers  pretended  to  have  a  warrant  for  his  arrest.  He  accompanied  the  sup- 
posed officers  and  was  never  seen  again  alive  by  his  family.  His  body  was  found 
on  the  1 2th  hanging  to  a  tree  in  a  gulch  which  still  bears  the  name  of  "Dead 
Man's  Canyon." 

The  following  Nn\cniber  N.  D.  Champion  and  Ross  Gilbertson,  who  were 
living  in  a  cabin  helciiiyint;  to  W.  H.  Hall,  on  the  Powder  River,  were  visited  early 
one  morning  liy  four  armed  men  who  ordered  them  to  "give  up,"  and  one  of  the 
four  shot  at  Champion,  who  was  still  in  bed.  Champion  responded  with  a  shot 
from  his  revolver  and  the  visitors  beat  a  hasty  retreat.  A  trail  of  blood  showed 
that  Champion  had  not  missed  his  mark.  In  their  haste  the  marauders  also  left 
their  horses  near  the  cabin,  which  led  to  their  identification.  One  Joseph  Elliott 
was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  attempted  murder  and  placed  under  a  bond  of  $5,000. 
As  Champion  was  afterward  killed  and  other  witnesses  were  "persuaded"  to 
leave  the  state,  the  case  against  Elliott  was  finally  dismissed. 

Orley  E.  Jones,  frequently  called  "Ranger  Jones,"  and  J.  A.  Tisdale,  two 
settlers  in  Johnson  County,  were  waylaid  and  killed  in  November,  1891.  Charles 
Basch  accused  Frank  M.  Canton,  an  ex-sheriff  of  Johnson  County,  with  the 
murder  of  Tisdale.  Canton  was  arrested  and  gi\en  a  preliminary  hearing  before 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  which  resulted  in  his  being  released.  Additional  evidence 
was  obtained  and  in  the  spring  of  1892  he  was  again  arrested.  This  time  he 
was  given  a  hearing  in  chambers  before  Judge  Blake  of  Laramie  and  held  in 
bonds  of  $30,000,  but  he  was  never  convicted. 

ORGANIZING    THE    R.MD 

In  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  the  belief  became  general  that  the  cattle- 
men, early  in  1891,  came  to  the  determination  to  terrorize  the  settlers  to  such 
an  extent  that  many  of  them  would  leave  the  state.  Failure  to  convict  the 
murderers  of  Jim  Averill.  Cattle  Kate.  Tom  Waggoner,  Jones  and  Tisdale, 
encouraged  them  to  make  further  and  more  open  war  on  the  settlers,  particularly 
those  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  where  the  encroachments  upon  the  cattle 
ranges  were  the  most  serious.  Agents  were  sent  to  Idaho,  Colorado  and  Texas 
to  recruit  a  force  of  men  "tough"  enough  to  cope  with  the  hardy  settlers,  many 
of  whom  were  known  to  be  men  who  could  "hit  hard  and  shoot  straight."  One 
of  these  men,  George  Dunning  of  Idaho,  afterward  made  a  sworn  statement,  in 
which  he  said :  "Each  man  was  to  receive  five  dollars  per  day  and  all  expenses, 
including  a  mount  of  horses,  pistols  and  rifle.  In  addition  each  man  was  to 
receive  fifty  dollars  for  each  and  every  man  killed  by  the  mob." 

The  bringing  of  these  men  into  Wyoming  was  in  direct  \iolation  of  the  state 
constitution.  Article  XIX,  Section  i.  under  the  head  of  "Police  Powers,"  pro- 
vides :  "No  armed  police  force,  or  detective  agency,  or  armed  body,  or  imarmed 
body  of  men,  shall  ever  be  brought  into  this  state,  for  the  suppression  of  domes- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  617 

tic  violence,  except  upon  the  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  executive  when 
the  Legislature  cannot  be  convened." 

The  Legislature  was  not  in  session,  and  if  Acting  Governor  Barber  ever  made 
a  request  for  such  a  force  to  be  sent  into  the  state,  the  fact  was  not  publicly 
known.  The  armed  force  of  some  fifty  or  sixty  men  left  Cheyenne  by  special 
train  for  Casper  on  April  5.  1892.  Buffalo  appears  to  have  been  the  objective 
point  of  the  expedition,  as  it  was  there  that  Sheriff  W.  G.  Angus  held  the  evi- 
dence against  Frank  M.  Canton  and  the  settlers  in  that  section  were  more  obnox- 
ious to  the  cattlemen  than  in  some  other  parts  of  the  state. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th  the  raiders  left  Casper  on  horseback  and  the  next 
day  arrived  at  the  Tisdale  ranch,  forty  miles  from  Casper,  where  they  halted 
until  their  supply  wagons  came  up.  While  here  they  received  information  that 
some  "rustlers"  were  at  Nolan's  K.  C.  ranch  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Powder 
River.  This  ranch  was  attacked  on  the  morning  of  the  9th.  Here  Nick  Ray 
and  Nathan  D.  Champion  were  killed  and  the  ranch  buildings  were  'burned  by 
the  raiders,  who  then  pursued  their  way  toward  Buffalo.  About  this  time 
they  met  Jack  Flagg  and  his  stepson,  whom  they  tried  to  capture,  but  failed. 
The  invaders  then  started  on  a  forced  march  for  Buft'alo,  sixty  miles  away,  hoping 
to  reach  there  before  Flagg  could  spread  the  alarm,  capture  the  town,  kill  Sheriff' 
Angus  and  destroy  the  evidence  against  Canton.  At  two  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing they  arrived  at  the  28  ranch,  twenty-two  miles  from  Buff'alo,  where  a  rest 
of  two  hours  was  taken  and  refreshments  were  served.  Soon  after  resuming 
their  march  they  met  a  horseman  who  informed  them  that  Sheriff  .\ngus  had 
a  posse  of  200  men  under  arms  ready  to  give  them  a  warm  reception. 

This  information  caused  a  change  in  plans.  The  raiders  went  to  the  T.  A. 
ranch  in  a  bend  of  the  Crazy  Woman  Creek,  about  twelve  miles  from  Buft'alo, 
where  they  constructed  breastworks  of  logs  and  earth  and  made  preparations 
for  a  siege  in  case  they  were  attacked.  They  had  not  long  to  wait.  At  daylight 
Monday  morning  (the  nth)  the  ranch  was  surrounded  and  before  sunset  nearly 
four  hundred  well  armed  and  determined  settlers  were  upon  the  scene.  Believing 
the  improvised  fortress  of  the  raiders  too  strong  to  be  attacked  only  with  small 
arms,  the  settlers  sent  a  request  to  the  commandant  of  Fort  McKinney  for  a 
cannon,  but  the  request  was  refused.  The  settlers  had  captured  the  supply 
wagons  and  a  supply  of  dynamite  belonging  to  the  invaders,  and  two  of  the  wagons 
were  converted  into  a  portable  breastwork,  which  they  called  a  "go  devil,"  and 
which  they  hoped  to  get  close  enough  to  the  ranch  buildings  to  throw  the  cap- 
tured dynamite  into  the  works.  Tuesday  night  some  rifle  pits  were  dug  within 
three  hundred  yards  of  the  fort  and  manned  by  picked  marksmen.  Wednesday 
morning  the  "go  devil"  was  ready  for  business.  The  plan  was  to  push  the  port- 
able breastwork  near  enough  to  drive  the  besiegers  from  cover  with  the  dynamite, 
when  they  would  be  picked  off  by  the  sharpshooters  in  the  rifle  pits.  No  doubt 
this  plan,  had  it  been  carried  out,  would  have  ended  the  raid  in  short  order.  But 
something  happened  to  prevent  its  execution. 

On  Tuesday,  the  12th,  Acting  Governor  Barber  telegraphed  President  Harri- 
son that  an  "insurrection  exists  in  Johnson  County,"  and  asked  that  Federal 
troops  be  sent  there  to  preserve  order,  etc.  President  Harrison  ordered  the  secre- 
tary of  war  to  concentrate  a  force  sufficient  at  the  scene  of  the  disturbance,  and 
on  Wednesday  morning,  just  as  the  settlers  were  about  to  begin  active  operations. 


618  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

Col.  J.  J.  Van  Horn,  commandant  at  Fort  McKinney,  appeared  with  three  troops 
of  cavalry  and  took  the  invaders  to  the  fort  as  prisoners.  The  next  day  Sheriff 
Angus  made  a  demand  that  they  be  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  to  be  tried 
on  the  charge  of  murder,  but  Governor  Barber  refused  to  grant  the  demand  on 
the  grounds  that  their  lives  would  not  be  safe  in  Johnson  County. 

Forty-four  men  surrendered  to  Colonel  Van  Horn  and  a  few  others  were 
afterward  rounded  up  by  Sheriff  Angus.  On  April  15,  1892,  Governor  Barber 
requested  Colonel  Van  Horn  to  "obtain  the  custody  of  and  take  to  Fort  McKin- 
ney and  there  give  protection  to  the  men  belonging  to  the  invading  party  who 
were  arrested  before  the  surrender,  and  who  are  now  confined  in  the  county- 
jail  at  Bultalo."  Later  the  governor  telegraphed  the  secretary  of  war  to  instruct 
the  commandant  at  Fort  McKinney  to  deliver  the  prisoners  at  Cheyenne.  They 
were  then  held  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell  until  June  19,  1892,  when  Judge  R.  H.  Scott 
of  the  Second  Judicial  District,  composed  of  Albany  and  Johnson  counties,  wrote 
to  the  governor  and  asked  that  the  invaders  be  delivered  to  the  authorities  of 
Johnson  County.  He  suggested,  however,  that  they  be  detained  at  Fort  Russell 
or  taken  to  Laramie  and  confined  in  the  north  wing  of  the  penitentiary  there 
until  brought  before  the  court  for  trial. 

A  change  of  venue  was  taken  from  Johnson  County  and  on  August  7,  1892, 
the  men  were  placed  on  trial  at  Cheyenne.  They  all  pleaded  not  guilty.  Some 
time  was  spent  in  securing  a  jury.  Before  the  jury  was  made  up.  Sheriff  A.  D. 
Kelley  presented  a  petition  to  Judge  Scott  for  relief,  setting  forth  that  Johnson 
County  was  not  financially  able  to  pay  the  expenses  of  detaining  the  prisoners 
in  the  penitentiary  pending  fhe  hearing  for  a  change  of  venue,  and  that  he,  as 
sheriff,  would  no  longer  assume  the  responsibility  of  current  expenses.  On 
August  icth  Judge  Scott  announced  that  he  had  no  authority  to  issue  an  order 
compelling  the  County  of  Johnson  to  reimburse  the  sheriff  of  Laramie  County, 
and  as  the  defense  refused  to  give  bail,  he  was  forced  by  circumstances  to 
release  the  prisoners  upon  their  own  recognizances.  They  were  accordingly 
released.  On  January  21,  1893,  when  the  cases  were  called  for  trial,  it  was  found 
that  the  "hired  men"  had  left  the  state  and  their  whereabouts  were  unknown. 
Alvin  Bennett,  then  prosecuting  attorney  for  Johnson  County,  oft'ered  to  nolle 
the  cases,  which  was  finally  done,  and  the  legal  farce,  with  its  miscarriage  of  jus- 
tice, was  at  an  end. 

Such  in  brief  is  the  story  of  the  famous  "Cattlemen's  Invasion."  A.  S.  Mercer, 
formerly  editor  of  the  Northwestern  Live  Stock  Journal  and  a  man  fully  con- 
versant with  the  facts  relating  to  this  unpleasant  episode,  afterward  published  a 
little  book  entitled  "The  Banditti  of  the  Plains,"  in  which  he  gives  detailed 
accounts  of  the  methods  used  in  getting  rid  of  witnesses,  the  attempt  to  establish 
martial  law  in  Johnson  County,  etc.,  with  many  of  the  official  communications 
and  orders  issued  in  connection  with  the  affair,  but  the  main  incidents  of  the 
invasion  are  as  given  above. 

EXPLORING  THE  GRAND  CANYON 

The  Colorado  River  is  formed  in  the  southern  part  of  Utah  by  the  junction 
of  the  Green  and  Grand  rivers,  the  former  of  which  rises  in  western  Wyoming, 
and  the  Grand  Canvon  of  the  Colorado  in  Arizona  is  one  of  the  scenic  marvels 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  619 

of  the  world.  Although  this  Canyon  is  far  south  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  it  is 
entitled  to  a  place  in  Wyoming  history,  because  the  Green  River  has  its  source 
in  the  state,  and  because  several  expeditions  for  exploring  the  canyon  were  out- 
fitted at  and  started  from  Green  River,  Wyoming,  the  county  seat  of  Sweetwater 
County.  No  mention  of  these  expeditions  is  made  in  the  chapter  on  "Explorers 
and  Explorations"  in  the  early  part  of  this  volume,  for  the  reasons  that  they  were 
undertaken  for  a  specific  purpose,  having  no  bearing  upon  the  general  explora- 
tion of  the  territory  now  comprising  Wyoming,  and  they  were  unofficial  in  char- 
acter, made  chiefly  to  gratify  the  ambition  and  curiosity  of  the  explorer. 

From  Green  River,  Wyoming,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado  River  is  a  little 
more  than  sixteen  hundred  miles  and  the  fall  is  6,075  feet.  The  average  fall 
per  mile  is  therefore  a  little  less  than  four  feet,  but  more  than  half  of  the  descent 
is  in  the  canyons  along  the  stream,  and  these  canyons  include  about  one-third 
of  the  distance.  A  list  of  the  canyons,  with  the  length  in  miles  and  the  height 
of  the  walls  in  feet,  includes  the  following: 

Name  of  Canyon  Length  Height 

Flaming  Gorge  1 

Horseshoe           I    36  2,700 

Kingfisher  J 

Red        I     22  3,000 

Lodore  \ 

Whirlpool 14  2,200 

Split  Mountain 9  2,000 

Desolation    97  2,700 

Gray   36  2,000 

Cataract   41  3.ooo 

Marble   66  3,300 

Grand 217  6.0Q0 

Total  miles  of  canyon 538 

Between  Desolation  and  Gray  canyons  there  are  two  short  canyons  called 
Labyrinth  and  Stillwater.  The  names  of  all  the  canyons  indicate  their  character. 
To  shoot  the  rapids  in  small  boats,  hemmed  in  by  walls  towering  from  two  to  six- 
thousand  feet  above,  requires  courage  and  daring,  yet  men  have  been  found  to 
accomplish  the  hazardous  feat,  merely  for  the  sake  of  demonstrating  that  it 
could  be  done,  and  the  published  accounts  of  their  voyages  have  given  to  the 
world  reliable  information  concerning  one  of  the  most  picturesque  rivers  in  the 
United  States. 

GEN.  W.  PI.  .\SnLEV 

As  early  as  1825,  Gen.  W.  II.  Ashley  and  a  party  of  his  employees  descended 
the  Green  River  as  far  as  Brown's  Park,  Utah,  passing  the  Flaming  Gorge  and 
the  Horseshoe  and  Kingfisher  canyons.  These  were  no  doubt  the  first  white  men 
who  ever  attempted  the  descent  of  the  Green  River  in  small  boats.  They  were 
not  explorers  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  but  were  looking  for  a  place  to  trap 


620  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

for  beaver,  etc.,  and  finding  the  conditions  favorable  in  what  is  now  Brown's 
Park  made  no  effort  to  descend  the  stream  beyond  that  point. 

The  next  attempt  of  which  any  record  can  be  found  was  that  made  by  W.  L. 
Manly  and  a  small  party  in  1849.  The  records  of  Manly's  expedition  (if  such  it 
can  be  called)  are  rather  meager,  but  it  is  known  that  the  voyage  was  abandoned 
before  reaching  the  Grand  Canyon. 

MA  J,   J.   W.   POWELL 

On  May  24,  1869,  Maj.  John  W.  Powell  left  Green  River,  Wyoming,  with 
four  small  boats — the  Emma  Dean,  Kitty  Clyde's  Sister,  No  Name,  and  Maid  of 
the  Canyon.  The  expedition  consisted  of  John  W.  and  Walter  Powell,  William 
H.  Dunn,  G.  Y.  Bradley,  O.  G.  and  Seneca  Howland,  Frank  Goodman,  Andrew 
Hall,  William  R.  Hawkins  and  John  C.  Sumner,  the  last  named  acting  as  guide. 
The  No  Name  was  wrecked  in  the  rapids  of  the  Lodore  Canyon,  but  the  other 
three  boats  kept  on  and  about  the  middle  oi  August  reached  the  head  of  the 
Grand  Canyon.  By  this  time  most  of  their  provisions  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
frequent  upsets,  or  rendered  unfit  for  use,  and  the  members  of  the  party  were 
placed  on  short  rations.  They  had  plenty  of  dried  apples,  which  constituted  the 
principal  article  of  diet  as  they  passed  through  the  last  of  the  canyons.  On 
August  28th  three  men  left  the  party,  preferring  to  take  their  chances  of  climb- 
ing the  almost  perpendicular  walls  and  finding  their  way  to  some  settlement,  but 
they  were  never  heard  of  again.  The  expedition  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  Grand 
Canyon  on  August  30,  1869.  Two  of  the  men — Hall  and  Sumner — kept  on 
down  the  Colorado  and  finally  reached  the  Gulf  of  California. 

Major  Powell  made  a  second  trip  through  the  Grand  Canyon,  starting  from 
Green  River,  Wyo.,  in  the  summer  of  1872.  His  report  of  the  first  expedition  to 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  established  the  fact  beyond  question  that  he  and  his 
associates  were  the  first  white  men  to  loavigate  the  Green  River  from  Wyoming 
to  the  Grand  Canyon.  In  1917  the  United  States  Government  erected  on  Sentinel 
Peak,  overlooking  the  Grand  Canyon,  the  "Powell  Memorial,"  a  pyramid  of  lime- 
stone on  the  summit  of  which  is  a  bronze  tablet  bearing  a  medallion  portrait  of 
Major  Powell  and  the  follownig  inscription: 

"Erected  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  Maj.  John  Wesley  Powell, 
first  explorer  of  the  Grand  Canyon,  who  descended  the  river  in  row  boats, 
traversing  the  gorge  beneath  this  point  August  17,  1869,  and  again  September 


JAMES  WHITE 

When  the  bill  to  erect  the  Powell  Memorial  was  pending  in  Congress,  Senator 
J.  F.  Shafroth,  of  Colorado,  submitted  an  article  prepared  by  Thomas  F.  Dawson 
showing  that  James  White,  a  Colorado  gold  prospector',  passed  through  the  Grand 
Canyon  in  1867,  two  years  before  Powell's  first  expedition.  The  article  was 
printed  as  Senate  Document  No.  42,  and  contains,  besides  White's  own  statement, 
the  statements  of  several  others  acquainted  with  the  facts.  The  account  of 
White's  adventures  is  interesting,  but  as  he  struck  the  Colorado  River  far  south 
of  the  Wyoming  boundary  his  story  does  not  form  a  part  of  the  history  of  this 
state. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 


MISCELLANEOUS    EXPEDITIONS 


On  June  i.  1869,  only  a  week  after  the  start  of  Major  rciwcll's  first  expedi- 
tion, H.  M.  Hook  and  fifteen  others  left  the  Town  of  Green  l\i\ir  with  the  inten- 
tion of  going  through  to  the  Gulf  of  California.  Their  supply  hoat  was  wrecked 
in  Lodore  Canyon  and  the  expedition  was  abandoned. 

Frank  M.  Brown,  a  Denver  railroad  man,  with  fifteen  of  his  friends,  started 
from  Blake,  Utah,  May  25,  1889,  with  the  intention  of  going  through  the  Grand 
Canyon.  Their  three  boats  were  all  wrecked  in  one  of  the  canyons.  Brown  and 
two  of  his  companions  were  drowned  and  the  twelve  survivors  saved  their  lives 
only  by  climbing  the  walls  of  the  canyon. 

Late  in  August,  1896,  George  F.  Flavell  left  Green  River  with  a  small  party  and 
went  down  the  river  some  distance,  when  the  sickness  of  one  of  the  party  caused 
the  abandonment  of  the  expedition.  About  a  month  later  Nathan  Galloway  started 
from  the  mouth  of  Henry's  Fork,  just  south  of  the  Wyoming  boundary.  Galloway 
used  a  peculiar  type  of  boat,  invented  by  himself,  and  on  February  10,  1897,  ^i"" 
rived  safe  at  the  Needles,  California. 

Two  young  men  from  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  with  a  steel  boat,  attempted  the  voyage 
in  the  summer  of  1908.  Their  boat  was  wrecked  in  the  rapids  of  the  Red  Canyon. 
The  two  men  swam  to  shore,  dressed  only  in  their  under  clothing,  and  wandered 
for  four  days  when  they  reached  the  ranch  of  a  half-breed  Indian,  who  furnished 
them  with  clothes  and  directed  them  to  safety.     Thus  ended  another  failure. 

Julius  F.  Stone,  of  Columbus,  O.,  with  a  small  number  of  men  gathered  at 
Green  River,  Wyo.,  early  in  September,  1909,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the 
canyons  of  the  Green  and  Colorado  rivers.  One  member  of  the  party  was 
Nathan  Galloway,  who  had  made  the  trip  three  years  before,  and  who  acted  as 
guide.  This  expedition  arrived  at  the  Needles  on  November  27,  1909,  without 
the  loss  of  a  man  or  serious  disaster. 


About  1901  Ellsworth  L.  and  Emery  C.  Kolb  located  at  the  Grand  Canyon  in 
Arizona  as  scenic  photographers.  After  a  successful  career  in  this  business  for 
ten  years,  they  conceived  the  idea  of  making  the  voyage  through  the  canyons  of 
the  Green  and  Colorado  rivers,  making  photographs  as  they  went  along.  Ac- 
cordingly, about  the  first  of  September,  1911,  they  began  making  their  arrange- 
ments at  Green  River,  Wyo.  A  third  man  was  engaged  and  the  three  left  Green 
River  on  September  8,  1911. 

Nathan  Galloway's  successful  voyage,  and  his  piloting  of  Stone's  ex])edition 
through  the  perils  of  the  rapids,  had  taught  would  be  explorers  that  the  best 
time  of  the  year  to  undertake  a  voyage  was  late  in  the  summer  or  early  in  the  fall, 
when  the  water  was  at  a  low  stage.  The  Kolbs  used  the  Galloway  type  of  boat, 
with  air  chambers  that  would  keep  the  vessel  afloat  if  overturned  and  watertight 
compartments  for  storing  provisions,  etc.  Their  outfit  consisted  of  two  of  these 
boats,  three  film  and  two  plate  cameras,  two  repeating  rifles  and  a  supply  of 
ammunition,  a  cloth  dark  room  for  developing  the'r  negati\es,  a  stock  of  pro- 
visions and  a  motion  picture  camera.  Some  of  the  citizens  of  Green  River 
encouraged    them    and    others,    more   pessimistic    regarding   the    outcome    of   the 


622  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

expedition,  tried  to  dissuade  them  from  undertaking  a  journey  so  fraught  with 
perils.  As  the  principal  object  of  this  expedition  was  to  make  pictures  of  the 
scenery  along  the  way,  the  brothers  were  in  no  haste  to  complete  the  trip.  Some 
of  the  views  taken  by  the  Kolbs  were  of  Wyoming  scenery,  such  as  the  Fire 
Hole  Chimneys,  800  feet  high,  the  cliffs  at  the  mouth  of  Black's  Fork,  etc. 

One  of  the  men  who  was  with  Powell's  second  expedition  was  Frederick  S. 
Dellenbaugh,  who  wrote  "A  Canyon  Voyage,"  giving  an  account  of  their  ad- 
ventures. Ellsworth  L.  Kolb  wrote  and  published  an  account  of  their  trip  in 
191 1,  which  is  profusely  illustrated  from  photographs  made  by  him  and  his  brother, 
giving  the  reader  a  clear  idea  of  the  grandeur  and  massiveness  of  the  canyons 
from  Green  River,  Wyo.,  to  the  Bright  Angel  Trail  at  the  foot  of  the  Grand 
Canyon. 

"doc"  middleton 

Among  the  notorious  characters  who  kept  alert  the  officers  of  the  law  in 
Wyoming  during  the  territorial  days  was  "Doc"  Middleton,  whose  real  name  was 
James  Riley.  Before  coming  to  Wyoming  he  had  been  operating  in  Texas,  where 
he  was  convicted  of  murder  in  1870  and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  life. 
He  managed  to  make  his  escape  and  in  1876  he  was  caught  stealing  horses  in 
Iowa  and  sent  to  prison  for  eighteen  months.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  he 
located  at  Sidney,  Neb.,  where  he  soon  got  into  trouble  by  shooting  a  soldier 
from  Fort  Sidney.  He  was  arrested,  but  the  sheriff  allowed  him  to  escape  rather 
than  see  him  lynched  by  a  mob  which  had  gathered  for  the  purpose. 

Middleton  next  appeared  on  the  ranch  of  John  Sparks,  near  Fort  Laramie, 
Wyo.  Here  he  began  the  work  of  organizing  a  gang  of  outlaws,  among  whom 
were  two  Texans  named  John  Baldwin  and  Henry  Skurry.  Doc  was  a  typical  out- 
law, nearly  six  feet  in  height,  dark  complexioned  with  long,  black  hair  and 
fierce  looking  mustache.  He  never  drank  or  gambled  and  was  always  cool  and 
collected,  even  under  the  most  trying  circumstances.  Over  the  members  of  his 
gang  he  had  perfect  control. 

In  1878  the  gang  stole  forty  horses  and  Middleton,  Baldwin  and  Skurry 
undertook  the  work  of  running  them  through  to  Kansas.  "Billy'  Lykins.  a 
detective  of  the  Stock  Growers'  Association,  gathered  a  posse  and  started  in 
pursuit,  overtaking  the  fugitives  about  twelve  miles  from  Julesburg.  Baldwin  and 
Skurry  put  spurs  to  their  horses  and  succeeded  in  making  their  escape.  Middleton 
also  made  an  effort  to  get  away,  but  was  closely  pursued  and  forced  to  take  refuge 
with  a  ranchman  named  Smith,  who  agreed  to  assist  him.  Doc  and  the  ranchman 
sought  the  shelter  of  a  neighboring  butte,  which  was  surrounded  by  the  posse  and 
after  several  shots  were  exchanged  the  two  men  surrendered.  The  stolen  horses 
were  then  rounded  up  and  taken  by  part  of  the  posse  to  Sidney.  That  night 
Middleton  and  Smith  escaped.  The  latter  was  afterward  arrested  by  Lykins  in  the 
Black  Hills  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary.  From  him  Lykins  learned  the  whereabouts 
of  Middleton. 

The  Wyoming  and  Nebraska  stockmen  and  the  L^nion  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany had  joined  in  oft'ering  a  substantial  reward  for  Middleton's  capture,  and  as 
soon  as  Lykins  heard  where  he  could  be  found  he  started  after  him.  accompanied 
by  two  men  named  Hazen  and  Llewellyn,  the  fomier  of  whom  had  known  ]\Iiddle- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  623 

ton  in  Fort  Dodge,  Kans.  They  were  later  joined  by  J.  L.  Smith.  Doc  was  then 
living  in  the  Niobrara  Valley  in  Nebraska.  As  the  posse  approached  the  house 
they  saw  the  outlaw  and  four  of  his  gang,  evidently  on  guard.  The  five  men 
immediately  charged  Lykins  and  his  associates.  Hazen  was  thrown  from  his 
horse  and  was  wounded  while  trying  to  remount.  Lykins  tried  four  times  to 
fire  his  rifle,  but  the  cartridges  failed  to  explode.  He  then  threw  away  the  rifle 
and  drew  his  revolver,  the  first  shot  from  which  struck  Middleton  in  the  stomach 
and  the  others  fled.  Middleton  concealed  himself  in  some  brush  and  while  Lykins 
was  taking  Hazen  to  a  ranch  a  number  of  the  gang  came  and  helped  Doc  to  his 
house. 

When  Lykins  went  after  him  a  little  later  he  found  about  a  dozen  of  the 
gang  there  and  sent  word  to  General  Crook  at  Omaha,  who  had  promised  assistance 
whenever  Middleton  was  cornered.  Crook  sent  a  small  detachment  of  troops,  but 
in  the  meantime  Doc  and  his  wife  had  left  home  and  were  hidden  on  the  Niobrara 
River.  His  father-in-law  guided  the  troops  and  Lykins  to  their  hiding  place. 
Middleton  was  captured  and  taken  to  Sidney  to  wait  for  the  necessary  papers 
before  being  conducted  to  Cheyenne  for  trial.  A  number  of  his  friends  gathered 
and  sent  word  to  Lykins  that  their  leader  should  not  be  taken  from  the  state. 
Middleton  was  guarded  in  a  house  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  railroad 
station.  When  the  time  came  for  his  removal  Smith  and  Llewellyn,  well  armed 
and  alert,  bore  him  on  a  stretcher,  preceded  by  Lykins  armed  with  a  double- 
barreled  shotgun  and  two  Colt's  45s,  having  first  sent  word  to  the  would-be 
rescuers  that  any  demonstration  on  their  part  would  result  in  the  immediate  death 
of  their  leader. 

Middleton  was  taken  to  Cheyenne,  where  he  pleaded  guilty  to  horse  stealing 
and  received  a  five  years'  sentence.  He  then  went  to  Gordon,  Neb.,  where  he 
lived  as  a  law  abiding  citizen  until  March  4,  1891,  when  he  got  into  an  alterca- 
tion and  was  fatally  shot.  Baldwin  and  Skurry  were  afterward  arrested.  The 
former  was  released  for  want  of  evidence  and  Skurry  forfeited  his  bond  and 
was  later  killed  by  Indians  while  engaged  in  running  off  their  horses.  Thus 
ended  the  Doc  Middleton  gang,  which  was  at  one  time  feared  and  hated  by  the 
stockmen  of  both  Wyoming  and  Nebraska. 

MELBOURNE — RAIN    M,\KER 

Before  the  State  of  Wyoming  became  interested  in  the  great  irrigation  projects 
that  have  reclaimed  thousands  of  arid  acres,  the  subject  of  rainfall  was  one  of 
engrossing  interest.  Farming  was  something  of  a  lottery  in  those  days.  Neither 
irrigation  nor  dry  farming  had  been  introduced,  and  when  the  settler  put  his 
seed  in  the  ground  he  had  no  assurance  that  it  would  grow  and  produce  a  crop 
worth  harvesting.  Every  little  cloud  was  watched  with  interest,  in  the  hope  that 
it  contained  sufficient  moisture  to  aid  the  growing  vegetation. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August,  1891.  a  mSn  named  Frank  Melbourne  came  to 
Cheyenne  and  claimed  that  by  the  exercise  of  some  mysterious  power  he  possessed 
he  could  produce  rain  at  will.  He  offered  to  demonstrate  what  he  could  do  in  this 
line,  but  stated  that  his  experiments  must  be  conducted  secretly.  He  obtained 
permission  to  use  the  loft  of  Frank  H.  Jones'  stable,  in  which  he  locked  himself 
from  curious  observers,  and  began  his  experiments.    About  2  :30  P.  M.,  September 


624  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

I,  1891,  came  a  shower  that  lasted  for  fifteen  minutes.  An  hour  later  there  was 
a  heavy  downpour  which  laster  for  a  longer  time  and  thoroughly  soaked  the  parched 
earth.  Melbourne  then  emerged  from  the  stable  loft  and  was  none  too  modest  to 
claim  that  the  showers  were  the  result  of  his  mysterious  labors.  Mr.  Ravenscraft, 
then  the  weather  observer  at  the  Cheyenne  station,  stated  that  there  were  no  natural 
indications  of  rain  preceding  the  showers  and  admitted  that  the  rainfall  might 
have  been  produced  by  artificial  means. 

There  were  still  many  who  w.ere  skeptical  regarding  his  ability  to  produce 
rain.  To  convince  those  persons,  Melbourne  agreed  to  give  another  test.  After 
resting  a  day  or  two,  he  again  repaired  to  the  loft  of  the  stable  and  early  on  Monday 
morning,  September  7,  1891,  Cheyenne  and  the  immediate  vicinity  were  again 
blessed  by  a  refreshing  shower  of  rain.  Melbourne  then  went  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
where  he  claimed  to  have  been  the  author  of  the  rains  that  fell  in  the  latter  part 
of  September. 

The  early  summer  of  1892  was  unusually  dry  and  about  the  middle  of  June 
some  of  the  citizens  of  Cheyenne  entered  into  a  contract  with  Melbourne  to 
produce  a  half-inch  of  rain  within  a  given  time,  for  which  they  agreed  to  pay  him 
a  stipulated  sum,  the  territory  covered  by  the  rainfall  to  be  not  less  than  five 
thousand  square  miles,  with  Cheyenne  practically  in  the  center.  This  time  Mel- 
bourne began  his  operations  in  the  dome  of  the  capitol  building,  and  as  before  he 
worked  in  secret.  He  commenced  on  June  24,  1892,  and  two  days  later  there  was 
a  heavy  rain  on  Horse  Creek,  in  Goshen  County,  a  light  rain  at  Rawlins,  and  a  belt 
fifteen  miles  wide  extending  from  Uva  eastward  into  Nebraska  was  the  recipient 
of  a  heavy  downpour.  Melbourne  asserted  that  these  rains  were  the  result  of  his 
efforts,  but  the  committee  decided  that  he  had  failed  to  produce  the  rainfall  re- 
quired by  his  contract.  The  rain  maker  then  said  he  would  try  again,  but  that  in 
order  to  do  so  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  reject  two  offers  of  $1,000  each  in  other 
dry  localities  to  remain  in  Cheyenne  on  his  conditional  contract.  After  several 
days,  with  no  results,  he  gave  up  the  undertaking  and  left  Cheyenne  never  to 
return.  Opinion  was  divided  as  to  the  merit  of  his  claims,  some  contending  that 
he  actually  produced  the  showers  mentioned,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  people 
held  to  the  view  that  he  was  a  faker. 

EXPLOSION   AT  ROCK  SPRINGS 

About  3  o'clock  on  Friday  afternoon,  July  17,  1891,  an  explosion  occurred  at 
the  No.  6  mine  of  the  Union  Pacific  Coal  Company,  which  shattered  window  glass 
in  the  City  of  Rock  Springs  and  caused  greater  excitement  than  any  event  since  the 
("hinese  Riot  of  1885.  It  appears  that  two  saloon  keepers — Jacob  Helli  and  Jacob 
Santala — one  of  whom  had  recently  sold  his  saloon  and  invited  his  friend  to 
help  celebrate,  started  out  on  a  spree.  With  a  two-wheeled  cart  and  good 
horse,  plentifully  supplied  with  whiskey,  they  drove  toward  the  No.  6  mine. 
In  a  gulch  near  the  mine  the  coal  company  had  a  small  building  of  galvanized 
iron,  in  which  explosives  were  kept  until  required  for  use.  At  the  time  the  house 
contained  1.200  kegs  of  blasting  powder  and  700  pounds  of  dynamite.  As  the  two 
roisterers  approached  the  building,  one  of  them,  evidently  thinking  their  celebration 
was  not  sufficiently  noisy,  drew  his  revolver  and  shot  at  the  powder  house.  The 
ball  penetrated  the  galvanized  iron  and  the  explosion   followed.     The  two  men 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  625 

and  the  horse  they  were  driving  were  literally  torn  to  fragments,  John  Santala,  who 
was  passing  on  horseback,  and  two  Finlanders  working  near  were  killed,  and  where 
the  powder  house  stood  was  a  great,  ragged  hole  in  the  ground,  not  a  vestige  of 
the  structure  being  left. 

The  magazine  was  about  two  miles  from  the  city,  in  a  northeasterly  direction, 
but  the  explosion  was  so  great  that  people  on  the  streets  felt  plainly  the  earth's 
vibrations,  while  many  panes  of  glass,  both  plate  and  common,  were  jarred  from 
their  sashes  and  fell  in  atoms.  In  a  little  while  a  heavy,  dark  cloud  was  seen 
hanging  over  the  No.  6  mine  and  soon  all  sorts  of  rumors  were  afloat  concerning 
a  disaster  at  the  mine,  in  which  many  of  the  workmen  had  lost  their  lives,  etc.  Then 
a  spectator,  who  was  near  enough  to  recognize  the  men  and  see  the  shot  fired,  but 
far  enough  distant  to  be  out  of  harm's  way,  told  his  story  and  the  real  cause 
of  the  explosion  became  known.  The  loss  to  the  Union  Pacific  Coal  Company 
was  about  ten  thousand  dollars. 

EXECUTION   OF  TOM    HORN 

Tom  Horn,  known  as  the  "Wyoming  man  killer,"  came  to  the  state  in  1892, 
about  the  time  of  the  cattlemen's  invasion  mentioned  in  the  early  part  of  this 
chapter.  Rumor  said  he  had  previously  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Pinkerton 
Detective  Agency  when  that  concern  was  at  the  height  of  its  popularity.  However 
that  may  have  been,  he  was  employed  as  a  detective  by  the  Stock  Growers  Asso- 
ciation. Learning  from  his  employers  that  it  was  difiicult  to  secure  the  conviction 
of  a  "rustler"  or  range  cattle  thief,  Horn  adopted  the  policy  of  acting  as  detective, 
prosecutor,  judge,  jury  and  executioner,  abandoned  all  efforts  to  bring  suspected 
persons  to  justice,  and  applied  the  remedy  of  death  by  shooting.  Not  long  after 
he  began  his  work,  William  Powell  and  a  man  named  Lewis  were  killed  near  the 
Iron  Mountain  region,  about  forty  miles  northwest  of  Cheyenne,  and  gossip 
connected  Horn's  name  with  the  crime.  In  1900  Isham  Dart  and  Matt  Rash, 
two  ranchmen  in  Brown's  Park,  Colo.,  were  killed.  Horn  was  known  to  have 
been  in  the  vicinity  at  the  time  and  was  suspected  of  doing  away  with  the  two 
men.  On  his  way  back  to  Wyoming  he  met  a  posse  at  Dixon  going  in  search  of  the 
assassin  and  in  an  altercation  with  one  of  the  men  received  a  knife  wound  in  the 
neck  that  came  near  ending  his  career,  but  he  cut  his  antagonist  so  severely  that  he 
lived  but  a  short  time. 

On  July  18,  1901,  the  body  of  ^^'illie  Nickell,  the  thirteen  year  old  son  of 
Kels  P.  Nickell,  a  small  ranchman  near  the  place  where  Powell  and  Lewis  had 
been  killed  a  few  years  before,  was  found  with  a  stone  placed  under  the  head 
and  a  ghastly  bullet  wound  telling  the  manner  of  his  death.  Nickell  was  suspected 
of  being  a  rustler  and  Horn  was  lying  in  wait  for  him  when  discovered  by  the 
boy.  Realizing  that  he  had  been  recognized,  Horn  shot  the  boy  and  beat  a  hasty 
retreat  from  the  neighborhood.  About  a  week  later  Mr.  Nickell  was  shot  twice 
from  ambush  while  working  in  the  garden,  one  shot  taking  effect  in  the  arm  and 
the  other  in  his  hip,  but  who  fired  the  shots  was  never  learned. 

Horn's  arrest  was  due  to  the  work  of  Joseph  LeFors,  also  a  stock  detective,  a 
deputy  United  States  marshal,  and  a  friend  of  the  desperado.  Believing  Horn 
to  be  guilty,  LeFors  cultivated  his  acquaintance,  exchanged  confidences  with  him, 
drank  with  him,  etc.    On  January  10.  1902,  while  LeFors  and  Horn  were  drinking 


626  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

together  in  a  room,  a  deputy  United  States  marshal  and  an  expert  stenographer 
lay  concealed  in  an  adjoining  room,  with  their  ears  at  the  bottom  of  the  door 
and  heard  all  that  passed.  LeFors  skilfully  led  Horn  to  boast  of  his  deeds  of 
crime,  among  which  was  the  killing  of  the  Xickell  boy,  and  the  stenographic  record 
of  the  confession  was  afterward  used  as  evidence  in  court.  Two  days  later  Sheriff 
E.  J.  Smalley,  of  Laramie  County,  arrested  Horn  at  the  bar  of  the  Inter  Ocean 
Hotel,  R.  A.  Proctor,  a  deputy  sheriff,  standing  a  few  feet  away  with  instructions 
to  shoot  Horn  if  he  made  any  hostile  movement.  Horn  knew  nothing  of  the  dis- 
closures of  LeFors  and  went  peaceably  to  jail,  relying  on  the  lack  of  evidence  for 
an  acquittal. 

On  October  lo,  1902,  Horn  was  placed  on  trial  in  the  District  Court  at 
Cheyenne,  and  on  the  24th  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  murder  in  the 
first  degree.  He  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  the  following  January,  but  for  some 
reason  the  execution  was  postponed  until  November.  While  in  jail  awaiting  his 
execution,  Horn  tried  to  send  a  message  by  a  young  man  named  Hurr,  whose  jail 
term  expired  in  January,  1903,  to  a  prominent  ranchmen  near  Bosler,  outlining 
a  plan  for  blowing  up  the  Laramie  County  jail.  At  the  last  minute  Hurr  weakened 
and  delivered  the  message  to  the  authorities,  after  which  a  close  guard  was  kept 
to  prevent  Horn  from  communicating  with  outsiders.  Notwithstanding  all  the 
precautions,  Horn  actually  did  escape  on  August  6,  1903,  with  Jim  McCloud, 
another  inmate  of  the  jail,  but  both  were  captured  and  returned  to  their  cells 
within  the  hour.  The  escape  was  effected  by  the  two  desperadoes  overpowering 
Jailer  Proctor,  but  the  jailer  managed  to  give  the  alarm  in  time  to  result  in  their 
recapture.  After  that  for  weeks  the  air  was  filled  with  rumors  of  schemes  for  the 
liberation  of  Horn.  Two  days  before  the  time  set  for  the  hanging,  the  militia  was 
called  out  and  remained  on  duty  at  the  jail  until  after  the  execution.  None  could 
pass  the  military  cordon  except  those  having  official  permits.  If  any  plots  to 
rescue  Horn  had  really  been  formulated,  this  activity  on  the  part  of  Sheriff 
Smalley  caused  them  to  be  abandoned. 

On  November  20,  1903,  the  day  of  the  execution,  the  streets  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  jail  were  packed  with  people,  but  the  crowd  was  held  back  by  the  bayonets 
of  the  National  Guard.  A  score  or  more  of  witnesses  were  admitted  to  the  jail, 
among  them  several  county  sheriffs.  When  Horn  was  brought  to  the  scaffold 
he  looked  over  the  little  assemblage,  then  turned  to  Sheriff  Smalley  and  remarked : 
"Ed,  that's  the  nerverousest  looking  lot  of  sheriffs  I  ever  saw.'' 

Charles  and  Frank  Irwin,  who  knew  Horn  well,  were  then  permitted  to  sing  a 
ballad  they  knew  he  loved.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  song  the  trap  was  sprung 
and  Tom  Horn  was  launched  into  eternity.  He  was  the  last  man  hanged  in  the 
county  seat  of  Wyoming.  Others  since  then  have  been  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  death,  but  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  all  legal  executions  take  place  in  a 
state  penitentiary  at  Rawlins. 

AN  INDI.^N's  curse 

In  the  early  '70s,  while  there  were  still  a  number  of  Sioux  Indians  and  half- 
breeds  in  Wyoming,  a  half-breed  maiden  was  employed  on  a  ranch  near  Fort  Lar- 
amie. Adolph  Penio  and  Touinant  Kensler,  two  Sioux  half-breeds,  were  both  in 
love  with  the  girl.     Penio  had  a  slight  advantage  over  his  rival  by  being  able  to 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  627 

speak  French,  the  only  language  in  which  the  girl  could  converse  with  ease.  In 
this  emergency  Kensler  employed  John  Boyd  to  do  his  courting.  It  turned  out  to 
be  another  Miles  Standish  case,  Boyd,  who  could  speak  French  fluently,  making 
love  to  the  girl  on  his  own  account. 

Kensler  suspected  that  all  was  not  going  well  with  his  suit  and  one  evening 
he  got  drunk,  went  to  the  ranch,  where  he  found  Penio  with  the  girl  and  shot  him 
through  an  open  window.  He  was  arrested  and  taken  to  Cheyenne,  which  was 
then  in  the  same  county  as  the  ranch,  and  lodged  in  jail  charged  with  murder. 
He  claimed  that  John  Boyd  did  the  shooting,  but  was  finally  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  be  hanged  on  November  19,  1874.  Boyd  was  the  principal  witness  against  him, 
and  as  soon  as  the  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned  hurried  to  the  clerk's  office, 
procured  a  marriage  license,  went  directly  to  the  ranch  and  married- the  girl.  This 
made  Kensler  more  bitter  against  Boyd  than  before.  The  evening  before  his  ex- 
ecution he  said  to  some  friends  visiting  him  in  the  jail :  "My  spirit  will  come 
back  from  the  happy  hunting  grounds  and  John  Boyd  won't  have  good  luck." 

On  November  19,  1875.  just  one  year  from  the  day  Kensler  was  hanged,  John 
Boyd  was  accidentally  drowned  in  the  North  Platte  River.  The  date  of  the  ac- 
cident was  doubtless  nothing  more  than  a  coincidence,  but  people  inclined  to  believe 
in  signs,  omens  and  superstitions  looked  upon  Boyd's  death  as  a  fulfillment  of  the 
Indian's  curse. 

SOME  EARLY  PRICES 

In  this  year  1918,  with  practically  the  entire  civilized  world  at  war,  when  so 
much  is  being  said  and  written  concerning  the  high  cost  of  living,  it  may  be 
interesting  to  note  the  prices  paid  by  the  early  settlers  of  Wyoming  for  a  few 
of  the  necessary  articles  for  household  use.  From  the  market  report  in  the 
Cheyenne  Leader  of  April  15,  1868,  the  following  prices  are  taken:  Bacon  and 
hams,  22  to  30  cents  per  pound ;  butter,  60  cents :  cheese,  24  to  27  cents ;  coffee, 
28  to  35  cents ;  sugar,  20  to  28  cents :  tea,  $2.50  to  $3.00 ;  flour,  $7.50  to  $10.00  per 
sack  (  50  pounds )  ;  coal  oil.  $1.00  to  $1.25  per  gallon. 

Comparing  these  prices  of  1868  with  prices  of  the  same  articles  in  1918.  one  is 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  present  day  citizen  of  Wyoming  has  no  more 
cause  for  complaint  regarding  high  prices  than  had  his  predecessor  of  fifty  years 
ago.  Account  books  of  early  merchants  show  that  similar  prices  ruled  in  the  dry 
goods  and  hardware  trade.  Calico  sold  from  15  to  20  cents  per  yard;  unbleached 
muslin  about  the  same  price;  nails  sold  from  12  to  18  cents  per  pound,  according 
to  size,  etc.  There  was  some  excuse  for  the  high  prices  charged  fifty  years  ago. 
The  source  of  supply  was  far  distant  and  transportation  charges  were  much  higher 
than  they  are  today.  Yet  the  people  of  Wyoming  paid  twenty  or  twenty-five 
cents  a  pound  for  sugar  with  less  grumbling  than  is  now  heard,  when  the  price  is 
less  than  half  that  amount. 

FRONTIER  DAYS   CELEBRATION 

As  the  railroad  displaced  the  freight  wagon  and  the  homestead  began  to 
take  the  place  of  the  open  range,  some  of  the  citizens  of  Cheyenne,  realizing 
that  the  "Old  West"  was  rapidly  passing,  conceived  the  idea  of  holding  some 


628  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

sort  of  celebration  at  which  the  scenes  of  early  days  might  be  reproduced  for 
the  edification  of  the  rising  generation.  This  idea  took  definite  shape  in  the 
summer  of  1897  by  the  appointment  of  the  following  committee  to  arrange  for 
the  celebration:  Warren  Richardson,  chairman;  John  A.  Martin,  secretary; 
D.  H.  Holliday,  treasurer;  J-  H.  Arp,  E.  W.  Stone  and  G.  R.  Palmer. 

The  program  arranged  by  the  committee  included  cow  pony  and  wild  horse 
races;  pitching  and  bucking  horses;  a  reproduction  of  the  pony  express;  a  train 
of  emigrant  wagons  drawn  by  oxen;  a  hold  up  of  an  Overland  stage;  hanging  of 
an  outlaw  by  the  vigilance  committee,  etc.  Suitable  prizes  were  offered  for  the 
victorious  contestants  in  the  various  races,  an  Indian  encampment  was  located  on 
the  west  side  of  the  fair  grounds,  where  the  celebration  was  held,  and  a  sham 
battle  in  which  United  States  troops  participated  was  one  of  the  leading  fea- 
tures. 

The  first  Frontier  Days  celebration  was  held  on  Thursday,  September  23, 
1897,  and  attracted  several  thousand  people.  Excursion  trains  were  run  on  all 
the  railroads,  the  largest  number  of  people  coming  from  Colorado,  accompanied 
by  the  Greeley  Band.  Buildings  were  decorated  with  flags  and  bunting  and 
nearly  everyone  wore  the  "frontier  badge"  adopted  by  the  committee.  Promptly 
at  12  o'clock  Battery  A  fired  the  cannon  that  announced  the  beginning  of  the 
program  and  the  artillery  salute  was  immediately  followed  by  the  ringing  of 
bells,  the  blowing  of  factory  and  locomotive  whistles,  while  many  citizens  added 
to  the  din  by  firing  shotguns,  rifles  and  revolvers. 

Among  the  Indians  present  was  White  Hawk,  a  full  blooded  Sioux,  who  had 
been  employed  as  scout  and  interpreter  by  the  United  States  Government  for 
about  ten  years,  during  which  period  he  had  been  stationed  at  Forts  Yates, 
Keogh,  Buford,  Custer,  McGinnis,  Lincoln  and  Washakie.  He  guided  the  troops 
to  the  place  where  Sitting  Bull  was  encamped  on  the  Grand  River,  forty  miles 
from  the  Standing  Rock  Reservation,  and  was  present  when  Sitting  Bull  was 
there  killed  by  an  Indian  poHceman  in  December,  1890. 

W.  R.  Schnitger,  John  Hunton  and  N.  K.  Boswell  were  the  judges  in  the 
racing  events ;  H.  E.  Buechner  and  Frank  Bond,  timekeepers ;  John  McDenuott, 
starter;  and  Herman  Glafcke,  clerk.  The  riding  of  the  pitching  and  bucking 
horses  provoked  the  wildest  enthusiasm  and  was  pronounced  by  old  timers  as 
equal  to  anything  of  the  kind  they  had  ever  witnessed.  Horses  jumped  over 
the  fences,  men  were  knocked  down  or  thrown  from  their  saddles,  but  for- 
tunately no  one  was  hurt. 

After  the  races  came  the  seenes  on  the  Overland  Trail — the  ox  train,  the 
hold  up  of  the  stage  coach,  etc.  The  passengers  on  the  stage  were  Warren  Rich- 
ardson, John  A.  Martin,  Leopold  Kabis,  R.  S.  Van  Tassell  and  several  others. 
The  stage  was  drawn  by  six  horses  driven  by  Dave  Creath.  At  the  west  side 
of  the  track  the  stage  was  held  up  in  approved  frontier  style  by  road  agents. 
From  a  newspaper  account  of  the  celebration  the  following  report  of  "An  Amus- 
ing Incident"  connected  with  the  hold  up  of  the  stage  is  taken : 

"There  was  rather  an  amusing  incident  at  the  Frontier  celebration  which 
did  not  appear  on  the  bills.  R.  S.  Van  Tassell,  the  old  pioneer,  was  upon  the 
stage  which  was  about  to  be  held  up  by  the  alleged  road  agents.  Just  before 
the  shooting  began  he  slipped  rather  speedily  toward  the  boot,  with  the  evident 
intention  of  getting  ofi^.    A  companion  grabbed  liim  by  the  arm  and  asked  what 


,^ 

^^•vv<f?S^.-^           -      -^^ 

.■    '     1 

PR^.M-.   /w 

H^^Pi^ 

nTf|j^  j 

^  -^""'a 

i^^w 

^^M^  y^m 

r  A<i^j 

^^^ 

IH 

^S^:< 

V^i^ 

'L. 

'^' 

'  ^ai^ 

fe-^^^^ 

^^^/^^^^-'^'^^^^-^ 

::i;;^i:Mr 

P^9p^^9H 

g^ 

mi 

Copyright  by  Doubled  ay -Foster  IMiotu  Prin 

"FRONTIER  DAYS,"  AT  CpEYENNE,  IN  JULY,  1917 


630  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

was  the  matter.  \'an  Tassell  replied  that  he  had  just  thought  of  something. 
There  were  six  cayuses  on  that  stage,  and  while  the  driver  might  be  able  to 
handle  them  all  right  on  a  straight  track  without  any  excitement  going  on,  he 
was  in  doubt  about  the  ability  of  the  jehu  and  slipped  on  down  over  the  boot." 

Mr.  Van  Tassell's  doubts  were  without  foundation.  Although  the  stage  was 
stopped  and  the  passengers  were  relieved  of  their  "valuables,"  Dave  Creath  man- 
aged to  hold  the  six  cayuses  under  control,  and  after  the  robber}-  drove  on,  pre- 
sumably to  the  next  relay  station  to  report  the  affair  to  the  Overland  officials. 

Then  the  vigilantes,  under  the  leadership  of  Pete  Bergersen,  captured  the 
original  Bill  Root  and  "strung  him  up."  The  victim  afterward  confessed  that  he 
was  not  anxious  to  have  the  ceremony  repeated.  Everything  was  quite  realistic 
and  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  the  crowd. 

The  first  Frontier  Days  celebration  was  such  a  pronounced  success  that  a 
permanent  organization  was  formed  to  conduct  such  exhibitions  annually.  What 
Mardi  Gras  day  is  to  New  Orleans,  the  Frontier  Days  festivities  are  to  Chey- 
enne. Other  cities  have  followed  the  example  and  in  19 17  scenes  of  frontier 
life,  in  which  trappers,  miners,  hunters,  Indians,  stage  drivers,  etc.,  took  part  were 
reproduced  in  twenty  western  cities.  While  the  first  celebration  in  1897  was  a 
one-day  affair,  subsequent  celebrations  have  covered  three  or  four  days  and  are 
now  conducted  at  Frontier  Park.  The  committee  of  1918  is  composed  of  John 
J.  Mclnery,  president;  T.  Joe  Cahill,  secretary;  Albert  Cronland,  Robert  B. 
Davidson  and  Robert  N.  LaFontaine,  directors.  The  twenty-second  annual  Fron- 
tier Days  celebration  was  held  July  24-27,  1918. 

POEMS   ON    WYOMING 

Wyoming,  in  common  with  the  other  states  of  the  Union,  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  numerous  rhymes,  two  of  which  are  here  reproduced  as  characteristic 
representations  of  the  West  and  its  people.  The  first,  by  an  unknown  author, 
throbs  with  true  situations  and  the  poet  was  evidently  alert  to  conditions  as  they 
existed  in  early  days,  traces  of  which  still  linger  in  certain  sections  of  the  state. 
This  poem  was  recited  by  Miss  Edith  Lehman  at  the  Memorial  Day  exercises  at 
the  Catholic  Convent  in  Cheyenne,  May  30,  191 8,  and  was  received  with  a  hearty 
round  of  applause.  The  second  poem,  by  Arthur  Chapman,  of  Denver,  de- 
scribes the  beauties  of  the  West  and  many  of  the  traits  of  the  western  people.  It 
has  been  widely  quoted,  but  is  worth  reading  again. 

OLD   WYOMING 

Take  me  back  to  old  Wyoming, 

Where  there's  plenty  room  and  air; 
Where  there's  cottonwood  and  pine  trees, 

Greasewood  and  the  prickly  pear; 
Where  there  ain't  no  pomp  and  glitter. 

Where  a  shilling's  called  a  "bit," 
,  Where  at  night  the  magpies  twitter, 

Wliere  the   Injun  fights  were  fit. 


^^°|^^pH| 

Wm 

twk^tfSin^''  ^.^^^^T]! 

HHP^ 

W^mfW^ 

^^ 

"  ^-^^^^dy^  mjj] 

. 

CuDjright  by  Doubledas-Foster  Photo  Priiitine  Co. 

"FRONTIER  DAYS,"  AT  CHEYENNE,  IN  JULY, 


632  HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG 

Take  me  back  where  land  is  plenty, 

Where  there's   rattlesnakes  and  ticks ; 
Where  a  stack  of  "wheats"  cost  twenty, 

Where  they  don't  sell  gilded  bricks. 
Where  the  swift  Big  Horn  River 

An'  the  winding  North  Platte 
Wends  through  canyon  an'  Bad  Lands, 

Where  the  long  horn  grows  fat. 

Take  me  where  there  ain't  no  subways, 

Nor  no  forty-second  shacks; 
Where  they  shy  at  automobiles. 

Dudes,  plug  hats  an'  three-rail  tracks; 
Where  the  old  sun-tanned  prospector 

Dreams  of  wealth  and  pans  his  dirt ; 
Where  the  sleepy  night-herd  puncher 

Sings  to  steers  and  plies  the  quirt. 

Take  me  where  there's  diamond  hitches. 

Ropes  an'  brands  an'  ca'tridge  belts; 
Where  the  boys  wear  chaps  for  britches. 

Flannel  shirts  and  Stetson  felts. 
Land  of  alkali  an'  cattle! 

Land  of  sage  brush  an'  gold ! 
Take  me  back  to  dear  Wyoming, 

Let  me  die  there  when  Fm  old. 


WHERE  THE   WEST   BEGINS 

By  Arthur  Chapman. 


Out  where  the  handclasp's  a  little  stronger ; 
Out  where  a  smile  dwells  a  little  longer — 
That's  where  the  West  begins. 

Out  where  the  sun's  a  little  brighter. 
Where  the  snow  that  falls  is  a  trifle  whiter. 
Where  the  bonds  of  home  are  a  wee  bit  tighter — 
That's  where  the  West  begins. 

Out  where  the  skies  are  a  trifle  bluer; 

Out  where  friendship's  a  little  truer — 

That's  where  the  West  begins. 

Out  where  a  fresher  breeze  is  blowing. 
Where  there  is  laughter  in  every  streamlet  flowing. 
Where  there  is  more  of  reaping  and  less  of  sowing- 
That's  where  the  West  begins. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  633 

Out  where  the  world  is  in  the  making, 
Where  fewer  hearts  with  despair  are  aching — 

That's  where  the  West  begins. 
Where  there  is  more  of  singing  and  less  of  sighing. 
Where  there  is  more  of  giving  and  less  of  buying, 
And  a  man  makes  friends  without  half  trying — 

That's  where  the  West  begins. 


WYOMING 

(The  Wyoming  State  Song.) 

Words  by  Chaiies  E.  Winter. 
Music  by  Earle  R.  Clemens. 

In  the  far  and  mighty  West 
Where  the  crimson  sun  seeks  rest 

There's  a  growing  splendid  state  that  lies  above 
On  the  breast  of  this  great  land 
Where  the  massive  Rockies  stand, 

There's  Wyoming  young  and  strong,  the  state  I  love. 

Chorus 
Wyoming,    A\'yoming,    Land   of    the   sunlight   clear, 
Wyoming,  Wyoming,  Land  that  we  hold  so  dear, 
Wyoming,  Wyoming,  Precious  art  thou  and  thine, 
Wyoming,  Wyoming,  Beloved  state  of  mine. 

In  the  flowers  wild  and  sweet. 

Colors  rare  and  perfumes  meet. 
There's  the  columbine  so  pure,  the  daisy,  too. 

Wild  the  rose  and  red  it  springs. 

With  the  button  and  its  rings — 
Thou  art  loyal  for  they're  red  and  white  and  blue. 

Where  thy  peaks  with  crowned  head 

Rising  till  the  sky  they  wed 
Sit  like  snow  queens  ruling  wood  and  plain 

'Neath  thy  granite  bases  deep, 

'Neath  thy  bosom's  broadened  sweep 
Lie  the  riches  they  have  gained  and  brought  thee  fame. 

Other  treasure  dost  thou  hold : 
Men  and  women  thou  dost  mould. 

True  and  earnest  are  the  lives  that  thou  dost  raise. 
Strength  thy  children  thou  dost  teach, 
Nature's  truth  thou  giv'st  to  each. 

Free  and  noble  are  thy  workings  and  thy  ways. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

In  the  nation's  banner  free 

There's  one  star  that  has  for  me 
A  pure  radiance  and  a  splendor  Hke  the  sun. 

Mine  it  is,  Wyoming's  star, 

Home  it  leads  me  near  or  far — 
Oh,  \\'yoming,  all  my  heart  and  love,  you've  won 

Chorus. 
Wyoming,  \\'yoming.  Land  of  the  sunlight  clear, 
Wyoming,  Wyoming,  Land  that  we  hold  so  dear, 
Wyoming,  Wyoming.  Precious  art  thou  and  thine, 
Wyoming,  WS-oming,  Beloved  state  of  mine. 


HISTORY  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR  IX  WYOMING 

By  Harry  ^^■.  Fox,  President  State  Federation  of  Labor. 

A  history  of  Wyoming  would  not  be  complete  without  a  review  of  the  organi- 
zations of  workingmen  and  the  not  inconsiderable  part  they  have  played  in  the 
development  of  our  resources.  During  the  early  '80s  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
then  at  the  crest  of  its  growth,  became  a  power  in  the  affairs  of  the  state.  While 
it  was  strongest  in  the  coal  camps  of  Almy,  Rock  Springs  and  Carbon,  it  had  also 
a  large  membership  among  other  branches  of  labor. 

Among  those  active  in  its  counsels,  later  actively  identified  with  business 
affairs  of  the  state  can  be  mentioned  Will  Reid,  now  registrar  of  the  L-nited 
States  Land  Office,  in  Cheyenne ;  Thomas  Sneddon,  superintendent  of  the  Dia- 
mond Coke  and  Coal  Company,  with  mines  at  Diamondville,  Oakley  and  Glencoe 
in  the  western  part  of  the  state ;  Ed  Blacker,  father  of  George  Blacker,  present 
coal  mine  inspector  for  the  Southern  district  as  well  as  the  father  of  Robert 
Hotchkiss,  now  coal  mine  inspector  for  the  Northern  district. 

Others  active  in  its  counsels  were  Matt  Muir,  now  a  coal  operator  in  Rock 
Springs :  Charles  Argesheimer  of  Cheyenne ;  Mathew  Morrow  of  Evanston  and 
a  host  of  others.  It  was  this  organization  that  laid  the  foundation  for  the  benef- 
icent features  of  the  fundamental  law  of  Wyoming.  Then  there  were  the  local 
imions  of  printers  at  Rawlins,  Laramie  and  Cheyenne,  the  latter  chartered  in 
1880  and  still  operating  under  its  original  grant.  William  Reid,  still  living  in 
Cheyenne  and  a  member  of  the  Typographical  Union  since  the  late  50's,  was  a 
charter  member  of  the  Cheyenne  local  as  was  also  Hon.  W.  E.  Chaplin,  present 
editor  of  the  Laramie  Republican  and  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Wyoming. 
This  organization,  though  small  in  membership  has  played  an  important  part  in 
molding  public  opinion.  At  this  writing  the  organization  has  charters  in  Cheyenne, 
Laramie,  Rock  Springs,  Casper  and  Sheridan.  The  original  locals  at  Laramie 
and  Rawlins  were  disbanded  and  the  present  ones  are  of  more  recent  date. 

After  the  disbanding  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  some  of  the  coal  miners  of 
Western  Wyoming  affiliated  with  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  but  this 
movement  was  not  general  and  the  industry  was  practically  unorganized  so  far 
as  the  state  was  concerned  till  the  formation  of  a  local  of  the  United  Mine 
\\'orkers  at  Dietz,   Sheridan  County,  in  April,   1003.     In  the   fall  of  that  year 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  635 

and  the  spring  of  1904  the  miners  of  Monarch  and  Carneyville  were  organized 
through  the  efforts  of  the  Dietz  officials.  In  1907,  tlirough  the  efforts  of  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Thomas  P.  Fahey.  now  a  prominent -attorney  of  Cheyenne,  was 
a  member,  the  organization  was  planted  in  the  southern  field  and  today  this 
organization,  with  a  membership  of  over  7.000  is  100  per  cent  strong  and  works 
under  contractural  agreement  with  every  coal  operator  in  Wyoming. 

We  will  not  deal  with  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  that  marked  the  early  days 
of  this  organization  but  will  rather  point  with  pride  to  its  enviable  standing  at 
the  present  writing.  By  its  business-like  direction  it  has  become  a  force  of  good 
to  the  state.  Formerly  joined  with  Montana  as  District  22,  its  officers  have  been 
as  follows :  First  president,  Mike  Purcell,  now  operators  commissioner  for  Mon- 
tana; second  president,  John  Morton,  now  living  in  Gebo  and  retaining  an  active 
connection  with  the  organization ;  third  president,  Thomas  Gibson,  now  directors 
department  of  safety,  U.  P.  Mines ;  fourth  president,  Arthur  G.  Morgan,  fifth, 
W.  W.  Gildroy,  and  the  present  executive,  Martin  Cahill,  of  Rock  Springs. 
The  various  vice  presidents  have  been  Edwin  Gildroy,  Arthur  G.  Morgan, 
Mathew  Morrow  and  George  Young,  the  present  incumbent  and  one  of  the 
state  senators  from  his  district. 

The  secretaries  have  been  William  Alurray,  who  served  for  a  brief  time, 
and  James  Morgan,  the  present  secretary  who  has  continuously  and  acceptably 
filled  the  office  for  almost  the  entire  period  of  the  organization.  In  1910  the 
miners  of  Montana  were  accorded  a  separate  charter  and  District  22  was  con- 
fined to  Wyoming,  with  Thomas  Gibson  as  president,  Arthur  Morgan  as  vice- 
president  and  James  Morgan  as  secretary. 

Other  crafts  evincing  an  interest  in  the  organization,  a  charter  was  applied 
for,  for  a  group  of  locals  as  a  State  Federation  of  Labor  in  1909  and  since  that 
year  the  state  has  become  the  best  organized  numerically  of  any  state  in  the  Union. 
The  first  president  of  the  state  organization  was  James  Buckley,  now  editor 
of  the  Labor  Journal,  who  gave  way  in  1914  to  William  W.  Gildroy,  who  in  turn 
was  succeeded  by  the  present  president,  Harry  \\'.  Fo.x.  As  secretary  the  federa- 
tion has  been  served  by  James  Morgan,  C.  H.  McKinstry,  A.  W.  Sandberg  and 
William  A.  James  the  present  incumbent. 

Since  the  formation  of  the  State  Federation  there  has  been  a  noticeable 
improvement  in  the  standards  of  wages  and  working  conditions  as  well  as  the 
enactment  of  progressive  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  wage  earner.  It  was 
through  the  efforts  of  these  organizations  that  the  compensation  law.  shorter 
work  day  law  for  women,  the  labor  commissioner  law  and  other  equally  progres- 
si\e  measures  have  been  placed  on  the  statute  books  of  \\'yoming.  As  an  indi- 
cation of  the  high  standing  in  which  the  organized  workers  of  \\'yoming  are 
held  we  might  mention  that  Thomas  P.  Fahey,  then  international  board  mem- 
ber of  the  mine  workers,  was  the  democratic  candidate  for  Congress  in  1912 
and  while  defeated  he  made  a  splendid  race.  State  Senator  Young  served  two 
terms  in  the  lower  house  before  his  elevation  to  the  Senate  and  at  the  last  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  there  were  eight  members  of  labor  organizations  sitting 
as  law  makers. 

The  progress  that  has  been  made  1)y  labor  in  \\'yoming  has  been  due  to  the 
intelligent  direction  of  its  guiding  spirits  and  to  this  fact  can  also  be  laid  the 
chief  responsibility  for  our   freedom  from  industrial  turmoil  that  aff'ects  other 


636      .  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

states.  \\'orking  in  harmony  with  their  employers  in  all  lines  of  effort  organized 
labor  of  the  state  will  continue  to  wield  an  influence  for  good  and  will  implant 
on  our  statute  books  other  far  reaching  statutes.  In  common  with  their  asso- 
ciates in  other  states  organized  labor  of  Wyoming  has  taken  an  active  part  in  all 
patriotic  endeavors  and  has  been  a  large  contributor  to  patriotic  funds  as  well 
as  investing  liberally  in  liberty  bonds.  One  local  of  miners  has  invested  $16,000 
in  the  bonds  while  numerous  others  have  given  as  liberally  as  their  finances 
allow.  The  most  of  the  locals  have  sick  and  other  benefits  while  the  district 
of  mine  workers  pays  a  funeral  benefit  to  its  members  under  certain  conditions. 
The  personnel  of  the  labor  movement  feel  justly  proud  of  their  record  of 
achievement.  In  1914  the  mine  workers  erected  their  present  home  in  Chey- 
enne in  which  are  housed  the  oflices  of  the  mine  workers,  the  State  Federation  of 
Labor  and  the  modern  printing  plant  of  the  Wyoming  Labor  Journal,  owned 
by,  and  published  in  the  interest  of  organized  labor  of  Wyoming. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
STATISTICS  AND  CHRONOLOGY 

FIRST  ACCURATE   KNOWLEDGE   OF  THE  GREAT  WEST WYOMING   FIFTY    YEARS   OLD — 

CENSUS  REPORTS  FROM    187O  TO    I915 POPULATION    BY    COUNTIES — FAULTS    Of 

THE  STATE   CENSUS IN   THE   CITIES PUBLIC    OFFICIALS LIST   OF   TERRITORIAL 

AND  ELECTIVE  STATE  OFFICERS CHRONOLOGY SUMMARY  OF  LEADING  EVENTS  IN 

WYOMING   HISTORY'. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  nearly  all  the  published  maps 
of  the  United.  States  showed  the  country  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains  as  the  "Great  American  Desert."  People  generally  accepted 
the  statements  of  the  geographers  and  for  almost  half  a  century  after  the 
Louisiana  purchase  was  made  in  1803,  very  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  Great 
West.  The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  was  the  greatest  factor  in  opening 
the  eyes  of  the  residents  of  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  re- 
sources and  possibilities  of  the  region  hitherto  designated  as  the  Great  Desert. 
Returning  "forty-niners"  gave  glowing  accounts  of  their  journey  across  the 
plains.  Sometimes  these  narratives  were  embellished  with  something  more  than 
the  "naked  truth,"  but  they  agreed  in  all  the  essential  particulars  and  contradicted 
the  desert  theory  which  had  so  long  been  prevalent.  From  these  returned 
argonauts  many  people  received  their  first  impressions  that  the  West  was  habitable, 
to  say  the  least. 

Following  the  fur  hunters  and  the  gold  seekers  came  the  actual  settlers. 
On  July  25,  1918,  fifty  years  had  passed  since  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of 
the  United  States,  approved  the  bill  creating  the  Territory  of  Wyoming.  Two 
years  after  the  passage  of  that  bill  the  United  States  census  reported  a  popula- 
tion of  9,118  in  the  new  territory.  The  growth  in  population,  as  shown  by  sub- 
sequent enumerations,  has  been  as  follows : 

1870    9.1 18 

1880    20,789 

1890    62,555 

1900    92,531 

1910    145-965 

1915  (state  census)   i4i-705 

From  this  table  it  will  be  observed  that  the  greatest  proportionate  increase  in 

population  durng  any  decade  was  between  1880  and  1890,  when  it  was  a  little 

over  200  per  cent,  the  increase  during  the  preceding  decade  having  been  a  little 

over  125  per  cent.    Only  once  in  the  history  of  the  state  does  the  census  enumera- 

637 


638  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

tion  show  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  inhabitants  between  the  census  years.  That 
was  during  the  five  years  from  1910  to  191 5,  when  the  official  figures  show  a 
loss  of  4,260.  For  the  sake  of  comparison,  the  returns  of  each  census  since  the 
admission  of  the  state  in  1890  are  given  by  counties  in  the  following  table: 

County  1890             1900             1905              1910  191 5 

Albany   8,865           13.084            9,992           1 1,574  8,i94 

Bighorn    4.32S            8,942            8,886  6,815 

Campbell    2,316 

Carbon   6,857             9,589           10,313           11,282  8,412 

Converse    2,738            3,337            4,168            6,294  3,626 

Crook   2,338            3,137            3,831             6,492  5,1 17 

Fremont •.  2,463             5,357             5,363           1 1,822  9,633 

Goshen 5.035 

Hot  Springs 3,191 

Johnson    2,357            2,361             3,027            3,453  3,238 

Laramie   16,777          20,181           18,514          26,127  14.631 

Lincoln 13.581 

Natrona  1,094            1,785            2,442            4,766  5,398 

Niobrara    3.488 

Park 4.909  5.473 

Platte 5.277 

Sheridan    1,972            5,122            9,965           16,324  15.429 

Sweetwater    4,941             8,455            7,163           11,575  10,642 

Uinta    7,414           12,223           14,492           16,982  6,051 

Washakie i  ,744 

Weston 2,422            3,203            3,604            4,960  4,414 

Total 62.555  92,531         101,816         145.965         141,705 

There  are  several  reasons  why  the  state  census  of  191 5  shows  a  decrease  in 
population.  First,  the  enumeration  was  made  by  the  county  assessors  and  their 
deputies,  who  received  no  extra  compensation  for  the  extra  work.  Then  the 
time  for  beginning  the  census  was  fixed  about  sixty  days  after  the  time  of  be- 
ginning the  assessment,  so  that  much  of  the  territory  had  to  be  gone  over  a  sec- 
ond time.  Second,  the  enumerator  for  the  United  States  census  is  always  given 
the  authoj-ity  to  compel  the  answering  of  his  questions.  This  power  was  not  con- 
ferred on  the  assessors  and  no  doubt  many  individuals  disclaimed  residence  in 
the  state  in  order  to  avoid  paying  poll  tax.  Third,  in  1910  the  soldiers  at  the 
military  posts  in  the  state  were  enumerated  as  part  of  the  population,  while  in 
191 5  most  of  these  soldiers,  as  well  as  a  number  of  the  Wyoming  National 
Guard,  were  stationed  on  the  Mexican  border  at  the  time  the  state  census  was 
taken  and  were  not  included  in  the  enumeration.  Fourth,  the  United  States  cen- 
sus of  1910  included  the  519  inhabitants  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park, 
which  were  omitted  from  the  state  census  of  1915. 

By  a  careful  analysis  of  the  census  reports  of  191 5,  abundant  evidence  is 
found  to  show  that  the  decrease  in  population  is  more  apparent  than  real.  In 
1910  the  total  number  of  votes  cast  at  the  state  election  was  37,927,  while  in 
1914  the  number  voting  was  44.877.    This  increase  of  6,950  votes  would  naturally 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  63'J 

indicate  a  corresponding  increase  in.  the  total  population.  The  number  of  persons 
between  the  ages  of  ten  and  twenty  years  increased  2,479  during  the  five  years 
from  1910  to  1915,  the  number  of  unmarried  females  increased  1,348,  and  there 
was  a  slight  increase  in  persons  over  the  age  of  sixty  years.  Had  the  same  num- 
ber of  soldiers  been  stationed  at  the  military  posts  in  1915  as  in  1910,  and  the 
members  of  the  National  Guard  been  at  their  homes,  it  is  quite  probable  that  the 
proportionate  increase  would  have  been  shown  in  persons  between  the  ages  of 
twenty  and  sixty  years,  where  all  the  apparent  decrease  occurs. 

In  this  connection  it  might  be  well  to  otifer  a  word  of  explanation  regarding 
the  decrease  in  population  in  certain  counties,  which  on  the  surface  seems  to 
be  unusual.  It  will  be  noticed  that  seven  counties  appear  in  the  above  table  only 
in  the  census  for  1915.  The  creation  of  those  counties  by  the  Legislature  of 
191 1  drew  upon  the  population  of  the  counties  from  which  their  territory  was 
taken.  For  example:  In  1910  Uinta  County  reported  a  population  of  16,982, 
and  five  years  later  only  6,051.  This  was  due  entirely  to  the  organization  of 
Lincoln  County  from  the  northern  part  of  Uinta.  In  1915  the  combined  popu- 
lation of  the  two  counties  was  19,632,  an  increase  of  2,650  during  the  preceding 
five  years  in  the  territory  comprising  the  two  counties.  A  little  examination 
of  the  table  will  disclose  other  similar  cases. 

IN   THE   CITIES 

In  comparing  the  census  reports  of  1910  with  those  of  191 5  one  peculiar 
feature  is  noticed.  While  the  decrease  in  the  population  of  the  entire  state  was 
4,260,  the  decrease  in  the  five  largest  cities  of  the  state  was  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  whole  retrogression,  to  wit : 

Cities  1910  1915 

Cheyenne 1 1,320  9,661 

Sheridan   8.408  8,906 

Laramie 8,237  4.962 

Rock  Springs 5,778  5,699 

Rawlins 4.256  2,975 

Totals    37,999  32.203 

Sheridan  is  the  only  one  of  these  five  cities  that  showed  a  gain  during  the 
five  years,  while  the  aggregate  decrease  in  the  five  was  5.796.  Buffalo.  Douglas, 
Green  River,  Lander.  Newcastle  and  Thermopolis  show  an  aggregate  decrease  of 
1,570.  making  a  total  in  the  eleven  principal  cities  of  7.366,  when  the  fact  is  well 
established  that  in  each  of  the  five  years  new  homes  were  built  in  all  these  cities 
and  the  bank  deposits  in  all  increased,  in  some  instances  more  than  two  hundred 
per  cent.  In  the  face  of  all  these  conditions  there  are  good  grounds  for  the 
conclusion  that  the  census  of  191 5  is  not  reliable. 

PUBLIC  OFFICI.\LS 

The  only  state  officers  elected  by  the  people  of  Wyoming  are  the  governor, 
secretary  of  state,  state  auditor,  state  treasurer,  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion and  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court.     A  list  of  the  justices  is  given  in  the 


640  HISTORY  OF  WYO.MIXG 

chapter  on  the  Bench  and  Bar,  and  the  superintendents  of  public  instruction  are 
included  in  the  chapter  relating  to  education.  Following  is  a  list  of  the  elective 
officers  of  the  state  and  the  corresponding  officials  during  the  territorial  era,  with 
the  date  each  was  appointed  or  elected,  or  the  date  when  he  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office : 

Territorial  Governors — John  A.  Campbell,  April  7,  1869;  John  M.  Thayer, 
February  10,  1875;  John  W.  Hoyt,  April  10,  1878;  William  Hale,  August  3,  1882; 
Francis  E.  Warren,  February  27,  1885;  George  W.  Baxter,  November  6,  1886; 
Thomas  Moonlight,  December  20,  1886;  Francis  E.  \\'arren,  [March  27,  1889. 

State  Governors — Francis  E.  Warren,  October  11,  1890;  Amos  W.  Barber 
(acting),  November  24,  1890 ;  John  E.  Osborne,  January  2,  1893;  William  A. 
Richards,  January  7,  1895;  De  Forest  Richards,  January  2,  1899;  Fenimore 
Chatterton  (acting),  April  28,  1903;  Bryant  B.  Brooks.  January  2.  1905;  Joseph 
M.  Carey,  January  2,  1911 ;  John  B.  Kendrick,  January  4.  1915  :  Frank  L.  Houx 
(acting),  February  26,  1915.  The  dates  given  in  connection  with  the  state  gov- 
ernors are  the  dates  of  taking  the  oath  of  office,  each  serving  until  his  successor 
was  elected  and  qualified. 

Territorial  Secretaries — Edward  M.  Lee,  April  7,  1869;  Herman  Glafcke, 
March  2,  1870;  Jason  B.  Brown,  March  24,  1873;  George  W.  French.  February 
24.  1875;  A.  Worth  Spates,  February  24.  1879;  Elliott  S.  X.  Morgan,  March 
10,  1880;  Samuel  D.  Shannon,  .^pril  9,  1887;  John  W.  Meldrum,  May  20,  1889. 

Secretaries  of  State — Amos  W.  Barber,  November  8,  1890:  Charles  W.  Bur- 
dick,  January  7,  1895 ;  Fenimore  Chatterton,  Januarj'  2.  1899 ;  William  R.  Schnit- 
ger,  January  7,  1907;  Frank  L.  Houx,  January  2,  191 1.  The  dates  above  are 
when  each  secretary  took  the  oath  of  office.  Amos  W.  Barber  became  acting  gov- 
ernor when  Governor  Warren  resigned  to  enter  the  United  States  Senate ;  Feni- 
more Chatterton  became  acting  governor  upon  the  death  of  Governor  Richards ; 
and  Frank  L.  Houx  when  Governor  Kendrick  was  elected  United  States  senator. 

Territorial  Auditors — The  exact  date  when  each  of  the  territorial  auditors 
was  appointed  could  not  be  ascertained.  The  years  given  are  those  when  the 
name  of  the  auditor  first  appears  in  the  public  records.  Benjamin  Gallagher, 
April  7,  1S69:  Orlando  North,  1875:  J.  S.  Nason,  1878;  Jesse  Knight,  1879; 
P.  L.  Smith,   1883;  Mortimer  N.  Grant,  1886. 

State  Auditors— Charles  W.  Burdick,  No\-ember  8.  1890;  W.  O.  Owen,  Jan- 
uary 7,  1895;  LeRoy  Grant,  January  2,  1899:  Robert  B.  Forsyth,  January  2, 
191 1.  LeRoy  Grant  served  three  terms  and  Robert  Forsyth  was  reelected  for  a 
second  term  in  1914. 

Territorial  Treasurers— John  W.  Donnellan,  December  21,  i86q:  Stephen  W. 
Downev,  October  26,  1872;  Amasa  R.  Converse,  December  11,  1875:  Francis  E. 
\\"arren.  September  30,  1876;  Amasa  R.  Converse,  December  15.  1877;  Francis 
E.  Warren,  December  10.  1879:  William  V.  Gannett,  March  2.  1885;  Luke 
Voorhees,  March  31,  1888. 

State  Treasurers — Otto  Gramm,  November  7,  1890 :  Henry  G.  Hay,  January 
7.  1895;  George  E.  Abbott,  January  2.  1899:  Henry  G.  Hay.  January  5,  1903 
(resigned  on  September  19,  1903,  and  the  same  day  William  C.  Irvine  was 
appointed  to  the  vacancy)  :  ^^'illiam  C.  Irvine,  January  2,  1905  :  Edward  Gillette, 
January  7.  1907;  John  L.  Baird,  January  2.  191 1;  Herman  B.  Gates,  January 
4.  1915- 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMIXG 


ELEVATION  OF  CITIES  AXD  MOUNTAIN; 


City  Feet 

Alcova    6,000 

Atlantic  City 7,850 

Bulifalo   4,600 

Basin    . 3.700 

Battle    9,866 

Cambria 5.100 

Casper    S.ioi 

Carbon   6,821 

Cheyenne  (capital) 6,101 

Cody 4,900 

Corbett 4.659 

Douglas    4,816 

Embar    5.900 

Encampment   7.3^2 

Evanston    6,759 

Fort  Laramie    4.270 

Fort   Steele    6,505 

Fort  Washakie   5,462 

Fort  Yellowstone 6,370 

Four  Bear 6,500 

Garland    4.183 

Glendo    4,716 

Glenrock 4,900 

Green  River   6,077 

Hanna    6,788 

Hyattville    4.550 

Mountain  Feet 

Big  Horn 8,000  to  12.000 

Bradley  Peak    9.500 

Bridger  Peak 1 1,400 

Chimney  Rock   1 1.853 

Cloud  Peak   12,500 

Elk  Mountain 1 1 .5 1 1 

Fremont's  Peak    13.790 

Grand  Encampment 1 1.003 

Grand  Teton 13.800 

Index  Peak 1 1.740 


City  Feet 

Jackson  Hole    6,820 

Jackson  Lake 6,800 

Kirwin   9, 500 

Lander   5,372 

Laramie   '. 7>i53 

Lovell 3.700 

Lusk   5.007 

Medicine  Bow 6,562 

Meeteetse    S.ooo 

Newcastle    4.319 

Otto    4,01 1 

Rambler 9.500 

Rawlins    6,744 

Riverton   (approximately) 5.100 

Rock  Springs   6,260 

Rock  Creek 6,704 

Sherman    8,247 

Sheridan    3'73'i 

Saratoga 7,000 

Shoshoni   (approximately)    5.000 

Sundance   4.750 

Thermopolis    4.350 

Ten  Sleep 4.513 

Tie  Siding 7.890 

^^'heatland 4.700 

Alountain  Feet 

Laramie  Peak 11, 000 

Laramie  Range 7,000  to    9,000 

Medicine  Peak   12,231 

Medicine  Bow  Range.  .  .8,000  to  12.000 

Mount  Moran 12,000 

Park  Range,  in  Wyoming 1 1.500 

Phlox  Mountain 9.136 

Pilot  Knob ".977 

Ouien  Hornet 9.300 


CHRONOLOGY 


Every  civilized  country  on  the  face  of  the  globe  is  the  product  of  evolution. 
In  the  process  of  development  event  follows  event  like  the  links  in  a  chain, 
each  the  effect  of  one  that  preceded  it  and  the  cause  of  one  or  more  that  follow 
after  it.     In  the  foregoing  chapters  a  conscientious  eiYort  has  been  made  to  show 


642  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

the  progress  of  Wyoming  along  industrial,  educational,  professional  and  religious 
lines,  as  well  as  the  part  the  state  has  taken  in  the  military  affairs  of  the  nation 
and  its  political  history.  As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  this  work,  the  following 
summary  of  events  leading  up  to  the  settlement,  organization  of  the  territory  and 
the  admission  of  the  state,  with  more  recent  events  which  have  a  bearing  upon 
some  phase  of  the  state's  history,  has  been  compiled  for  ready  reference. 

At  first  glance  many  of  these  events  may  seem  to  have  no  connection  with 
W'yoming's  career,  or  at  least  a  ver>-  remote  one,  yet  each  event  is  the  corollary 
of  something  that  went  before.  For  example:  The  treaty  of  September  3,  1783, 
ending  the  Revolutionary  war  was  negotiated  years  before  the  present  State  of 
Wyoming  had  a  single  white  inhabitant.  But  that  treaty  fijced  the  western 
boundary  of  the  United  States  at  the  Mississippi  River,  which  twenty  years 
later  led  to  the  purchase  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  in  which  the  larger  part 
of  Wyoming  was  included.  In  like  manner,  the  organization  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  may  appear  out  of  place  in  a  list  of  events  affecting  Wyoming, 
but  it  was  the  first  of  the  great  fur  companies,  whose  agents  and  employees 
carried  back  to  the  East  a  knowledge  of  the  Indian  tribes  and  the  possibilities 
of  the  fur  trade  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  thus  paving  the  way  for  all  the 
trappers  and  traders  that  followed. 

THE    SUMMARY 

]\Iay  2,  1670.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  received  its  charter  from  the 
British    Government. 

■ ,    1743.      In   this   year  \'erendrye   and   his   associates   visited  the 

Wind  River  country.  They  were  the  first  white  men  of  whom  there  is  any 
account  to  set  foot  on  Wyoming  soil. 

November  3,  1762.  The  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau  was  concluded,  by  which 
France  ceded  all  that  part  of  Louisiana  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  Spain. 
By  this  treaty  that  part  of  Wyoming  east  of  the  Continental  Divide  became  a 
Spanish   possession. 

September  3,  17S3.  Treaty  with  Great  Britain  ending  the  Revolutionary  war 
and  establishing  the  independence  of  the  United  States. 

,  1783.    The  North-West  Company  was  organized  as  a  competitor 

of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

October  27,  1795.  The  Treaty  of  Madrid  concluded,  granting  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  right 
of  deposit  at  New  Orleans. 

October  i,  1800.  Secret  Treaty  of  San  Ildefonso  by  which  ?pain  retroceded 
Louisiana  to  France. 

March  21,  1801.  The  Treaty  of  San  Ildefonso  was  ratified  by  the  Treaty 
of  Madrid. 

April  30,  1803.  Louisiana  was  sold  to  the  United  States  by  the  Treaty  of 
Paris. 

December  20,  1803.  The  United  States  commissioners  received  the  transfer 
of  Louisiana  from  the  French  commissary  at  New  Orleans. 

March  10,  1804,  Maj.  Amos  Stoddard  took  possession  of  Upper  Louisiana, 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  643 

in  which  the  greater  part  of  \\'yoming  was  included,  in  the  name  of  the  I'nited 
States. 

March  26,  1804.  The  District  of  Louisiana,  including  most  of  Wyoming, 
was  established  by  an  act  of  Congress  and  attached  to  the  Territory  of  Indiana. 

March  3,  1805.  President  Jefferson  approved  the  act  creating  the  Territory 
of  Louisiana  and  appointed  Gen.  James  Wilkinson,  governor.  This  territory 
included  that  part  of  Wyoming  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

April  6,  1808.  The  American  Fur  Company  was  chartered  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  New  York. 

August,  1808.  The  Missouri  Fur  Company  was  organized  at  St.  Louis  to 
trade  with  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  Upper  Missouri. 

,    181 1.     \\'ilson   Price  Hunt's  expedition  ascended  the   Missouri 

River  and  entered  Wyoming  about  the  first  of  August. 

•  November  2,  1812.  Robert  Stuart  and  five  other  Astorians  began  the  con- 
struction of  a  cabin  at  the  mouth  of  Poison  Spider  Creek,  twelve  miles  above 
Casper.  This  was  the  first  house  built  by  white  men  in  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Wyoming. 

,   1821.     The  Columbia  Fur  Company  was  organized. 

March,  1822.  Gen.  W.  H.  Ashley  and  Andrew  Henry  organized  the  Rocky 
^Mountain   Fur  Company. 

,    1825.      General   Ashley   and  a    few   of   his   men   descended  the 

Green  River  into  Utah — the  first  white  men  to  navigate  the  stream. 

,    1830.      The    Mormon    Church    was    founded    in   the    spring   of 

this  year  at  Palmyra,  New  York. 

July,  1832.  In  the  latter  part  of  this  month,  Capt.  Benjamin  Bonneville 
took   the   first   wagons  through   the   South   Pass. 

March  26,   1838.     Gen.  W.  H.  Ashley  died  at  St.  Louis,  IMissouri. 

,    1838.      In   the    fall   of   this   year   the   Mormons   were   expelled 

from  ^Missouri  and  founded  the  Town  of  Nauvoo,  Illinois. 

July  5,  1840.  Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  celebrated  the 
first  mass   in  Wyoming  at   the  traders'   rendezvous   on  the   Green  River. 

June  27,  1844.  Joseph  Smith,  founder  of  the  Mormon  Church,  and  his 
brother  were  assassinated  by  a  mob  in  the  jail  at  Carthage.  Illinois. 

May  10,  1845.  Texas  annexed  to  the  L'nited  States.  Part  of  Albany  and 
Carbon  counties  was   included  in  the  territory  annexed. 

April,   1846.     The  jMormon  emigration  westward  began. 

May  19,  1846.  President  Polk  approved  the  act  providing  for  a  line  of 
military  posts  along  the  Oregon  Trail. 

June  15,  1846.  A  treaty  was  concluded  at  \\'ashington,  D.  C,  by  which 
Great  Britain  relinquished  all  claims  to  Oregon.  By  this  treaty  that  part  of 
Wyoming  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  (except  a  tract  in  the  southwest  cornerl 
became  the  Territory  of  the  United   States. 

July  21,  1847.  The  first  company  of  Mormons,  led  by  Elders  Snow  and 
Pratt,  arrived  at  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  having  passed  through  Wyoming  on 
their  pilgrimage. 

February  2,  1848.  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  by  which  !\Iexico  ceded 
a  large  tract  of  country  to  the  United  States.  The  counties  of  Uinta  and  Sweet- 
water, and  the  southern  part  of  Lincoln,  were  included  in  the  cession. 


6-14  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

September  17,  185 1.  A  treaty  was  negotiated  at  Fort  Laramie  b)-  whicb 
tbe  bounds  of  certain  Indian  tribes  were  established. 

November,  1853.  Fifty-four  Mormons  from  Salt  Lake  formed  a  settlement 
at  old  Fort  Bridger. 

May  30,  1854.  President  Pierce  signed  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  By  this 
measure  all  that  part  of  Wyoming  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  embraced 
in  the  Territory  of  Nebraska. 

June,  1857.  Col.  A.  S.  Johnston's  expedition  reached  Salt  Lake  after 
passing  through    Wyoming. 

January  29,  1863.  Gen.  P.  E.  Connor  attacked  the  camp  of  Chief  Bear 
Hunter  on  the  Bear  River.  In  the  engagement  250  Indians  were  killed  and 
the  band  was  broken  up. 

,    1863.      In   the    spring   of    this   year   the   trail    from   the    Platte 

River  to  the  Montana  mining  districts  was  selected  by  John  M.  Bozeman  and 
became  known  as  the  "Bozeman  road."  The  opening  of  this  road  was  the 
cause  of  serious  troubles  with  the  Indians. 

November  29,  1864.  Maj.  John  M.  Chivington ,  destroyed  a  Cheyenne  \il- 
lage  on  Sand  Creek,  Colorado.  The  survivors  were  driven  northward  into 
Wyoming,  which  led  to  the  raids  on  the  Overland  Stage  Route. 

January  7,  1865.  Julesburg  attacked  by  Indians,  the  beginning  of  the  raids 
on  the   Overland   stations. 

July  26,  1865.  Lieut.  Caspar  Collins  and  se\en  men  were  killed  by  Indians 
in  an  affair  at  Platte  Bridge,  near  the  present  City  of  Casper. 

]\Iarch  10,  1866.  Gen.  John  Pope  ordered  two  new  forts  (Fort  Philip  Kearny 
and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith )  to  be  established  on  the  line  of  the  Bozeman  Road. 

July  15,  1866.  The  site  of  Fort  Philip  Kearny  was  selected.  The  fort  was 
completed  on  the  21st  of  October. 

December  21,  1866.  Capt.  W.  J.  Fetterman  and  eighty  men  massacred  near 
Fort  Philip  Kearny  by  the  Indians. 

January  9.   1867.     Laramie  County  created  by  the  Dakota  Legislature. 

July,   1867.     First  settlers  located  in  Cheyenne. 

August  2,  1867.  Capt.  James  Powell  and  thirty-two  men  surrounded  by 
Indians  on  Piney  Creek,  but  dro\e  off  their  assailants  after  a  battle  which  lasted 
for  three   hours. 

August  10,   1867.     First  election   for  city  officers  in  Cheyenne. 

November  13,  1867.  The  first  train  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  arrived 
at  Cheyenne. 

December  24.  1867.  Cheyenne  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  Dakota  Leg- 
islature. 

December  27,  1S67.  An  act  of  the  Dakota  Legislature  defined  the  boundaries 
of  Carter  and  Laramie  counties — the  only  two  counties  at  that  time  in  what 
is  now  Wyoming. 

January  20,  1868.  Charles  Martin  and  Charles  [Morgan  hanged  at  Cheyenne 
by  a  vigilance  committee. 

March  2,  1868.  Asa  Bartlett,  chief  justice  of  Dakota  Territory,  began  the 
first  term  of  court  at  Cheyenne. 

April  29,  1868.     Treaty  with  the  Sioux  Indians  concluded  at  Fort  Laramie. 


HISTORY  OF  WYO.MING  645 

the  tribe  relinquishing  their  lands  in  South  Dakota  and  reserving  their  lands 
in  Wyoming  for  a  hunting  ground. 

jMay  7,  1868.  Part  of  the  Crow  country  was  ceded  to  the  United  States 
by  a  treaty  concluded  at   Fort   Laramie. 

July  3,  1868.  Treaty  of  Fort  Bridger,  by  which  the  Shoshone  Indians  ceded 
to  the  United  States  all  their  lands  in  Wyoming,  except  the  Wind  River 
reservation. 

July  25,  1868.  President  Andrew  Johnson  approved  the  act  of  Congress  pro- 
viding for  the  organization  of  a  temporary  government  for  the  Territory  of 
\\'yoming. 

April  7,  1869.  Territorial  officers  for  Wyoming  appointed  by  President. 
Governor   Campbell   qualified   on   the    15th. 

May  19,   1869.  The  territorial  government  of  \\'yoming  went  into  effect. 

September  2,  1869.  First  election  in  \\'yoming  for  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature   and    delegate    in    Congress. 

October  12,  1869.  The  first  Territorial  Legislature  began  at  Cheyenne. 
The  session   lasted   for  sixty   days. 

December  i,  1869.  Uinta  County  established,  including  all  of  the  present 
counties  of  Uinta  and  Lincoln  and  the  A'ellowstone  National   Park. 

December  13,  1869.  Albany  County  created  and  the  name  of  Carter  County 
was  changed  to  Sweetwater  by  an  act  of  the   Legislature. 

January  i,  1870.     The  act  establishing  Carbon  County  became  effective. 

April  12,  1870.  The  Sioux  Reservation  in  South  Dakota  was  established 
by  order  of  President  Grant. 

]\larch  3,  187 1.  President  Grant  approved  the  act  doing  away  with  the 
custom  of  making  treaties  with  the  Indians. 

July,  1871.  The  first  silver  wedding  in  Wyoming,  that  of  J.  G.  Stearns 
and  his  wife,  was  celebrated  at  the  Railroad  House  in  Cheyenne. 

March  i,  1872.  President  Grant  approved  the  act  establishing  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park. 

September  26,  '1872.  The  southern  part  of  the  ^^"ind  River  Reser\ation 
was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  agreement. 

December  8,  1875.  Pease  (now  Johnson)  County  was  created  Ijy  act  of 
the    Legislature. 

December  10,  1875.    Crook  County  was  established. 

June  25,  1876.     General  Custer's  last  fight  on  the  Little  Big  Horn  River. 

September  26,  1876.  The  Arapaho  lands  in  Wyoming  were  ceded  to  the 
United  States  by  an  agreement  with  the  chiefs. 

December  4,  1877.  Railroad  connections  between  Cheyenne  and  Denver  were 
established. 

December  14,  1877.  Cheyenne  incorporated  as  a  city  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature. 

September  5,  1879.  Delmonico  Hotel  and  Washington  Market,  two  brick 
buildings  on  the  south  side  of  Sixteenth  Street,  between  Capitol  and  Carey 
avenues,  in  Cheyenne,  collapsed.     Several  people  were  killed. 

June  12,  1880.  The  remaining  portion  of  the  Crow  country  in  Wyoming 
was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  agreement. 


646  HISTORY  OF  WYOMING 

July  17,  1881.  Jim  Bridger,  noted  scout  and  trapper,  died  at  his  home  near 
Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

^larch  5,  1884.  Governor  Hale  approved  the  act  of  the  Legislature  creating 
Fremont  County. 

September  2,  1885.  Chinese  laborers  in  the  coal  mines  at  Rock  Springs 
assaulted  and  driven  off  by  a  mob. 

April  6,  1887.  Articles  of  incorporation  of  the  Cheyenne  &  Burlington  Rail- 
road Company  were  filed  with  the  Wyoming  secretary  of  state. 

May  18,  1887.  The  cornerstone  of  the  state  capitol  building  at  Cheyenne  was 
laid  by  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

January  10,  1888.    The  first  street  car  made  its  appearance  in  Cheyenne. 

March  9,  1888.  Converse,  Natrona  and  Sheridan  counties  created  by  the 
Legislature,  the  act  being  passed  over  the  governor's  veto. 

July  8,  1889.     Election  of  delegates  to  a  constitutional  convention. 

September  2,  1889.  The  constitutional  convention  assembled  at  Cheyenne  and 
remained  in  session  until  the  30th. 

November  5,  1889.  The  constitution  framed  by  the  convention  was  ratified 
by  the  people  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

March  12,  i8go.  Bighorn  and  Weston  counties  created  by  an  act  of  the  last 
Territorial  Legislature. 

July  10,  1890.  President  Benjamin  Harrison  signed  the  bill  admitting  ^^'yo- 
ming  into  the  Union  as  a  state. 

July  23,  1890.  The  admission  of  the  state  was  celebrated  with  appropriate 
ceremonies  at  Cheyenne,  people  from  all  parts  of  Wyoming  being  present. 

September  11,  1890.    First  election  for  state  officers  ever  held  in  Wyoming. 

April  5-12,  1892.    The  cattlemen's  invasion  in  Johnson  County. 

January  4,  1897.  The  Wyoming  General  Hospital  at  Rock  Springs  was  seri- 
ously damaged  by  fire. 

September  23,  1897.  First  Frontier  Day  celebration  in  Cheyenne.  These 
celebrations  have  since  been  held  annually. 

February  15,  1898.  The  United  States  Battleship  Maine  was  blown  up  in 
Havana  Harbor. 

April  23,  1898.  President  McKinley  issued  his  proclamation  calling  for 
125,000  volunteers  for  the  war  with  Spain. 

May  18,  1898.  The  Wyoming  Battalion  left  Cheyenne  for  San  Francisco 
and  the  Philippines. 

June  24,  1898.  The  Alger  Light  Battery  left  Cheyenne  for  San  Francisco. 
It  also  served  in  the  Philippines. 

Februarv'  20,  1899.  The  Wyoming  Legislature  appropriated  $1,500  for  a 
soldiers'  monument. 

April  28,  1903.     Governor  De  Forest  Richards  died. 

November  20,  1903.  Tom  Horn  was  hanged  at  Cheyenne.  This  was  the 
last  legal  execution  in  Wyoming  outside  of  the  penitentiary. 

July  25,  1904.    The  W'yoming  Humane  Society  was  incorporated. 

July  7,  1907.    The  cornerstone  of  St.  IMary's  Cathedral  at  Cheyenne  was  laid. 

May  5,  1908.  First  meeting  of  the  ^^'yoming  Farmers  Congress  assembled 
at  Cheyenne. 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  647 

May  12,  1908.  fleeting  of  governors  in  Washington  to  consider  the  conser- 
vation of  natural  resources. 

September  11,  1908.  Destaictive  tornado  in  the  Big  Horn  Basin.  The 
villages  of  Kane  and  Lovell  almost  "wiped  off  the  map." 

September  26,  1908.  Wyoming  State  Bankers  Association  organized  at 
Cheyenne. 

February  15,  1909.     Park  County  created  by  act  of  the  Legislature. 

August  27,  1910.  Ex-President  Theodore  Roosevelt  visited  the  Frontier 
Day  celebration  at  Cheyenne. 

November  9,  1910.  The  Union  Pacific  rolling  mills  at  Laramie  destroyed  by 
fire  started  by  a  spark  from  a  passing  locomotive. 

February  9,  191 1.  Governor  Joseph  M.  Carey  approved  the  act  creating  Hot 
Springs,  Platte  and  Washakie  counties. 

February  11,  191 1.  Campbell  and  Goshen  counties  created  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature. 

February  14,  191 1.     The  County  of  Niobrara  was  created. 

February  20,  191 1.  Lincoln  County  was  created  from  the  northern  part  of 
Uinta. 

January  30,  1912.  Explosion  of  dust  in  a  coal  mine  at  Kemmerer  caused  the 
death  of  five  men  and  seriously  injured  nine  others. 

May  14,  19-12.  A  State  Publicity  Convention  at  Cheyenne  passed  a  resolu- 
tion favoring  the  three-year  Homestead  Bill. 

June  6,  1912.     President  Taft  signed  the  three-year  Homestead  Bill. 

Januarv'  25,  1915.  The  Wyoming  State  Bar  Association  was  organized  at 
Cheyenne. 

June  19,  1916.  Orders  received  from  the  war  department  to  mobilize  two 
battalions  of  the  Wyoming  National  Guard.  The  troops  left  for  the  Mexican 
border  on  the  28th  of  September. 

August  18,  1916.  An  incendiary  fire  at  Douglas  destroyed  the  coal  chutes  and 
four  freight  cars  belonging  to  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  Company. 

January  31,  1917.  A  design  for  a  state  flag  was  adopted  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature.  The  same  day  the  Indian  Paint  Brush  was  designated  as  the  state 
flower. 

February  13,  191 7.  The  Legislature  appropriated  $750  to  remove  Jim  Baker's 
cabin  from  Carbon  County  to  Cheyenne,  to  be  preserved  as  a  historic  relic. 

April  6,  191 7.    Congress  declared  war  against  Germany. 

May  22,  1918.  Four  hundred  Belgian  soldiers  passed  through  Wyoming  over 
the  U'nion  Pacific  Railroad  on  their  wav  to  the  front. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  George  E.,  228 

Alioiigiiial  implements,  36 

Aboriginal  mines  and  miners,  36 

Aboriginal  quarries,  31 

Aboriginal  remains,  oi^iuious  in  regard  to,  38 

Aboriginal  shop  and  village  sites,  37 

Ab-sa-ro-ka,    the,    64 

Accommodations  in  a  new  gold  mining  camp, 
137 

Act   of   admission,    191 

Acti..n    11,    Wvnining,  187 

Acl.litiuiis  t,i  rapitol,  257 

Admission  to   L'nion,  185 

Advancing  wave    (suffrage),   204 

Advantages  in  Wyoming,  357 

Adventures  of  early  Wyoming  settlers,  134 

Affair  at  Platte  bridge,  the,  280 

Afton,  562 

Agassiz  at  Clifvenne,  43 

Agri.iiltmal    j.ioduction,    27,    352 

Agri.ultnic  ill  Wyoming,  352 

Ah-ho  ap-pa,  the  romance  of,  312 

Aid  to  railroads,  350 

Air  conditions,   23 

Albany   comity,   .-,(13 

Albri-lit,    IT.    M.,    56 

Alger,   lluiai-c  ('.,   230 

Algonquian  family,  the,  45,  60 

Allen,  Captain  James,  126 

Allouez,  Clande,    76 

Alsop,   Thomas,  504 

AmliitiouS  dog,  an,  136 

Amended  in  the  house,  suffrage  bill,  202 

America  acquires  Louisiana  from   France,  91 

American  Fur  Company,  96 

American    fur   traders,   96 

Amherst  collection  of  aboriginal  implements, 
39 

Amusing  incident  at  Frontier  days  celebra- 
tion, 628 

An  adopted  brother  of  Sitting  Bull,  147 

Analysis  of  Gill  lakes  soda,  401 

Ancient  animal  life,  42 

Ancient  Indian   civilization,   59 

Ancient  remains,  32 


Andesite  rock,  48 

Anderson,  C.  H.,  residence  of,  (illus.)  598 

Andrew  brothers,  the  four,  102 

Angel,  the,  and  the  golden  plates,  124 

Animal  sanctuary,  an,  56 

Animals,  prehistoric,  42 

An  Indian's  curse,  626 

Annexation  of  Texas,  79 

Annual    mean   temperature,   23 

Annual  production  of  refined  oils,  etc.,  390 

Antelojje,  the,  22 

Antelope  and  dog,  a  story,  136 

Antiquity  of  di-y  farming,   356 

Apaches,   Comanches   and   Kiowa,   61 

Apportionment  of  delegates,  188 

Appropriation   for  medals,   298 

Appropriations  for  state  fair,  253 

Approved  by  governor   (suffrage  bill),  202 

Arapaho,  the,  61 

Arapaho  and  Cheyenne  country  boundaries,  71 

Arapaho  god  with  a  peace  pipe,  62 

Arapaho  treaty,  73 

Archaeological    discoveries,    31 

Architecture   of   eapitol,   273 

Area  of  game  preserves,  22 

Area  of  state,  17 

Argonauts,  the,  124,  131 

Arikara,  the,  67,  102 

Arkansas,  territory  of,  erected,  92 

Armies  of  world  use  Wyoming  horses,  374 

Arnold,   C.  P.,   230 

"Articles    of    Confederation"    fixing    policy 

toward  Indians,  69 
Articles  of  Louisiana  Purchase  treaty,  87-90 
Asliestos,  26 
Ashley,    James   M.,    164 
Ashley,   William   H.,    101,    328,   619 
Ashley  bill,  the,   164 
Assessed  valuation  of  state  in  1917,  27 
Assiiiiboine    country,    the,    71 
Associate  justices  of  supreme  court,  466 
Astor,   John   Jacob,   96 
Astoria,  80,  96 

Astorians,   return   of  the,   100 
Atkinson,  Jesse  L.,  544 


649 


650 


INDEX 


Attempt   to  repeal    (woman   suffrage),  203 

A  tub  full  of  fish,  138 

Augur,  Gen.  C.  C,  72 

Automobile  camps,  56 

Automobile     transportation     at     Yellowstone 

park,  56 
Austin,  Moses,  79 
Austin  colony,  79 
"Avenging  angels,"  the,  129 
Average  temperature,  23 
Averill,   James,   615 
Aztecs  and  Wyoming  Indians,  41 

Babbitt,  Colonel,  138 

"Baden-Baden   of   the  West,"   270 

Baggs,  562 

Baker,  Jim,    (illus.)    105,  106 

Baldwin,   John,   622 

Baldwin,  Noyes,   162,   519 

Baltimore,  Lord,  68 

Banking,  415 

Banks — see    financial    chapter — also    separate 

towns 
Banks  in  1918,  418-426 
Banks  in  the  United  States,  416 
Bannock  Indians,  45,  66 
Baptist   church,   the,   500-502 
Barber,   Amos   W.,   196,   215 
Barber 's   administration,   215 
Barbour,  E.  H.,  32 
Barnes,  Unusual,  210 
Barragan,  Miguel,  79 
Barrett,  Patrick,  578 
Barron,  John  H.,  216 

Barrow,  Merris  Clark   ("Bill  Barlow"),  457 
Bartlett,  A.  B.,  4;  on  Wyoming  geology,  377 
Bartlett,  I.  S.,  poem,  151 
Bartlett,  I.  S.,  pioneer  stories  of,  134 
Bartlett,  Mrs.  I.  S.,  208,  222 
Bartlett,  Sydney  E.,  32 
Bartlett  tells  a  fish  story,  134 
Basin,  563 

Battalion  roster,  the,  293 
Battle  grounds  and  burial  grounds,  Indian,  39 
Battleship  Wyoming,  250 
Baxter 's   administration,   181 
Bean,  James,  his  convincing  argument,  555 
"Bear  Flag  Eepublie,"  the,  78 
Bears  and  other  wild  game,  20 
Beaver  almost  exterminated,  130 
Beaver  fur  at  premium,  102 
Beck,  George  T.,  568 
Becker,  Ella  G.,  216 
Beckwith,  Asahel  C,  222,  551,  555,  578 
Beckwith-Quinn  Company,  600 
Beckwourth,  James,  103 
Bedell,   L.   L.,   524 
Bee  Hive  geyser,  50 


Beeman,  Newell,  544 

Beers,  Robert  M.,  163,  551 

Beet  sugar  manufacture — see  under  separate 

towns 
Beginnings  of  missionary  work,  476 
Beginning,  the    (education),  430 
Belle  Fourehe  ranch,  145 
Bench  and  bar  of  Wyoming,  462 
Benton,  Thomas  H.,  120,  325 
Bent's  fort,  64 
Best  irrigation  laws,  361 
Bidwell's  California  company,  130 
Big  Crow,  278 
Bighorn  county,  508 
Big   Horn   Hot  Springs,   229,  231 
Big  Horn   Hot   Springs   reserve,   270 
Big  Horn  national  forest,  20 
Big  Horn  reserve,  22 
Big  Horn  sheep,  20 

Big  Horn  Valley  Railroad  Company,  348 
Big  Muddy  oil  fields,  577 
Eig  Piney,  563 
"Bill  Barlow,"  457 
Bill  Nye,  137 

Bill  Nye 's  humorous  report,  209 
Birds   and  fish,   20 
Bishop  Randall  hospital,  584 
Bison  peak,  46 
Black  and  Yellow  trail,  592 
Black  bass,  22 
Black  bear,  20 
Black  Bear's  band,  280 
"Black  Canon  City,"  158 
Black  Face  skinned,  153 
Blackfeet,  the,  45 
Blackfoot   country  boundaries,   71 
Black  Hills  reserve,  20 
Black  volcanic  glass,  52 
Blaine,  James  6.,  54 
Blake,   John  W.,   471 
Blanco,  General,  291 
Blind  and  deaf,  the,  272 
Blizzard   of   March,  1878,   339 
Blydenburgh,  Charles  E.,  230 
Bon,   Stephen,   555 
Bonded  debt,  the,  414 
Bonneville,  Benjamin  L.  E.,  117 
' '  Bonneville 's   Folly  "  or  "  Fort  Nonsense, ' ' 

118 
"Book  of  Mormon,"  the,  125 
Boswell,  N.  K.,  504 
Boulder  Basin  preserve,  22 
Boundaries  of  Yellowstone  park,  54 
Boundaries   set   for   Indian    nations    at    Fort 

Laramie  treaty,  70 
Boundary  creek,  46 
Bourne,   John,   570 
Boyd,  John,  627 


INDEX 


651 


Bozemau,  John  M.,  281 

Bozeman  road,  the,  281 

Bradbury,  A.  E.,  578 

Brady,  James  H.,  250 

Branch  fish  hatchery,  261 

Branch  hospitals  at  Casper  and  Sheridan,  269 

Branch  of  general  hospital,  245 

Eramel,  Buck,  210 

Bramel,  C.  W.,  176,  586 

Bramel,  Judge,   137 

Breaking   of   relations   with    Germany,   261 

Bresnahau,  Mayor,  218 

Bridger  basin,  stone  art  found  in,  42 

Bridger,  James,   (Jim)   52,  64,  103,  108,  128, 

318 
Briggs,  George  L.,  219 
Brigliam   Young,    125 
Bright,  W.   H.,  207 
Erontosaurus,  43 
Brook  trout,  22 
Brookings,  W.  W.,  164 
Brooks,  Bryant  B.,  238 
Brooks '  administration,  238 
Brooks  cottage,  265 
Broom  factory  building,   268 
Brown  bear,  the,  20 
Brown,  Edward  M.,  551 
Brown,  F.  M.,  621 
Brown,  Jerome  F.,  230 
Brown,  Melville  C,  195 
Brown,  William,  216 
Buck  Creek  Dome  oil  fields,  590 
Buffalo,  564 
Buffalo  Bill,  330 
Buffalo  grass,  24 

Buffalo,  the  wild,  and  Father  De  Smet,  120 
Building  stone,  26 
Bull  snakes  as  pets,  138 
Bullock,  Colonel,  142 
Bullock,  Isaac,  161 
Burch,  Joseph  E.,  584 
Eurdick,  Charles  W.,  196,  223 
Burial   ceremonies,   314 
Burial  of  De  Soto,  76 
Burns,  566 
Byron,  566 

Cabin,  Jim  Baker's,  106 

Cactus,  24 

Caddoan  family,  61 

Calhoun,   Joliii"r.,   80 

Califi.iiii.i,   ;ir-Mii,-iuts,   131 

Califnn.ia    ^;mI<1    discoveries    (1847),    131 

California    trail,    the,    326 

Call  of  the  wild,  the,  364 

Cambria,   566 

Camp,  W.  M.,  41 

Camp   Carlin,   317 


Camp  Cuba   Libre,   302 
"Camp   of  Israel,"   125 
Camp   Richards,  292 

ami)aign  of   1876    (army),   287 

ampaign   of   1898,   230 
Campaign   of    1904,    237 

ampaign  of  1912,  251 

ampaign  of  1916,  257 

ampbell,  Gov.  John  A.,  74,  172,  463 

ampbell,  Eobert,   103,  146 

ampbell  county,  510 

ampbell 's   administration,   172 

amping-out,   22 
Camping  places  in  Wyoming,  328 

anyon  hotel,  56 

anyons,  their  lengths  and  heights,  619 

anyons   and    waterfalls,    18 

apitol  building,   180,   182 

apitol  building    (illus.),   183 
Capitol   commissioners,   257 
Capitol  commissions,  272,  273 
Carbon   county,   511 
Carbon    county    case,   the,    218 
Carey,  Joseph  M.,  172,  174,  247,  470,  529,  545 
Carey  act,  28 
Carey  act  projects,  360 
Carey's  administration,  247 
Carr,  Samuel,  582 
Carr,  T.  J.,  555 
Carson,  Kit,  121 
Carter,  J.  Van  A.,  42 
Carter,  W.  A.,  540 
Carter   county   established,    162 
Casement,  J.  S.,  164 
Casper,  566 

Casper  and  Sheridau  liranch  hospitals,  269 
Castaneda,   110 
Castle  geyser,  50 
Catfisli,  the  home  of  the,  22 
Catholic    church,   the,   476-484 
Catliu,  64 

Cattle  and  sheep  on  forest  reserves,  1916,  372 
Cattle   assessed,  1886-1916,   366 
"Cattle   Kate,"   615 
Cattlemen's  invasion  of  1892,  613 
Cattlemen's  raid,  the,  219,  616 
Cave  dwellings,  39 
Gelebrated'stage  di'ivers,  334 
Celebrating  admission,  192 
Cement,  26;  plaster  mills,  588 
Census  and  school  apportionment,  l)y  counties, 

443 
Census  of  1860,  329 
Census    reports,    1870-1915,    637 
Cential  I'arili,-,  the,  344 
Certilii-atioii  of  teachers,  436 
Cession   of   Louisiana,   87 
Champion,  N.  D.,  616 


652 


INDEX 


Changes  in  boundaries  of  Albany  county,  504 
Changing  the  route,  333 
Chaplin,  W.  E.,  4 
Chapman,  Arthur,  632 
Character  of  Wyoming  oil,  392 
Charboneau,  Toussaint,  114,  150 
Charles  I  of  England,  68 
Charles  I  of  Spain,  75 

Charter  granted  by  Charles  I  to  Lord  Balti- 
more, 68 
Chatterton,   Fenimore,    230 
Chatterton's  administration,  237 
Chautauqua  associations — see   under   separate 

towns 
Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills  stage  line,  336 
Cheyenne  &  Northern,  348 
Cheyenne  at  age  of  ten,  558 
Cheyenne-Deadwood   traO,    590 
Cheyenne  rangers,  556 
Cheyenne  treaty,   73 
Cheyennes,  the,  61,  64,  71 
Chicago  &  Northwestern,  346 
Chicago,  Burlington  &   Quincy,   347 
Chicago  Hide,  Fur  &  Wool  Company,  574 
Chief  Bear  Hunter,  275 
Chief  Big  Elk  of  the  Omahas,  126 
Chief   Big  Face's   address,   119 
Chief  justices  of  supreme  court,  466 
Chief   Red   Qoud,   282 
Chief  Washakie,  66,  151 
Chinamen  cause  riot  of  1885,  602,  624 
Chittenden,  General,   53 
Christmas,  Col.  H.  E.,  582 
Chronology,  641 
Chronology  and  statistics,  637 
Church  work  among  the  Shoshones,  490 
Cibola,  109 

Cities   and  towns,  562 
Cities,  elevation  of,  641 
Civic  club.s — see  under  separate  tovv'ns 
Clagett,  W.  H.,  54 
Clark,  Captain  William,   113 
Clark,  Clarence  D.,  195,  216 
Clark,   Edward   T.,   243 
Clark,  Gibson,   216 
Clarke,  Lieutenant  Harry  A.,  297 
Classification  of  lands,   24 
Clay,  Charles,  140 
Clear  creek,  46 
Clemens,   Earle   R.,   633 
Clemens,   Samuel,  155 

Cleveland,  President,  appoints  Baxter,  181 
Cliff  dwellers,  31 
Climate,  23 
Cloud  peak,  538 
Club   Sandwich,"   "The,   23 
Coaching  at  Yellowstone,  56 


Coal,  geology  of,  384 

Coal  deposits,  Wyoming,  392 

Coal  fields — see  under   separate  towns 

Coal  production  in  1869  and  in  1917,  396 

Coal  resources,  24 

Coburu,  Harol  D.,  293 

Cody,  568 

Cody,  William  F.,  330,  568 

"Cody  Way,"  568 

' '  Cody  's  run, ' '  330 

Coffeen,  Henry  A.,  216,  604 

Cokeville,  570 

Collett,  Sylvanus,  570 

Collins,  Caspar,  151,  281,  566 

Colonies  of  the  Mormons,  125 

Colorado  &  Wyoming  Railway,   349 

Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  27 

Colorado,  Wyoming  &  Eastern,  349 

Colter,  John,  50,  114 

"Colter's  Hell,"  52 

Colter's  Journal,  50 

Columbia  Fur  Company,  106 

Columbian  exposition,  222 

Columbus,  Christopher,  60,  75 

Comanches,  the,  61,  66 

Commemorative  tablet  (illus.),  199 

Commending  president 's  action,  261 

Commercial  clubs,  etc. — see  under  each  town 

Commission    to   Lewis   and   Clark   exposition, 

240 
Commissioners    concluding    Sioux    treaty    of 

Commissioners  to  Louisiana  purchase  exposi- 
tion, 236 
Company  C,  293 
Company  F,  294 
Company  G,  294 
Company  H,  295 

Compensation   of   injured   employes,   253 
Compulsory  education,  30 
Conaway,  Asbury  B.,   196,  466,  578 
Congregational  church,  the,  493-498 
Congress  declares   (Spanish)  war,  291 
Connor,  General  P.  E.,  279 
Constitutional  convention,  190 
Continental  divide,  the,  18 
Conventions  of  1912,  251 
Converse,  A.  E.,  179 
Converse  Cattle  Company,  255 
Converse  county,   514 
Convict  labor,  268 
Cook,  Captain,  80 
Cook,  C.  W.,  53 
Coolidge,  Sherman,  62 
Copper,  404 
Copper  mines,  26,  27 
Copper  pocket,  a  marvelous,  402 
Copper  resources,  26 


INDEX 


653 


Corlett,  William  W.,  470 

Corn,  Samuel  T.,  216 

Cornforth   brothers,   555 

Coronado,   Francisco   Vasquez    de,   109 

Coroner's  jury  for  Vigilantes'  victims,  554 

Corriedales,  369 

Corrupt  practices  act,   249 

Cortez,  Hernando,  67 

Cosgriff,  Thomas  A.,   560 

Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  326 

Council   for   National   Defense,   261 

Counties  of  Wyoming,  the,  503 

Cowboy's  Prayer,  The,  159 

Cowley,   570 

"Crack    Six"    that    hauled    Saratoga    coach, 

335 
Crazy  Woman  fork,  279 
Credit  Mobilier,  344 
Creighton,    Edward,    332 
Crook,  General,  66,  149 
Crook  county,  515 
Crooks,  Bamsay,  97 
Crow,   the,   45,   64,   71,   73 
Crow    country    lioundaries,    71 
Crow   treaty   of   1  s(38,   73 
Cruikshank,   Rt.   Rev.   Joseph,  484 
Crunille,  Leonard,   150 
Cumming's  city,   137 
Curlew!,  156 
Curse,    an    In.liau's,    626 
Cusf,.,-,    CiHial,    149 
Custer's  last  fi-ht,   149,  287 
Cut    Throat   trout,    22 


"Deseret  News,"  the,  130 

De  Soto,  75,  109 

Destruction  of  the  Maine,  291 

Devel,  Charles  T.,  576 

Dtvelojnnent  of  horse  industry,  374 

Devil's  Garden,  23,  592 

Devil's  Tower,  23,   516 

Dey,   Peter   A.,  342 

Diamond   Coal  &  Coke  Company,  572 

Diamondville,   572 

Dietz,  572 

Dinosaur,  the,  43 

Direct  primary  law,  249 

Discovery  of  gold  in  California,  131 

Disco\ery  of  Lost  Cabin  gold  placers,  140 

Discovery  of  the  "Medicine  Wheels,"  41 

Distances,  Fort  Laramie  to  various  camping 

grounds,  328 
District   courts,   466-468 
Dix,   Gen.   John   A.,   342 
Dixon,  572 

Doane,  Lieutenant  G.  C,  53 
Dodge,  General  G.  M.,  315,  345,  560 
Don  Carlos   IV.,   85 
Donzelmann,   Hugo,   226 
Dorsey,  George  A.,  31 
Douglas,  572 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  342 
Downey,   Stephen   W.,  222,   471 
Downs,   Pete,   134 

Dozen  wives  of  Jim  Beckwourth,  104 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  80 
Dray,    Arcli.lcacon,    489 


Dablon,  Claude,  76 

Daily  Ledger  in  1868,  556 

Dairy  production,  27 

Dakota,  territory  of,  82 

"Danites, "  the,  129 

"Darn  fool  here  buying  land,"  357 

Data  on  precipitation,   24 

Davis,  Jefferson,  341 

Davis,   Levi   R.,  231 

Day  of  the  stage  coach,  332 

Dayton,  570 

Deaf  and  blind,  the,  272 

Deaf,   dumb   and   blind   asylum,   234 

Deaf,  dumb  and   blind   school,   181 

Dedication   nf    Vcllnusii.iie   park,  54 

Deer  are  plentiful,  L'L' 

Delegates   to   constitutional   convention,   190 

Democratic  national  convention,   1916,  258 

Democratic  nominations,  1894,  224 

Democratic   nominees   of    1914,   254 

Democratic  platform,  1894,  224 

Description  of  Yellowstone  park,  46 

Deseret,  state  of,  129 

De   Smet,   Father   Pierre   Jean,   119 


Dry    farniint;'   and   precipitation,   24 

Dry  farming  as  a  science,  354 

Dry  Muddy   quarries,   34-37 

Dubois,  574 

Ducks  and  geese,  22 

Dyer,  John  C,  216 

Dyer  hotel,  554 

Dykins,    John,    578 

Earliest  inhabitants,  31 

Early  liusiness  interests,  555 

Early  cattle  growing  methods,  363 

Early  Cheyenne  newsjiapers,  454 

Early   conditions   in   sheep   industry,   370 

Early  exjjlorers,  310 

Early  conditions  of  finances,  412 

Early  gold  mining,  403 

Early  gold  seekers,  58 

Early  hotels  of  Cheyenne,  556 

Early   Indian   troubles,   274 

Early  irrigation,  358 

Early  justice,  554 

Early  military  history,  274 


654 


INDEX 


Early     officers     of     counties — see     separate 

counties 
Early  officers  of  Albany  county,  504 
Early  officers  of  Carbon  county,  511 
Early   officials  of   Cheyenne,   551 
Early  oil  discoveries,  386 
Early   opposition    (to  railroads),   340 
Early  settlers  of  Albany  county,  506 
Early  settlers  of  Carbon  county,  512 
Early  settlers,  stories  of,  134 
Early  stage  coach  days,  153 
Early  trading  posts,  305 
Early  trails,  325 

Early  transportation  methods,  325 
"Early  Western  Travels,"  Thwaites',  328 
Eastman,  S.  E.,  32 
Economic  use  of  water,  359 
Educating   a  tenderfoot,   334 
Education  in  Wyoming,  history  of,  428 
Educational  act  of  1873,  438 
Educational  review,  28 
Eighth  legislature,  178 
Eighth  state  legislature,  239 
Election  of  1894,  223 
Election   of  1896,  228 
Election  of  1900,  232 
Election   of   1902,  234 
Election  of  1904,  237 
Election  of  1906,  240 
Election  of  1910,  245 

Electric  light  system  at  Yellowstone  park,  56 
Electric  peak,  46 
Electro-water  resources,  26 
Elevation,  18 
Elevation  of  cities,  641 
Elevation  of  mountains,  641 
Eleventh  legislature,  184 
Eleventh  state  legislature,  247 
Elk,  the  North  American,  20 
Elk  mountain,  574 
Elks,  Benevolent   Protective  Order  of, — see 

under  separate  cities  and  towns 
Emigration,  the  tide  of,  311 
Emigration  of  the  Mormons,  124 
Emmer  grain,  611 
Emmer  Products  Company,  611 
Employes'  compensation  law,  253 
Encampment,  576 
Endowment  of  public  schools,  28 
English  policy  toward  Indians,  68 
Entrances   to   Yellowstone   park,   56 
Episcopal  church,  the,  484-493 
Equipment    of    Mormons    during    emigration, 

129 
Equipment,  stage  coach  line,  333 
Eruption   of  geysers,   48 
Eskimo,  the,   60 
Estevan,  the  Moor,  109 


Ethnology,  31 

Evanston,  576 

Everett,  M.  H.,  32 

Everts,  T.  C,  53 

Excelsior  geyser,  48 

Execution  of  Tom  Horn,  625 

Expedition  of  Coronado,  109 

Expedition  of  De  Soto,  75 

Expedition  of  '57  against  the  Mormons,  130 

Expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  113 

Expedition  of  Major  S.  H.  Long,  116 

Expedition  of  Lieutenant  Pike,  115 

Expedition  of  Captain  Eaynolds,  123 

Expedition  of  Captain  Stansbury,  122 

Expedition  of  G.  K.  Warren,  123 

Expeditions  and  treaties,  311 

Expeditions,  miscellaneous,  621 

Expeditious  of  Fremont,  120 

Expeditions  of  Wyeth,  116 

Expeditions  to  Lost  Cabin  gold  placers,  141 

Expensive  projects,  359 

Experienced  American  fur  traders,  96 

Experimental  farm,  253 

Experiments  in  dry  farming,  245 

Explorations,    archaeological,    32 

Explorers   and   explorations,   109 

Exploring   the    Grand    canyon,    618 

Explosion  at  Rock  Springs,  624 

Extinct  animals,  43 

Fair  associations — see  under  separate  towns 
and  counties 

Fairbank,  138 

Fairy  falls,  46 

Fake  lynching,   137 

Faker  Melbourne,  624 

Famous  pioneers,  50-54 

Famous  treaty  of  1868,  312 

Farming  conditions,  353 

Farming  land,  24 

Farm  life  in  Wyoming,  352 

Farm   mortgages   and  public   funds,   256 

Faulk,  Governor,  171 

Faulk,  Governor  A.  J.,  approves  Cheyenne 
incorporation,  551 

Federal   building  at   Cheyenne,   560 

I'eeding  and  protecting  animals  at  Yellow- 
stone,  57 

Feeding  baby  antelopes,  136 

Fencing  government  land  stopped,  181 

Ferris,  W.  A.,  118 

Fetterman  massacre,  the,  283 

Few  disastrous  bank  failures,  427 

Fifth  state  legislature,  231 

Fifty-six  hour  week  for  women,  257 

Financial  growth,  412 

Financial  history,  412 

Financial  progress  by  counties,  412 


INDEX 


655 


Fine  water  system,  316 

Fire  destroys  General  Hospital,  269 

Firehole  basin,  44 

Firehole  river,  46 

First  accurate  knowleclge  of  the  west,  637 

First  American  claims  to  Oregon,  80 

First  American  colony  in  Texas,  79 

First  bank  in  the  United  States,  416 

First  Congregational  church  at  Cheyenne  or- 
ganized, 494 

First  election  in  Cheyenne,  551 

First  election  in  territory,  173 

First  European  explorations  in  North  America, 
60 

First  inhabitants  of  Yellowstone  region,  45 

First  legislature,  173 

First  legislative  regulation  (schools),  430 

First  military  posts,  274 

First  newspaper  in  Wyoming,  451 

First  pony  express  leaves  St.  Joseph,  330 

First  publications  in  Europe  and  the  United 
States,  450 

First  railroads  in  the  United  States,  340 

First  report  on  public   instruction,  432 

First  school  statistics  available,  434 

First   settlers  in  Cheyenne,   550 

First  state  election,  213 

First  state  legislature,  214 

First  steamboat  to  ascend  Missouri  to  mouth 
of  Yellowstone,  116 

First  United  States  troops  in  Wyoming,  274 

First  white  child  born  in  Cheyenne,  550 

First  white  man  at  Yellowstone  park,  50 

First  woman  jury,  205 

First   woman   justice,    207 

First  woman  to  vote  in  Wyoming,  209 

Fish  and  game,  20 

Fish  as  brain  food,  134 

Fish  branch  in  Yellowstone  park,  56 

Fish  fossils,  44 

Fish   hatcheries,  22 

Fish  story,  a  real,  138 

Fisher,  Joseph  W.,  174,  464 

Fisherman's  paradise,  22,   576 

Fishing  in  Yellowstone  park,   57 

Fitch,  Robert  E.,  506 

"Five  Nations,"  the,  61 

' '  Five   thousand   antelope, ' '   135 

Flatheads,  the,  66 

Flavell,  George  F.,   621 

Flood,  Indian  tradition  of  the,  62    " 

Florida,  De  Soto  's  exploration  of,  75 
Folsom,  D.  E.,  53 

Folsom  peak,  46 

Fontenelle,  Lucieu,  118 

Foote,  Frank  M.,  293,  576 
Footprints   of   extinct   animals,   43 
Fort    Bonneville,    529 


Fort  Bridger,  73,  108,  318 

Fort  Casper,  320 

Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  Montana,  324 

I'ort  Charles,  94 

Fort  Custer,  Montana,  324 

Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  142,  315,  561 

Fort  established  by  American  Fur  Company, 

described   by   Fremont,   306 
Fort  Fetterman,  321 
Fort  Fred  Steele,  321 
I'ort  Prontenac,  77 
Fort  Hall,  Idaho,  66,  14S,  324 
Fort  Halleck,  319 
Fort  John,   108 
Fort  Kearny,  321 
Fort  Laramie,  141,  305 
Fort   Laramie,   celebrations   at,   135 
Fort  Laramie  established,  310 
I'ort  Laramie  in  early  days,  144 
Fort   Leavenworth,    326 
Fort  Leavenworth  to  Fort  Laramie,  308 
Fort  Mackenzie,   323,   604 
Fort  McKinney,  322 
Fort   McKinney  reservation,   268 
"Fort  Nonsense,"  118 
Fort  Philip  Kearny,  321 
Fort  Platte,  108 
Fort  Reno,  320 

Fort    Robinson,    Nebraska,    324 
Fort  Russell,   142,   315,   561 
Fort  St.  Vrain,  121 
Fort  Sanders,  320 

Fort   Sedgwick   (Rankin),   Colorado,' 324 
Fort  Sidney,  Nebraska,   324 
Fort  Stambaugh,  322 
Fort  Supply,  161 
Fort  Thornburg,   Utah,   324 
Fort  Uinta,  Utah,  324 
Fort  Walbaeh,  319 
Fort  Washakie,  322 
Forts  and  military  posts,  305 
Foreign   policies   towards   Indians,    67 
Forest  area,  20 
Forest  grazing  reserves,  372 
Forest   reserves,   24 
Forest  roads,  20 
Forests,  20 
Foreword,   3 
Forty-niners,  the,  131 
For  United  States  senator,  first  nomination  by 

legislative   caucus,  207 
Fossil   formations,  44 
Fossil   specimens,   42 
Foundation  of  school  system,  428 
Four  hundred  million   capitalization,  388 
Fourteenth  state  legislature,  258 
Fourth  state  legislature,  228 
Fox,  Harry  W.,  634 


656 


INDEX 


Fraeb,  Henry,  107 

Fi-aeb's  post,  107 

France,  James   C,  596 

Free  gold,   132 

Free-trader,  the  early,  9i 

Freighting,  338 

Fremont  county,  516 

Fremont,  John  C,  78,  120 

Fremont's  peak,  121 

I'rench  agents  in  seventeenth  century,  76 

B'reneh  as  fur-trader  pioneers,  the,  93 

French  explorations  in  seventeenth  century,  76 

I'rench  missionaries  and  Indians,  76 

French  policy  toward  Indians,  68 

French  revolution,  85 

French  traders  in  seventeenth  century,  76 

Frey,  Johnny,  330 

I'reytas,   Nicholas  de,   112 

Frightful  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour,  340 

From  Brooks  to  Houx,  242 

I'rom  Richards  to  Brooks,  225 

Frontenac,    fort,    77 

Frontier  days  celebration,  28,  627 

Frontier  park,  560,  630 

Fulton,   Robert,  341 

Fumaroles,   48 

Funsten,  Rt.   Rev.  James  B.,  488 

Fur  companies,  95 

Fur  companies  in  Oregon,  80 

Fur-traders,  the,  93 

Furnishing  supplies  to  argonauts,  132 

Gale,  Charles  T.,  586 

Gallatin  mountains,  46 

Gallatin  river,  46 

Galloway,  Nathan,  621 

Game  animals,  20 

Game  plentiful,   136 

Game  preserves,  22 

Games,  rats  play,  139 

Gardiner  lake,  48 

Gardiner   river,   46 

Geese   in   abundance,   22 

Geier,   George,   321 

General    Dodge's    account    of    Union    Pacific 

route,  548 
General  Kearney  and  the  Indians,  308 
General   laws,   260 
Geology  of  coal,  384 
Geology  of  "Wyoming,  376 
Geology  of  Wyoming  iron,  385 
George  Washington  highway,  592 
Getterman,  Franklin,  139 
Geyser  basins,  48 

Ghosts,  fairies  and  Indian  devils,   65 
Giant  and  giantess,  50 
Giant  animal  specimens,  43 
Gibbon  falls,  46 


Gibbon  river,  46 

Gilbertson,  Ross,   616 

Gilder,  R.  F.,  32 

Gildersleeve,  J.  H.,  556 

Gillette,  577 

Gill  lakes  soda,  analysis   of,  401 

Gilmore,  Charles  W.,  44 

Glacial  action,  48 

Glafcke,  Herman,  176 

Glenrock,  577 

Godoy,  Manuel,  84 

Gold  and  silver,  26 

Gold  discovered  in  California,  131 

Gold  fever  subsides,  132 

Gold  mines  at  Cuniming's  city,  137 

Gold  iilacers,  26 

Gold  reported  by  Lieutenant  Warren,  123 

Gold  rush  to  California,  131 

Gold,  worth   four   hundred   and   fifty   million 

dollars,  found  in  eight  years,  132 
Golden  plates,  the,  124 
"Good  Samaritan"  described,  157 
Goshen   county,   520 
Governor  Faulk's  message,  171 

Governor 's    residence,    233 

Grace,   Richard,   162 

Gramni,  Oito,  196 

Grand  canyon  of  Colorado  discovered,  110 

Grand   canyon  of   the  Yellowstone,  18 

Grand  council  at  Fort  Laramie,   70 

Granil    encampment,    27 

Grand  geyser,  50 

Granger,  578 

Grant,  LeRoy.  230 

Grant,  Mortimer,  506 

Grant,  U.  S.,  54,  66,  74,  321 

Graphite,  26 

Grazing  homesteads,  28 

Grazing  lands,  24 

Grazing  permits,  20 

Grazing  reserves,  20 

Gray,  Captain  Robert,  80 

Gray,  Rev.  W.  B.  D.,  497 

' '  Great  American  Desert, ' '  24 

Great  Bannock  trail,  45 

' '  Great  excitement — Vigilantes  around, ' '  552 

Great  grass  ranges,  the,  364 

"Great  patent  of  New  England,"  68 

Great   school  revenues,  428 

Great  seal  of  the  state,  220 

Great  seal,  territory  of  Wyoming,  174 

Great  transformation,  a,  356 

Greatly  improved  conditions,  365 

Green  River,  578 

Gieybull,  580 

Grizzly  bear,  the,  20 

Groesbeck,  H.  V.  S.,  137,  196,  466 

Gros  Ventres,  the,  61 


INDEX 


657 


Grotesque  nature  freaks,  23 

Grouard,  Frank,  147 

Growth  of  sclioolhouse  construction,  435 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of,  78 

Guernsey,  580 

Guun,  580 

Gwin,  William,  329 

Gypsum,  26 

Hale,  Mrs.  Frances  E.,  223 

Hale,   William,    178 

Hale's  administration,   178 

Haley,  Ora,  506 

Hall,  W.  H.,  616 

Halladay  &  Thompson,  556 

Hamlin,   Clarence   C,   226 

Hancock  and  Dixon,  114 

Handiwork   of  early  Indians,   39 

' '  Handsome ' '   skunks,   139 

Hanging  a  dummy,   137 

Hanna,  580 

Hanna,  O.  P.,  331   (illus.),  604 

Harker,   Jake,    533 

Harney,  Gen.  W.  S.,  72,  129 

Harrison,  Gen.  Wm.  H.,  91 

Harrison,  Mrs.  F.  H.,  223 

Harrison,  President,  617 

Hartville,    581 

Hartville  district,  27 

Hartville   iron,   398 

Hartville    quarries,    31 

Hartville  rich  in  Indian  history,  40 

Hauser,  S.  T.,  53 

Hay,  Henry  G.,  223 

Hayden,  C.  E.,  244 

Hayden,  F.  V.,  43,  52,  54 

Hayden   forest,   20 

Hebard,  Grace  Raymond,  4,  38,  41,  150,  327 

Hebard,    Grace    Raymond,    unveils    monument 

(illus.),  327 
Hedges,  Cornelius,  53 
Height  of  geysers,  48 

"Hell  on  Wheels,"   .551 

Henderson,  Capt.   John  B.,   584 

Henry,  Andrew,   102 

Henry,  "Mike,"  of  Douglas  (illus.),  309 

Herds  of  moose,  elk,  deer  and  antelope,  22 

Heroes'  monument  fund,  303 

Herrera,  Antonio  de,  68 

Hidden  relics,  37,  38 

Hidden  Dome  oil  field,  590 

Hides  and  wool,  27,  574 

High  schools,  438 

Highway  commission,  259 

Highway   commissioners,   260 

Hillis,  Rev.  Newell  D.,  496 

"Hi"  Kelley,  145 

Hinton,  William,  216 

Vol.  I 4  2 


Historical  and  pioneer  associations — see  under 

separate   towns   and  counties 
History   and   development    (iron),   399 
History  of  educ'itimi   in  Wyoming,  428 
History  of  Lost  Cnliiii  i;iiM   |ilacors,  l::9 
History  of  Mormmis,  pnl,lisln-il  in  18.53,  128 
History  of  organized  labor  in  Wyoming,  634 
History  of  Wyoming  railroads,  340 
Hoeker,  Dr.  W.  A.,  582 
Hole-in-the-wall  gang,  the,  232 
HoUiday,  Ben,  155,  333 
Holliday  Stage  Company,  the,  148 
Hoodoo  Basin  preserve,  22 
Hook,  K.  M.,  164,  621 
Hook  &  Moore,  556 
Horn,  Tom,  executed,  625 
Horse  railway  in  Cheyenne,  560 
Horses,  374 
Horses  for  armies,  374 
Hospitals — .see    under    separate    cities,    towns 

and   counties 
Hot   Springs,  48 
Hot  springs  at  Saratoga,  602 
Hot  Springs  county,  521 
Hotel  accommodations  at  Park,  36 
Hotel  accommodations  built  to  order,  137 
Houston,  Sam,   79 
Houx,  Frank  L.,  4,  220,  568;   on  "  Tlie  New 

Oil   State,"   386 
Houx's    administration,    261 
How  Cheyenne  was  located,  548 
Howe,   Cliurcli,   174 
Howe,   John   H.,   463 
Hoyt,  John  W.,  176 
Hoyt's  administration,   176 
Huliljell,   Harry,    162 
Hudson,   581 

Huilson  's   Bay  Company,  95 
Hunt,  Wilson  P.,  98,  326 
Hunter,  Colin,  146 
Hunter's  paradise,  a,  20 
Hunting   implements  of  Indians,   39 
Huntington,  Mrs.  G.  M.,  223 
Hunton,   John    (illus.),   142;   315,   628 
Hunt's    expedition,    98 
Hydro-electric   power,  18 

Idaho  established  as  territory,  82 

Improved   conditions   in   sheep  handling,    370 

Income  from  school  lands,  30 

Independence,  Mo.,  326 

Indian  battle  and  burial  grounds,  39 

Indian  caves,  39 

Indian  ceremonies  of  making  a  warrior,  148 

Indian  chiefs  gather  at  Fort  Laramie,  144 

Indian  education,  441 

Indian  handiwork,  39 

Indian  history,  59 


658 


INDEX 


Indian  implements,  36 

Indian  iron  mines,  40 

Indian  lodges,  39 

Indian  mines  and  quarries,  34-36 

Indian  paint   brush,  260 

Indian  paint  ores,  39 

Indian  patterns  worked  in  Venice   300  years 

before,  41 
Indian  rascals  and  rogues,  64 
Indian  sites,  39 
Indian  superstitions,  65 
Indian  trails  in  the  Yellowstone,  45 
Indian  workshops,  37 
Indians  and  French  missionaries,  76 
Industrial  production,  27 
Influence  of  U.  P.,  163 
Initiative    and   referendum,    247 
Insane  asylum,  181 
Institute  buildings  at  Worland,  255 
Interesting  talks  by  some  old  timers,  135 
Interstate  bridge  appropriations,  253 
In  the  Philippines,  295 
Invisible   arrows,   66 
Iron,  geology  of,  385 
Iron  deposits,  various  other,  399 
Iron   mountain   deposit,   the,  385 
Iron  ore,  26 

Iroquoian  family,  the,  60 
Irrigation  development,  361 
Irrigation  farming,  357 
Irrigation  prospects,  18,  28 
Ivinson,  Edward,  216 
Ivinson  memorial  hospital,  588 

Jackson,  581 

Jackson,  David  E.,  102,  581 

Jackson,  Oscar  S.,  216 

Jackson   Hole   region,   22,   24 

Jackson  lake,  18 

James  boys,  the,  158 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  85,  91,  113 

Jesuit    missionaries    in    seventeenth    century, 

76,  119 
Jim  Baker 's  cabin  removed  to  Cheyenne,  261 
Joe  Wiley,  135 
Jones,  Orley  E.,  616 
Jones,  William  T.,  464 
Johnson  county,  522 
Johnson,  President  Andrew   (approves),  165; 

344,  637 
Johnson,  Edward  P.,  174 
Johnston,  Col.  A.  S.,  129,  162,  318 
Joliet,   Louis,   76,   77 
Jones,  W.  K.,  258 
Jones,  William   T.,   174 
Julesburg  plundered,  278 

Kane,  Col.  Thomas  L.,  126 


Kaycee,  582 

Keane,  Et.  Bev.  James  J.,  480 

Kearney,  Stephen  W.,  78,  308 

Kelley,  A.   D.,  228 

Kelley,  Hall  J.,  116 

Kelley,  Hiram,  145 

Kelly,  Rev.  William,  478 

Kemmerer,  582 

Kemmerer,   M.   S.,   582 

Kemper,   Et.   Eev.   Jackson,  486 

Keudrick,   Senator,  34,  38,  254,  366 

Kendrick's  administration,   255 

Kent,  T.  A.,  228 

Kepler  cascade,  46 

Kilgore,  Elias,  211 

Kilpatrick,  William   H.,  216 

Kindergartens,  440 

King  ranch,  near  Cheyenne   (illus.),  525 

Kingman,  John  W.,   174 

Kit  Carson,  121 

Knight,  Dorothy,  250 

Knight,   Jesse,  230,  467 

Kolb  Brothers,  621 

Kountze  Brothers,  556 

Kuykendall,  W.  L.,  176,  470,  524 

LaBonte    crossing,   279 

Labor,  history  of,  in  Wyoming,  634 

Lafayette,   marquis   de,    117 

Lake  House  hotel,  56 

Lakes,  17 

Lamar  river,  46 

Lamb  fattening,  374 

Lancaster,  Ohio,  school  board  on  rapid  transit, 
340 

Lance  Creek  oil  fields,  592 

Land  classification,  24 

Lander,  584 

Lane,  Secretary,  38 

Langford,  Nathan  P.,  53,  54 

Language  of  pioneer  fur-traders,  peculiarities 
of,  94 

Laramie,  586 

Laramie,  treaty  of  Port,  69 

Laramie  Boomerang,  the,  455 

"Laramie  Boy" — undefeated  ram  of  Amer- 
ica, 373 

Laramie  county,  524 

Laramie  Eepubliean,  the,  456 

La  Ramie,  the  trapper,  586 

La  Salle,  Robert  Cavelier,  sieur  de,  77 

La  Salle 's  claim  to  Mississippi  valley,  84 

La    Salle's    expeditions,    77 

Last  Black  Hills  coach  leaving  Cheyenne,  335 

Last  stage  out  of  Saratoga,  335 

Latham,  H.,  165 

Latter-Day  Saints,  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 

the,  founded,  124 


JNDEX 


Laws   for    animal    protection    at    Yellowstone 

park,  56 
"Leader"  comment,  203 
"Leader's"    story   of    vigilantes,   552 
Leading  the  Mormons  to  Salt  Lake,  127 
Le  Clerk,  Francis,  100 
Lee,  Edward  M.,  172 
Lo  Fors,  Joseph,  625 
Legislation   regarding  wild  game,   22 
Legislative  history,   198 
Legislative   representation,   248 
Legislative    sessions,    175 
Legislature  of  1871,  remarkable,  174 
Legislature   of   1879,   results   of,    177 
Leidy,  Joseph,  42 
Length  and  height  of  canyons,  619 
Lewis,   Meriwether,   113 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  50,  65,   80,   113, 

149,  150 
Lewis  and  Clark  exposition,   239 
Liberty   bonds  purchase — see   under   separate 

towns  and  counties 
Limestone   for   sugar   factories,   402 
Lincoln,  Abraham,   82,  342 
Lincoln   county,   529 
Lindsley,  C.  A.,  54 
Lisa,   Manuel,   50,   97 
Lisa,  Menard  &  Morrison,  97 
List  of  canyons,  length  and  height,  619 
Little  Wolf,  286 
Live   stock — see   each   county 
Live  stock  industry,  the,  27,  363 
Live  stock  production  in  1917,  27 
Livingston,  Robert  E.,  85 
Locating  state  institutions,  238 
Loch  Leven  trout,  22 
London,  John,   144 
Long,  Maj.  Stephen  H.,  116 
Long,  The  Eev.  Dr.,  41 
Loomis,  Professor,  32 
Lost  Cabin  mines,  139 
Loui'ks,  John  D.,  604 
Louis   XIV,   77 
Louis  XV,  68 

Louisi.'iua,  division  of  province  of,  91 
LiiiiiMana,    naming    of,    78 
Luuisiana  purchase,  the,  78,  84 
Louisiana    Purchase    exposition,    236 
Louisiana  retroceded  to  France,  85 
Louisiana  sold  to  the  LTnited  States,  87 
Loup  fork,   1000   Mormons  near,  130 
Lovell,   588 

Lower  Yellowstone   falls,  46 
Lucas,  Fred  A.,  43 
Luman,  John,  518 
Lusk,  588 
Lykius,  Billy,  622 


Lyman,  590 
Lynching,  a  fake,  137 

MeCook,  Gen.  A.  D.,  172 

McDaniel's  variety   theatre,   556 

McGill,  John,  231 

McGovern,  Rt.  Eev.  Patrick  A.,  4,  484 

McKay,  pioneer  fur-trader,  94 

McKenzie,  Alexander,  96 

McKinley,  Pres.  William,  291 

McLeland,    Thomas,    163 

MeTavish,   Simon,   96 

MeUlvan,  Dan,  146 

Machine  shops,  U.  P.,  at  Laramie,  588 

Mackinaw  Company,  the,  107 

Mackinaw  trout,  22 

Macomb,  Maj.-Gen.  Alexander,  118 

Madison   plateau,  46 

Madison,    President,    92 

Madison  river,  46 

Maginnis,  William  L.,  465 

Main  entrances  to  Yellowstone  park,  56 

Making  a  Sioux  warrior,  148 

Mammoth  Hot  Springs  hotel,   56 

Mammoth,  the,  43 

Mandan  Indians,  46 

Mandan    villages,    112,    114 

Manderson,   590 

Manderville,  J.  D.,  550 

Manville,  590 

Marbois,  marquis  de,  87 

Maret  House,  270 

Mark  Twain,  155 

Marking  Oregon  trail,  254 

Marking  the  Overland,  336 

Marking   the    trail,   328 

Marc|uette,   Jacques,   76. 

Marsli,    Robert,    504 

iLir.shall,  Frank,  162 

Marshall,   James   W.,   131 

Marshall  day  at  Kemmerer,  (illus.)   583 

Martin  and  Morgan  hanged,  164 

Marvelous  copper  pocket,  402 

Masonic  lodges — see  under  separate  towns 

Masonic    temples — see    under    separate    cities 

and  towns 
Massacre  hill,  283 
Mateo,   Antonio,   107 
' '  Maverick  bUl, ' '  the,  615 
Maximum  temperatures,  23 
May  free  state  from  school  taxation,  389 
Maynadier,  Col.  H.  E.,  282 
Mead,  Elwood,  222 
Mean  temperature,  23 
Medals  of  Spanish-war  soldiei's,  298 
Medals  to  state  and  individual  exhibitors,  240 
Medicine  Bow,  592 


660 


INDEX 


Medicine  Bow  forest,  20 

Medicine  Mountain  wheel,  the,  41 

"Medicine   Wheels,"   41 

Meeteetse,  592 

Melbourne,  ' '  rainmaker, ' '   623 

Meldrum,  John  W.,  217 

Memorials  to  congress,  185,  227 

Memories  of  old,  27 

Men  who  dared,  the,  197 

Message  of  Governor  Faulk,  171 

Metallic  ores,  26 

Metallic  ores   (a  general  view),  402 

Methodist  Episcopal  church,  498-500 

Mexican  cession,   78 

Mexico,  conquest  of,  67 

"Mexican  mines,"  the,  34 

Mica,  26,  402 

Middleton,  "Doc,"  622 

Migrations  of  Mormons,  127 

Military  history,  early,  274 

Miles  of  railway  in  Wyoming,  3.50  , 

Milk   Kivcr  expedition,  318 


Mi 


::iO 


Miller,   U.   T.,   581 

Millions   of  buffaloes,   154 

Mills,  Hobert,  341 

Mineral  paint  beds,  596 

Mineral  resources,  26,  376 

Minerals   in   Wyoming,  405-411 

Minerals — see  under  each  county 

"Miners'  Delight"  or  Hamilton  City,  74 

Miners'   entertainments,    137 

Mines,   ancient,   36 

Mining  and  placer  acts,  24 

Minor  railroads,  349 

Mirror  plateau,  46 

Miscellaneous  acts  of  twelfth  legislature,  253 

Miscellaneous  facts  about  the  Union  Pacific,. 

346 
Miscellaneous  history,  613 
Miscellaneous  legislation,  256 
Missionaries  of  seventeenth  century,  119 
Missionary   work,    beginnings    of,   476 
Missionary  work  of  Father  De  Smet,  119,  120 
Mississippi,  De  Soto  at  the,  75 
Mississippi,  origin  of  name  of,  76 
Missouri  Fur  Company,  97 
Missouri,  territory  of,  erected,  92 
Mitchell,  Col.  D.  D.,  70 
Moisture,  fall  of,  24 
Monarch  geyser,  50 
Mondell,  Frank  W.,  220,  594 
Monroe,  James,  86 
Monument  on  Massacre  hill,  283 
Moonlight,  Thomas,  181 
Moonlight 's  administration,  181 
Moorcroft,   592 
Moore  pardon,  the,  219 


Moose,   22 

Morgan,  E.  S.  N.,  177 

Morgareidge,  J.   W.,  293 

Mormon  battalion,  the,  126 ' 

Mormon    church    founded,    124 

Mormon  colonies,  125 

Mormon  immigration,  311 

Mormon  trail,  the,  326 

Mormons  and  argonauts,   124 

Mormons   and  49ers  at  Hartville,   40 

Mormons  pass  through  Wyoming,  127 

Mormons  alleged  to  urge  Indian  depredations, 

277 
Morris,  E.  J.,  578 
Morris,   Mrs.   Esther,   207 
Morris,  Robert  C,  227 
Morrison,  J.  S.,  293 
Mound  builders,  31,  38 
Mounds,  Indian,  59 
Mount  Hoyt,  46 
Mount  Hancock,  46 
Mount  Washburn,  46 
Mountain  elevations,  641 
Mountain  lions  plentiful,  139 
Mountain  rat,  the  playful,  139 
Mountain  sheep,  20-22,  136 
Mudpots,  48      . 
Mud    Springs   ranch,   278 
Municipal  coiirts,  468 
Murphy,   John,   162 
.  Murphy,  Michael,   176 
.Murrin,  Col.  Luke,  210,  552 
Muskliogean  family,  the,  61 
Mystery  of  Lost  Cabin  mines  unsolved,  142 

Napoleon,   85,  86,   87,  117 

Natchez,  the,  60 

National  conventions,  1908,  243 

Native  jilants,  24 

Natrona   county,   532 

Natural  bridges,  23 

Natural  gas,  568 

Nature's   freaks   and  wonders,  22 

Nauvoo,    111.,    driving    the    Mormons    out    of, 

125 
Nearly  two  million  acres  irrigated,  361 
Nebeker,  John,  161 

Nebraska,  historic  legislation  affecting,  81 
Newcastle,  594 
New  charter,  a,  551 
New  Gallicia,  109 
New  Spain,  67 

Newspaper  started  at  Fort  Bridger,  163 
Newspapers  of   Laramie,   454 
Newspapers  of  the  state,  458-461 
New  state  progressive,  398 
Nicollet,  Jean,  76 
Ninth  legislature,  180 


INDEX 


661 


Ninth  state  legislature,  242 
Niobrara  county,  533 
Niza,  Marcos  de,  110 
Noble,  Worden,   163 
Nootka  Sound  named,  80 
Norris  geyser  basin,  52 
North,   Orlando,    176 
Northern   coal  fields,   394 
North  Park  trip  in  1879,  a,  136 
North  Platte  project,  28 
North-West  Company,  the,  95 
Norton,  John  T.,  216 
Noted  cases,  a  few,  47:'. 
Noted  pony  express  riders,  3,".0 
Notes  and  comment,  woman  suffrage,  208 
Notorious   resorts  closed,   262 
Novel  wedding  announcement,  154 
Nuckolls,  Stephen  P.,  173 
Nugget,  the  first  California,  131 
Number   of   Mormons   passing   through   Wyo- 
ming  (1847),   129 
Numerous  Indian  villages,  39 
Nurses '   dormitory  authorized,  269 
Nye,   Bill,  455-457 


Organizing  a  government,   550 

Organizing  the  cattlemen's  raid,  616 

Origin  of  cattle  business,  363 

Origin  of  civil  law,  462 

Origin  of  newspapers,  450 

Origin  of  the  name  Yellowstone,  46 

Original  homestead  of  P.  S.  King  (illus.),  527 

Orleans,  jjurchase  of  the  island  of,  90 

Osborne,  Gov.   John  E.,  216 

Osborne  Live  Stock  Company,  220 

Osborne's  administration,  219 

Osprey  falls,  46 

Otiier  ndvantages  for  farming,  353 

Otlier  important  mineral  deposits,  400 

Other   schools,  441 

Other  towns,   611 

Other  Wyoming  publications,   456 

Outlawry,  232 

Outrages   upon   emigrant   trains   in   the    '50s, 

129 
Ovevlniid  vnnte,  the,  131 


s,   J  oil 


in    O.,    223 

509 


Obsidian  cliff,  52 

Obsidian  creek,  46 

O'Connor,  Thomas,  175 

Officers,    State    Bar    association,    1917,    1! 

473 
Ogden,  Wiliam  B.,  342 
Oil — see  under  separate  counties 
Oil  fields,  28 

Oil  production  in  1917,  28 
Oil   refineries,  28 
Oil  resources,  26 
Oil  royalties  to  the  state,  389 
Oils,  annual  production  refined,  390 
Old  cabin  home,  the,  138 
' '  Old  Faithful, ' '  48 

Old  fashioned  farming  disappearing,  356 
Old  Port  Laramie  (illus.),  304 
Old  Texas  trail,  the,  366 
Old  timers'  stories,  134 
Old  trading  post,  the,  306 
Old   Wyoming    (poem),   630 
Onate,  Don  Juan  de,  111 
Oregon  osi''  "M'lit   witli  Russia,  81 
Oregon    I;;i~mi   |,ru,r,.t,   :JS 
Oregon   li:itl;iliijii,   tlir,   274 
Oregon    boundary    (juestion,   80 
Oregon  emigration,  the,  311 
Oregon,   history  of  early,   80 
Oregon  Short  Line,  349 
Oregon  trail,  the,  326,  610 
Oregon  Trail  Monument  celebrations,  135 
Organic  act,  the,  165 
Organized  labor  in  -Wyoming,   634 


Pacific  Fur  Company,  80,  96 

Page,  A.  N.,  216 

Paine,  Tliomas,  117 

Paint  ores,  Indian,  40 

Paintpots,  48 

Paleontology,  studies  in  Wyoming,  43 

Palmer,  Joel,   318 

Pan-American  exposition,  234 

Palis,  the  treaty  of,  87 

Park  and  monument  reserve,  38 

Park   county,  534 

Park   hotels,    56 

Parkmau's  description  of  old  fort,  308 

Parmelee,  Carroll  H.,  216 

Passing  of  the  stage  coach,  337 

Patent  by  Louis  XV  to  Western  Company,  68 

Patented  lands,  24 

Pathfinder  project,  28 

Pathfinder  reservoir,  360 

Patrick,  Ed.,  135 

Patrol    and   protection    work    at    Yellowstone 

park,   56 
Pauper's  Dream  gold  mine,  210 
Pawnee  scouts,  280 
Pease,  Mrs.  Sarah  W.,  206 
"Penalosa,  the  duke  of,"  112 
Penitentiary,  Wyoming  State,  265 
Penitentiary  commission,  266 
People's  party  nominees,  1898,  230 
Per  capita  wealth,  27 
Percentage  of  sunshine,  23 
Perils  of  stage  coaching,  336 
Period  of  settlement,  161 


662 


Perrot,  Nicholas,  76 

Personnel    of    Captain    Eaynold  's    expedition, 

123 
Pete  Downs'  speech,  134 
Peterson,  William,  53 
Petit  jury,  the,  206 
Petroleum,  26 
Phosphate  beds,  401 
Phosphate  lands,  24 
Pierce,  Rev.  D.  J.,  502 
Pierre's  hole,  118 
Pike  and  other  game  fish,  22 
Pike,  Lieut.  Zebulon  M.,  115 
Pilgrim  House,  the,  556 
Pine  Bluffs,  594 
Pine  grouse,  22 
Pioneer      associations — see      under      separate 

towns  and  counties 
Pioneer  bankers,  418 
' '  Pioneer ' '  locomotive,  347 
Pioneers — see  under  each  county 
Pioneers,  stories  of  Wyoming,   134 
Pioneers  and  builders  of  Wyoming,  145 
Pitchstone  plateau,  46 
Piutes,  the,  66 
Placer  acts,  24 

Placer  gold  found  at  Los  Angeles  (1841),  131 
Platte  county,  536 
Pleasant  View  hotel,  270 
Pleistocene  period,  48 
Plymouth  Company,  the  68 
Poem  on  Caspar  Collins,  151 
Poems  on  Wyoming,  630 
Political  campaign  of  1892,  216 
Political  campaign  of  1896,  227 
Political  campaign  of  1908,  243 
Political  campaign  of  1914,  254 
Political  conventions,  213 
Political  conventions  of  1916,  257 
Polk,  James  K.,  78,  80 
Pony  express,  the,  329 
Pope,  Gen.  John,  321 
Popo  Agie  preserve,  22 
Population  by  counties,  638 
Population  of  cities,  639 
Populist  convention  and  nominees,  224 
Post,  Amelia  B.,  195 
Post,  Morton  E.,  163,  555 
Postmasters  of  Cheyenne,  560 
Postoffice  at  Cheyenne,  558 
I'otash  deposits,  401 
Potter,   Charles   N.,   223,  466 
Pottery,  Indian,  42 
Poultry  production,  27 
Powder  Kiver  expedition,  278 
Powell,  594 

Powell,  Capt.  James,  284 
Powell,  Maj.  J.  W.,  620,  621 


"Prairie  of  the  Mass,"  119 

Pratt,  Orson,  128 

Precious  fossil  deposits,  43 

Precipitation,  24,  358 

Prehistoric  animals,  42 

Prehistoric  mines,  31 

Prehistoric  races,  31 

Present  education  system,  442 

Presidential  electors,  1890,  232 

Press  of  Wyoming,  the,  450 

Prices,  some  early,  627 

Prices  for  Wyoming  oil,  392 

Priest,  Charles  H.,  230 

Principal  towns  of  each  county,  612 

Private  and  secular  schools,  440 

Proceedings  in  the  house,  200 

Proclamation,  188 

Production  of  state  in  1917,  27 

Products  adapted  to  soil  and  climate,  353 

Progress  of  four  score  years,  325 

Progressive  nominees  of  1914,  254 

Prohibition  legislation  proposed,  259 

Prohibition  question,  the,  258 

Promontory,  the,  48 

Protecting  the  Overland,  275 

Protection  of  animals  at  Yellowstone  park,  56 

Protection  of  prehistoric  remains,  38 

Protection  of  wild  game,  22 

Protests  of  the  United  States,  289 

Province  of  Louisiana,  91 

Provision  prices  in  '49  gold  fields,  132 

' '  Psychological  buffalo, ' '  135 

Public  institutions,  181 

Public  lands,  24 

Public  officials,  639 

Public  revenues,  414  I 

Public  school  system,  28 

Purchase  of  Louisiana,  84 

Pure  food  law,  253 

Purpose  of  the  courts,  463 

Public  utilities  of  Cheyenne,  560 

Pyramid  peak,  46 

Quadrupeds,  the  largest  extinct,  43 
Quarries  of  the  aborigines,  31 
Quealy,  P.  J.,  216,  582 
Quivira,  110 

Racehorse  case,  the,  474 

Eacy  debate  (woman  suffrage),  201 

Raids  along  the  Platte,  277 

Railroad  mileage,  350 

Railroads  in  Wyoming,  350 

Railroads  reaching  Yellowstone  park,  56 

Railways  in  counties — see  under  each  county 

Rainbow  trout,  22 

Rainfall,  24 

Ramirez,  Don  Sebastian,  68 


Rt.  Eev.  George  M.,  48i 
Range  disputes,  370 
"Ranger   Jones,"   616 
Rangers  at  Yellowstone  park,  56 
Rankin,  The  Reverend,  497 
Raynolds,  W.  F.,  52,  107,  123 
Rawlins,  596 
Rawlins,  John  A.,  596 
Rawlins  iron  deposits,  398 
' '  Rawlins  red, ' '  596 
Reclamation  filings,  2-4 
Reclamation  projects,  18 
Red  Cloud's  defeat,  284 
Red  Desert,  541 
Reel,  Estelle,  223 
Reese,  Rt.  Rev.  Frederick  F.,  488 
Refineries  in  Wyoming,  1917,  390 
Relics  of  Indians,  37,  38 
Religion  in  Wyoming,  476 
Remains  of  extinct  animals,  43 
Reptiles,  prehistoric,  44 
Republican  national  convention,  1916,  258 
Republican  nominees  of  1914,  254 
Revelation  of  Brighani  Young,  127 
Revising  the  statutes,  226 
Revolution  of  1895    (Cuban),   289 
Richards,  De  Forest,  230 
Richards,  William  A.,  223,  225 
Richardson,  William  R.,  216 
Rich  gold  placers,  140 
Ridden,  Henry,  162 
Riley,  James,  621 
Riner,  John  A.,  469 
Rio  Grande,  Mexican  boundary,  78 
Riot  at  Rock  Springs,  179 
Riot,  Chinese,  602,  624 
Hitter,  George  W.,  176 
Rivers  and  lakes,  17 
Riverton,  600 
Road  agents,  337 

Robert  Cavelier,  sieur  de  la  Salle,  177 
Robinson,  C.  H.,  31 
' '  Roche  Jaune, ' '  46 
Rock  formation  in  Yellowstone,  48 
Rock  implements,  36 
Rock  River,  600 
Rock  Springs,  600 

Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company,  101 
Eocky  Mountain  sheep,  20 
Rogers,  H.  J.,  &  Co.,  555 
Rolling  mills,  U.  P.,  588 
Romance  of  Ah-ho-ap-pa,  the,  312 
"Romance  of  the  Border,"  334 
Rough  riders,  Torrey's,  298 
Rude  stone  art,  42 
Rural  post  roads,  260 
Rush  of  gold  seekers,  311 
Russell,  Majors  &  WaddeU,  329 


St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  326 

St.  Louis,  early  fur  mart,  94 

St.  Louis,  Missouri,  326 

St.  Vrain's  fort,  121 

Sacajawea,  the  girl  pathfinder,   6.5,   114,  149, 

150 
Sage  brush,  24 
Sage  hen,  22 
Saloons  regulated,  262 
Salt  Lake  City  incidents,  155 
Salt  Lake  valley  selected  by  Brigham  Young, 

95 
San  Francisco,  a  hamlet,  132 
San  Ildefonso,  treaty  of,  85 
Santa  Anna,  General,  79 
Santa  Fe  trail,  the,  326 
Saratoga,  602 

Saratoga  &  Encampment  Railway,  349 
Saratoga  hot  springs,  602 
Scare  of  1857-58,  129 
Scenic  freaks  and  wonders,  22 
Schnitger,  W.  R.,  628 
Sehofield,  Gen.  John  M.,  172 
School  census  and  apportionment,  443 
School  conditions  in  1877,  434 
School  enrollment,  1880-1916,  435 
School  for  defective  children,  584 
School  land,  28-30 
School  statistics  by  counties,  443 
Schools,  28 

Scientific  expeditions,  32 
Scott,  Dr.  D.  W.,  498 
Scott,  Richard  H.,  467 
' '  Scratched  nose  with  a  gun, ' '  155 
Seasons  of  the  year,  23 
Second  state  legislature,  220 
Secretaries  of  state,  640 
Security  of  bonds,  415 
Seeley,  S.  E.,  216 
Selective  draft  boards,  261 
Selkirk,  the  earl  of,  96 
Seminoe  iron  ores,  398 
Senatorial  deadlock,  222 
Sener,  James  B.,  465 
Settlement  of  Oregon  question,  81 
"Seven  cities  of  Cibola,"  109 
Seven  new  counties  created,  249 
Seventh  legislature,  177 
Seventh  state  legislature,  234 
Sheep  and  wool  industry,  the,  28,  368 
Sheep  and  cattle  on  forest  reserves,  1916,  372 
-Sheep  wiped  out  by  storm,  368 
Sheridan,  Gen.  P.  H.,  53,  604 
Sheridan,  604 
Sheridan  county,  537 
Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T.,  72 
Shoshone  forest,  20 
Shoshone  Indian  reservation,  270 


664 


INDEX 


Shoshone  project,  28 

Shoshone  reserve,  22 

Shoshone  reservoir,  360 

Shoshone  traditions,  65 

Shoshonean  family,  the,  45,  61 

Shoshones,  the,  65 

Shoshoni,  606 

Silver  ancl  gold,  26 

Simms,  C.  S.,  41 

Siouan  family,  the,  45,   61 

Sioux,  treaty  with  the,  72 

Sioux  raids   on  Wind  river,   286 

' '  Sitting  Bull, ' '  148 

"Six  Nations,"  the,  61 

Sixth  state  legislature,  232 

Size  of  extinct  giant  animals,  43 

Skull  of  a  triceratops,  -weight  of  a,  43 

Skunks,  peculiar  habits  of,  139 

Skurry,  Henry,  622 

Slough  creek,  46 

Smet,  Pierre  Jean  de,  119 

Smith,  E.  L.,  584 

Smith,  Kev.  George  L.,  494 

Smith,  Harlem  I.,  31 

Smith,  Jedediah  S.,  102,  131 

Smith,  Joseph,  124 

Smithsonian  expedition,  32 

Snake  river,  46 

Sneddon,  Thomas,  572 

Snow,  Erastus,  128 

Suow-fall,  24 

Snow  storm  wipes  out  sheep,  368 

Snowy  range,  the,  46 

Socialist  nominees  of  1914,  254 

Soda  Butte  creek,  46 

Soda  lakes,  23,  400 

Soda  resources,  26 

Soils  of  the  state  productive,  353 

Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  home,  264 

Soldiers'  monument,  302 

Solfatores,  48 

Some  early  prices,  627 

Soto,  Hernando  de,  75,  109 

South  Pass  city,  162 

South  Superior,  608 

Spain 's  oppression  of  Cuba,  289 

Spalding,  Rt.  Eev.  John  P.,  486 

Spaniards  in  America,   the   first,   67 

Spanish-American  war,  289 

Spanish   authorities  in  Mississippi  valley, 

"Spanish  Diggins,"  the,  32-34,  592 

Spanish  expeditions,  109 

Spanish  treaty  of  1819,  80 

Sparks,  John,  622 

Spates,  A.  W.,  177 

Sportman's  paradise,  20 

Spotted  Tail,  313 

Stage  coach,  day  of  the,  332 


Stage  coach  transportation  at  Park,  56 

Stage   drivers,   celebrated,   334 

Stage  experiences,  154 

Stage  holdups,  some,  337 

Stanley,  Henry  M.,  312 

Stansbury,  Capt.  Howard,  122,  132 

State  auditors,  640 

State  bankers  association,  426 

State  bar  association,  472 

State  board  of  charities  and  reform,  263 

State  board  of  horticulture,  239 

State  board  of  immigration,  245 

State  board  of  school  land  commissioners,  262 

State  eapitol,  272 

State  department  of  education,  442 

State  fair,  the,   253 

State  federation  of  labor,  635 

State  fish  hatcheries,  22 

State  flag,  260 

State  flower,  260 

State  government  inaugurated,  213 

State  governors,  640 

State  historical  society,  227 

Statehood,  435 

State  hospital  for  the  insane,  264 

State  industrial  accident  fund,  256 

State  institutions,  263 

State  leader  on  "Texas  Trail,"  366 

State  of  Deseret,  the,  129 

State  political  conventions,  1910,  246 

State  seal,  the,  220 

State  teachers'  association,  442 

State  treasurers,  640 

State 's  oil  income,  390 

State  university,  444-449,  588 

Statistics  and  chronology,  637 

Steever  cadet  system,  the,  440 

Stein,  J.  L.,  40 

Stephen,  the  Moor,  109 

' '  Stinking  Water ' '  changed  to  Shoshone,  233 

Stockman's  paradise,  375 

Stockyards    at    Laramie,    588 

Stone  axes  and  hammers,  39 

Stone  implements,  aboriginal,  32 

Stone,  Julius  P.,  621 

Stone,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.,  223 

Stoner,  J.  W.,  570 

Stories  of  a  frontier  preacher,  156 

Story  of  Cheyenne,  the,  548 

Stories  of  Lost  Cabin  placers,  140 

Stories  of  the  pioneers,  134 

Rfrahorn,  Mrs.  C.  A.,  558 

Street,  Thomas  J.,  524 

Stuart,  Robert,  100 

"Stump  speeches  full  of  stumps,"  137 

Sturgeon,  22 

Si;blet,  606 

Sublette,  Milton  G.,  106 


INDEX 


665 


Sublette,  William  L.,  102,  107,  116,  581 

Success  iu  cooperation,  362 

Suffrage  bill  iu  the  council,  201 

Sugar,  manufacture   of — see  under  sejiarate 

towns 
Sugar  factories  use  limestone,  402 
Sully,  Gen.  Alfred,  279 
Sulphate  of  soda,  23 
Sulphur,  26 
Summary,  the,  642 
Sundance,  606 
Sunday  school  started,  159 
Sunshine  records,  23 
Sunrise  mine,  27 
Superior,  608 

Supervisors  of  Yellowstone  park,    56 
Supreme  court,  the,  466 
Surprised  the  country,  203 
Sutler's  store  at  Fort  Laramie,  140 
Sutter,  John,  131 
Swain,  Mrs.  Eliza  A.,  209 
Sweetwater  county,  538 
Swift  progress  of  dry  farming,  354 

Talbot,  Rt.  Rev.  Ethelbert,  488 

Taliaferro,  T.   S.,   578 

Talleyrand,  85 

Talpey,  R.  E.,  551 

' '  Tame  ' '  mountain  sheep,  136 

Tartarrax,  province  of,  111 

Tasealuza,  battle  of,  75 

Tax  commission,  personnel  of,  244 

Teachers,  number  of,  1870-1916,  435 

Teachers'  institutes,  438 

Telephone  lines  in  mines,  2.54 

Teller  City,  137 

Temporary   government   of   United   States   in 

Louisiana,  91 
Temperatures,  23 
Ten  counties  in  1889,  187 
Ten  Eyck,  Captain,  283 
"Ten  million  buffalo"  (more  or  less),  135 
Ten  years'  war,  the  (Cuba),  289 
Tendency  to  criticise  courts,  462 
Tenth  legislature,  182 
Tenth  state  legislature,  243 
Territorial  auditors,  640 
Territorial  courts,  463 
Territorial  governors,  640 
Territorial  liistory,  161 
Territorial  judges,  463-465 
■Territorial  seal,  174 
Territorial  secretaries,  640 
Territorial  treasurers,  640 
Terry,  Gen.  A.  H.,  72 
Territory  of  Louisiana  in  1805,  91 
Territory  of  "Wyoming  established,  82 
Testimonials  to  Frank  Grouard,  147 


Teton  national  forest,  20,  22 

Texas,  annexation  of,  79 

Texas  as  republic,  79 

Texas  revolution  of  1836,  79 

Textbooks  and  curriculum,  435 

Thayer,  John  M.,  175 

Thayer  's  administration,  175 

The  Needles,  46 

Tlierinopolis,   608 

Third  regiment,  Wyoming  national  guard,  262 

Tliird  legislature,  175 

Third  state  legislature,  225 

Thirteenth  state  legislature,  255 

Thompson,  David,  46 

.Thomas,  Rt.  Rev.  N.  S.,  4,  488,  489 

Thumlj,  Tlie,  48 

Thunder  lizard,  43 

Tidball,  L.  C,  220 

Tide  of  emigration,  the,  311  , 

Timber  reserves,   20 

Tisdale,  J.  A.,  616 

Todd,  Joseph  W.,  258 

Tonti,  Henry  de,  77 

Tools,  aboriginal,  36 

Topography,  17 

Tornado  at  Lovell,  1908,  588 

Torrey's  rough  riders,  298 

Torrington,   608 

Torture  test,  an  Indian,  148 

Tourists'  accommodations  at  Park,  56 

Tower  falls,  46 

Towns,  list  of,  612 

Tcwnsend,  John  K.,  121 

Trading  post  at  Yellowstone,  an  early,  50 

Trading  posts  in  Wyoming,  107,  108 

Tradition  of  the  flood,  62 

Tramps  unwelcome  in  Cheyenne,  555 

Trans-Mississippi  exposition,  229 

Transportation  at  Yellowstone  park,  56 

Transportation  methods,  early,  325 

Transfer  of  Louisiana  to  United  States,  91 

Trapper  "s  outfit,  a,  94 

Treaties  by  United  States  with  Indian  tribes. 

Treaty  of  Fontalnebleau,  642 

Treaty  of  Fort  Bridger,  73 

Treaty  of  Fort  Laramie,  69 

Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  78 

Treaty  of  Madrid,  84,  85 

Treaty  of  Paris,  87 

Treaty  of  1783,  84 

Treaty  of  1819,  80 

Treaty  of  1868,  the  famous  Indian,  312 

Treaty  with  Cheyennes  and   Arapahoes,   73 

Treaty  with  Crows,  73 

Treaty  with  Sioux,  72 

Tribal  distribution,  60 

Triceratops,   the,  43 


INDEX 


Trist,  Nicholas  P.,  78 

Troops  withdrawn,  the,  286 

Trout  of  all  kinds,  22 

Trout  season,  576 

True,  James  B.,  2-1 

True  Republic,  The  (poem),  193 

True  story  of  Lost  Cabin  placers,  140 

Trumbull,  Walter,  53 

Tu-ku-a-ri-ki   (Sheepeaters),  45 

Twelfth  state  legislature,  252 

' '  Twelve  apostles, ' '  the,  128 

Twentieth-century  Cheyenne,  561 

Twenty  million  acres  good  dry-farming  land, 

354 
Two-ocean  plateau,  46 
Two  sets  of  returns  made,  218 
Tyler,  President,  79 
Tynan,  Thomas  T.,  230 

L'inta  county,  542 

Unappropriated  public  lands,  24 

Under  the  constitution,  465 

Union  Pacific,  the,  341 

Union   Pacific   rolling  mills,   588 

Union  Pacific  shops,  596 

United  States  courts,  468 

United  States  forest  reserves,  20 

United  States  geological  survey  report,  1917, 

405-411 
United  States  policy  toward  Indians,  69 
United  States  reclamation  projects,  359 
United  States  weather  bureau  reports,  23 
University,  State  (illus.),  445 
University   of   Wyoming,   444-449,   588 
Upper  Basin  hotel,  56 
Upper  Yellowstone  falls,  46 
Upton,  610 

Useful  minerals  found  in  Wyoming,  405 
Utah  handbook  of  history,  the,  161 
Utensils  used  by  early  Indians,  59 

Vacations  and  camping-out,  22 

Value  of  Wyoming's  wool,  1918,  374 

Van  Devanter,  Willis,  196,  466 

Van  Horn,  Col.  J.  J.,  618 

Van  Orsdel,  J.  A.,  226 

Van   Tassel,  E.   S.,   628 

Vancouver 's  expedition,  80 

Various  Indian  tribes,  67 

Vase,  an  ancient  Indian,  42 

Vaux,  Eev.  William,  484 

Verendrye,  Pierre  Gaultier  de  Varennes,  sieur 

de  la,  112 
Vigilance  committee,  163,  552 
Village  sites  of  aborigines,  37 
Virginia  falls,  48 
Visions  of  Joseph  Smith,  124 
Volcanic  glass,  52 


Volcano,  an  extinct,  48 

Volunteers  transported  home  by  state, 

Voorhees,  Luke,  153,  155,  230 

Vote  in  first  election,  173 

Votes  cast  for  delegate  in  1888,  188 


trains  of  the  argonauts,  132 
Wall  of  glass,  a,  52 
War  on  rustlers,  615 
War  with  Germany,  261 
Ware,  Eugene  F.,  313 
Ware,  J.  A.  &  Company,  556 
Warner,  Captain,  52 

Warren,  Francis  E.,  177,  178,  184,  196,  323 
Warren,  Lieut.    6.   K.,    123 
Warren  Live  Stock  Company,  179 
Warren's  administration,  178 
Warren's  second  administration,  184 
Washakie,  head  chief  of  the  Shoshones,  66,  151 
Washakie  county,  545 
Washakie  forest,  20 
Washburn,  Gen.  H.  D.,  53 
Washburn-Doane  expedition,  53 
Washington,  George,  69 
Waterfalls,  18 
Water  resources,  26 
AVaterworks — see  each  town 
Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony,  113 
Wealth  per  capita,  27 
Weather  bureau  observations,  23 
Webster,  Daniel,  on  the  "Desert,"  356 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Company,  333 
Western  Company,  the,  68 
Western  Governors '  special,  250 
Weston  county,  546 
"Westward  Ho!",  3 
Weyler's  cruelty,  289 
Wheatland,  610 

Where  the  west  begins  (poem),  632 
Whitcomb,  E.  W.,  145 
White,  C.  M.,  176 
White,  Elijah,  130 
White,  James,  620 
Whitehead,  James  R.,  163,  469,  550 
White-tailed  deer,  56 
Whittier,  E.  S.,  576 
Wild  animal  life,  20 
Wild  game  legislation,  22 
Williams,  Ezekiel,  115,  122 
Williams,  P.  L.,  578 
Wilson,  Nate  P.,  20 

Wilson  and  Marshall  electors  carry  state,  258 
Wind  river  project,  28 
Wind  river  reservation,  66,   73 
Winter,  Cliarles  E.,  633 

Winter  quarters  of  the  Mormons  near  Omaha 
(1846),  126 


INDEX 


667 


Woman   suffrage,   197;    in  constitutional  con- 
vention, 208 
Women  on  grand  jury,  205 
Woodruff,  John  D.,  518 
Wool  and  hides,  27,  574 
Wool  production,  28;   1906-1915,  372 
Workmen's  compensation  act,  255 
Worland,  611 
World  war,  261 
Wright,  Agnes  R.,  -4 
Wyeth,  John  B.,  328 
Wyeth,  Nathaniel  J.,  116 
Wyeth 's  second  expedition,  117 
Wyoming  (the  Wyoming  state  song),  633 
' '  Wyoming, ' '  as  name  for  territory,  164 
Wyoming,  part  of  Nebraska,  81 
Wyoming,  poems  on,  630 
Wyoming,  the  future  iron  state,  400 
Wyoming,  the  new  oil  state,  377 
Wyoming  &  Missouri  Hiver  Eailroad,  349 
Wyoming  banks,  417 
Wyoming  bar,  the,  469-472 
Wyoming  battery,  the,  297 
Wyoming  Central  project,  28 
Wyoming  coal  deposits,  392 
Wyoming  council  for  national  defense,  261 
Wyoming  day  at  St.  Louis  World's  fair,  236 
Wyoming  Development  Company,  247,  360 
Wyoming  electors,  1908,  243 
Wyoming  established  as  territory,  82 
Wyoming  fifty  years  old,  637 
Wyoming  forest,  20 

Wyoming  General  Hospital,  229,  268,  604 
Wyoming  horse  is  hardy,  375 
Wyoming  Industrial  Institute,  250,  271 
Wyoming  iron  fields,  397 
Wyoming  Labor  Journal,  635,  636 
' '  Wyoming  man-killer, ' '  525 
Wyoming  newspapers  in  1918,  458-461 


Wyoming  Northern  Railway,  350 

Wyoming  oil  geology,  381 

"Wyoming — old  and  new"   (poem),  2 

Wyoming  press,  the,  450 

Wyoming  railroad,  349 

Wyoming  school  for  defectives,  250,  271,  584 

Wyoming   Soldiers'   and   Sailors'   home,   264, 

268 
Wyoming  State  Bankers  association,  426 
Wyoming  state  eapitol,  272 
Wyoming  state  flag,  260 
Wyoming  state  penitentiary,  265 
Wyoming  State  Tribune,  453 
Wyoming   state   university,   444-449,   588 
Wyoming  trading  posts,  107 
Wyoming  under  many  rules  since  1493,  82 
Wyoming  under  various  sovereignties,  75 
Wyoming  Volunteer  Aid  association,  302 
Wyoming  Wool  Growers  association,  372 
Wyoming  's  experiment,  204 
Wyoming's  prizes  at  World's  fair,  237 
Wyoming's  prompt  pledge  of  loyalty,  261 
Wyoming's  response   (1898),  292 

"Yeast  Powder  Bill,"   155 
Yellowstone,  origin  of  the  name,  46 
Yellowstone  lake,  18,  48 
Yellowstone  National  park,  22,  45 
Yellowstone  park,  area  of,  24 
Yellowstone  park,  boundaries  of,  54 
Yellowstone  park,  headquarters  at,  56 
Yellowstone  park,  management  of,  54 
Yellowstone  Park  Hotel  Company,  56 
Yellowstone  Park  Transportation  Company,  56 
Yellowstone  river,  46 
Young,  Brigham^  125;   arms  Indians,  277 

Zoological  gardens,  261 
Zuni  ruins,  110